Does building insurance pay for cracks caused by heat and drought?

In short

No, in Germany building insurance (Wohngebäudeversicherung) does not usually pay for cracks caused by heat and drought. The model conditions explicitly exclude drought and drying out under natural hazards, and the natural hazards add-on, about EUR 92 a year on average, does not help either. Fire, lightning, storm and hail remain covered, a burst water pipe inside the house depending on the cause.

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Does building insurance pay for cracks caused by heat and drought?

What it costs

There is normally no policy against drought cracks. These figures show what suitable building cover costs on average, from a published market analysis.

Example	Typical range
Building insurance, base premium without natural hazards	about EUR 241 a year on average
Natural hazards add-on, flood risk zone 1	about EUR 92 a year on average
Natural hazards add-on, flood risk zone 2	just under EUR 200 a year on average
Building surveyor's report on the cause of cracks	about EUR 800 to 3,000

As of October 2026.

Base premium and add-on come from the market analysis listed.

Surveyor costs and the worked example are guide values from our quoting practice.

Your premium depends on location, construction and value; we obtain the exact quote for you.

Worked example

Detached house on clay after a dry summer

In autumn diagonal cracks appear above two windows and a patio door sticks. In the utility room water leaks from a broken pipe.

Expert report on cracks and soil	about EUR 2,000, not insured
Stabilising foundations and repairing cracks	about EUR 25,000, not insured
Repairing the burst pipe and drying out	about EUR 4,000, assumed here to be an insured pipe breakage
Excess on the building policy	EUR 500

If the building insurer accepts the burst pipe, it pays about EUR 3,500 after the excess. The report and crack repairs, around EUR 27,000, are your own cost unless there is a construction defect within the five year period.

How heat and drought crack a house

Clay and loam soils shrink when they dry out in long, hot summers. A house standing on them settles unevenly, and cracks appear in walls, the floor slab and around windows and doors.

Large trees close to the house make it worse, because their roots draw extra water from the soil. Temperature stress alone can also cause fine cracks in render. None of these causes is an insured peril in German building insurance.

What German policy wording says about drought

German building insurance only pays for named perils: fire, mains water (Leitungswasser), storm and hail, plus further natural hazards (Elementarschäden) if you add that cover. The model conditions of the German insurance association GDV, version VGB 2022 as of June 2026, explicitly exclude damage caused by drought or drying out under natural hazards.

Subsidence does not help with drought cracks either. The model conditions define it as a natural sinking of the ground over natural cavities. Shrinking clay soil creates no such cavity.

A German appeal court, the Higher Regional Court of Koblenz, took the same line in 2011 (case 10 U 1319/10). A house on shrink sensitive clay, dried out by vegetation and trees, had suffered no insured sinkhole, and the claimant withdrew the appeal.

What is still covered after a hot, dry summer

The usual perils stay insured even if a hot summer set them off. If something catches fire in the heat, fire cover pays. If lightning strikes during a heat thunderstorm, fire and lightning surge damage are covered.

If a storm tears tiles off the roof, storm cover pays from wind force 8, which is 62 km/h. Hail is covered too.

If movement of the house breaks a water pipe inside the building, the model conditions can treat this as an insured pipe breakage. For mains water, however, they exclude damage caused by subsidence (A 4.5.5), so whether the insurer pays depends on the cause. Pipes below the floor slab, however, are only covered if this was expressly agreed. The cracks in walls and slab themselves remain uninsured.

Damage after a hot, dry summer	Building insurance
Settlement cracks in walls and slab from dried out clay	no
Fine render cracks from temperature stress	no
Roof timbers burn after lightning in a heat storm	yes, fire cover
Storm gust strips part of the roof	yes, from wind force 8
Hail smashes roof windows and shutters	yes, hail cover
Water pipe inside the house bursts	depending on the cause as pipe breakage, subsidence excluded, pipes below the slab only if agreed

Who is liable for a new house

If your house is new and the foundations were not designed or built for the soil on site, there may be a construction defect. Your claim is then against the builder or planner, not the insurer.

Under the German Civil Code (BGB), claims for defects in a building expire five years after formal acceptance of the work (Abnahme). If you find cracks in a young house after a dry summer, get an expert report on the cause quickly and keep an eye on that deadline.

When an expert report brings clarity

You usually cannot tell from looking at a crack whether drought, a burst pipe, a building site next door or a construction defect caused it. Only a building surveyor or soil expert can prove the cause, and that decides who pays: insurer, builder, neighbour or you.

Hairline cracks in plaster that do not change rarely need a report. If cracks grow wider, move or doors and windows start to stick, have the cause checked before any repair.

When you do not need to look for drought cover

If your house stands on sand, gravel or rock, the risk of drought cracks is low. A house with a basement and deep foundations is also less exposed than a shallow building on clay.

The model conditions do not provide drought cover. If a policy goes further, it must say so expressly. More important are prevention, full cover for fire, mains water, storm and hail, and the natural hazards add-on for heavy rain and flooding.

Step by step

Photograph the cracks with the date and record their width with a crack gauge or ruler.
Have tell tales or measuring marks fitted to see whether the cracks are moving.
Report leaks, damp patches or rising water use to your insurer at once.
Have a building surveyor or soil expert establish the cause.
If the house was accepted less than five years ago, notify builder and planner of the defect in writing.
Repair only once the cause is clear and keep all receipts.

Checklist

Fire, mains water, storm and hail fully covered
Pipes below the floor slab expressly included
Existing cracks documented before the policy starts
Acceptance date of the house and defect deadline noted
Rainwater led away from the foundations
No large, thirsty trees right next to the house

Common mistakes

Claiming drought cracks as natural hazard damage and expecting payment
Plastering over cracks before the cause is known
Letting the five year deadline against the builder pass on a new house
Missing a hidden pipe leak because all cracks are blamed on drought
Letting the soil around the house keep drying out after repairs

Questions and answers

Frequently asked

Are cracks from heat a natural hazard claim?

No.

Heat is not a natural hazard under German policies,

and drought is expressly excluded for natural hazards in the model conditions.

Does insurance pay if the heat starts a fire?

Yes, a fire is covered by fire insurance even if a hot summer contributed.

Intent and gross negligence are governed by your policy.

Can I insure against settlement cracks?

The model conditions do not provide this.

If a policy covers drought damage, it must say so expressly, so ask before relying on it.

Who pays for cracks caused by building work next door?

The developer or the construction firm, usually through their liability insurance.

An expert report has to show the building site caused the damage.

Is a burst pipe under the floor slab covered?

Only if pipes below the floor slab are expressly included in your policy.

Under the model conditions they are otherwise excluded.

As a tenant, do I need to worry about drought cracks?

The building is the landlord's responsibility.

Your contents insurance (Hausratversicherung) only covers your belongings, not the walls.

Sources

NAMMERT insurance broker

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