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Does buildings insurance in Germany pay for frost damage?

In short

Yes. Buildings insurance in Germany does pay for frost damage to pipes and heating, as long as pipe water cover (Leitungswasser) is included. It pays for the burst pipe and the water damage to walls and floors. If you neither heated the house nor drained the pipes in winter, the insurer may cut the payout, by 70 percent in one court case about an empty house.

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Does buildings insurance in Germany pay for frost damage?

What it costs

Published figures on pipe water claims and trade prices in Germany, 2024 to 2026.

Example	Typical range
Frost claims on insured buildings per year	up to about 32,000 claims
Pipe water damage to residential buildings in 2024	EUR 4.9 billion
Leak detection, depending on the method	about EUR 200 to 600
Building drying up to about 20 square metres	about EUR 400 to 800
Building drying up to about 50 square metres	about EUR 1,000 to 1,500
Cut in the Essen regional court case	70 percent

As of October 2026, from insurance industry figures, trade prices and court rulings.

The amounts in the worked example and the vacancy deadlines are guide values from our quoting

practice.

We check what your policy requires in winter and obtain the exact quote.

Worked example

Inherited house, January, pipe in the bathroom bursts

The house has been empty since autumn. The heating runs on frost setting, the water is still on. After a night of hard frost a pipe in the outside wall bursts.

Leak detection and pipe repair	about EUR 1,000
Drying, screed and tiles in the bathroom	about EUR 9,000
Total damage	about EUR 10,000
With a 50 percent cut for missing precautions	about EUR 5,000 paid
Water shut off and pipes drained	full payout minus your deductible

A plumber would have drained the pipes for a few hundred euros. Without that step, about EUR 5,000 stays with you. Calculation with guide values.

What German buildings insurance pays after frost

Water expands by up to nine percent when it freezes, enough to split a copper pipe. German buildings insurance pays frost damage through its pipe water module: thawing, repairing the pipe, opening and closing walls, drying, and the damage to screed, plaster and floors.

Most German policy wordings name frost damage to radiators, boilers, taps, washbasins and toilets. Pipes outside the house, such as the line to a garden tap, are often limited or excluded. Your sofa, rugs and appliances soaked by the water are paid by your contents insurance, not by the buildings policy.

Damage	Which insurance	Note
Burst pipe inside the house	buildings, pipe water	thawing and repair
Wet screed and plaster	buildings, pipe water	drying included
Burst radiator	buildings, pipe water	usually named in the wording
Garden tap on the outside wall	depends on the wording	often excluded or capped
Wet sofa and carpet	contents (Hausrat)	not via the building

Your duties in the cold season

Almost every German buildings policy has safety rules for winter (Sicherheitsvorschriften). You must heat the building and check it often enough, or shut off, drain and keep drained all water pipes. Buildings you do not use must be checked regularly and their pipes shut off and drained.

The frost setting on a radiator thermostat only protects that radiator, not the frost damage risk for pipes in cold outside walls, cellars or lofts. How often you must check depends, according to the Federal Court of Justice, on the type, age and reliability of the heating (case IV ZR 233/06). The law sets no fixed interval.

When the payout is cut: the empty house

Most frost damage happens in houses that are empty or only partly used: holiday homes, inherited houses, houses up for sale. If such a house is neither heated nor drained, German courts often see gross negligence. Under section 81 (2) of the Insurance Contract Act (VVG) the insurer may then cut the payout in line with how serious the fault was.

The Essen regional court upheld a 70 percent cut for frost damage (case 9 O 178/09). Apart from one flat the house was empty, the other rooms unheated and the water still on. The one occupied flat did not help the owner.

Report a vacant house

In many German policies a long vacancy counts as an increase in risk (Gefahrerhöhung) that you must report. The time limit is in your wording, often 60 or 90 days.

Report the vacancy and agree what happens next: pipes drained by a plumber, heating at a fixed minimum temperature and checks at fixed intervals. That costs little compared with an uninsured frost claim.

When you do not need to worry much

A lived-in, normally heated house with pipes in inside walls is rarely hit. If a pipe still bursts there, for example because the boiler failed overnight, buildings insurance usually pays the frost damage in full.

The weak spots are pipes in outside walls, garages, cellars and lofts, and garden lines. Check them before the first frost.

Step by step

Shut off and drain outside taps before the first frost.
Keep every room with pipes slightly heated, including cellar and spare room.
Report an empty house to the insurer and have the pipes drained.
Arrange checks by neighbours or the property manager when you are away.
After a frost burst, close the main stopcock at once, take photos and report the claim.

Checklist

Pipe water cover (Leitungswasser) included in your buildings insurance
Garden lines and outside taps drained before winter
Heating serviced and fault alerts tested
Vacancy reported and checks recorded in writing
Everyone in the house knows where the main stopcock is

Common mistakes

Relying on the frost setting of the thermostat
Leaving an empty house unheated without shutting off the water
Not reporting a vacancy
Thawing frozen pipes with an open flame

Questions and answers

Frequently asked

Does the insurer pay for a frozen pipe that has not burst?

Many wordings only pay once the pipe breaks or water escapes.

Thawing without damage is usually your own cost.

How often must I check an empty house in winter?

German law sets no fixed interval.

It depends on the heating and your wording.

In hard frost with pipes not drained, experts advise daily checks.

Is frost damage to a garden tap covered?

Often not, or only up to a limit.

Draining it before winter is the simpler fix.

I rent my flat. Who pays if a pipe freezes?

The landlord's buildings insurance pays for the building,

your contents insurance for your belongings.

If you did not heat despite a duty to do so, the landlord can hold you liable.

What if the heating fails while I am away?

If the heating was serviced and checks were arranged, the insurer usually pays.

It gets critical after a long absence without any checks.

Is frost damage to the facade or paving covered?

No.

Frost cracks in brickwork, render or paving count as wear and tear, not pipe water damage.

Sources

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