Skip to content

Insurance broker / Insurance questions / Buildings insurance

Does buildings insurance pay for lightning damage in Germany?

In short

Does buildings insurance pay for lightning damage in Germany? Yes. Lightning strike (Blitzschlag) is part of the basic cover together with fire and explosion. It pays for roof, walls and fixed technology. Power surges from a strike nearby are included in the 2022 model terms, but not always in older policies. In 2025 an average lightning claim cost about EUR 1,760.

Does buildings insurance pay for lightning damage in Germany?

What it costs

Published insurance industry figures on lightning claims in 2025 and VDE figures on the cost of lightning protection in Germany.

ExampleTypical range
Average lightning and surge claim in 2025, contents and buildings combinedabout EUR 1,760 per claim
Number of lightning and surge claims in 2025about 180,000, roughly 40,000 fewer than in 2024
Insurers' payments for lightning damage in 2025about EUR 310 million
Lightning protection for a family home, planned with a new buildfrom EUR 2,500, retrofitting usually costs more
Inspection of an existing lightning protection systemEUR 100 to 250

As of November 2026.

Claims figures from the German insurers' association GDV, protection costs from VDE.

The amounts in the worked example are guide values from our quoting practice.

Whether your contract includes surge damage and up to what amount is in your wording;

we are happy to check and obtain the exact quote.

Worked example

Family home, lightning hits the chimney

The strike blows off the chimney top and some roof tiles. The surge also destroys the heating control and, in the living room, the TV and router.

Chimney top and roof tilesabout EUR 4,500, buildings
Heating controlabout EUR 1,200, buildings with surge cover
TV and routerabout EUR 1,400, contents with surge cover
Without surge cover in both policiesEUR 2,600 stays with you

With surge cover in both contracts the EUR 7,100 is paid except for agreed deductibles. Without it, buildings insurance pays only the EUR 4,500 for the direct strike. Calculation with guide values.

What is covered after a direct strike

German buildings insurance (Wohngebäudeversicherung) pays for a fixed list of perils. In section A 1.1 of the 2022 model terms the first group is fire, lightning strike, surge from lightning and explosion. Lightning strike is defined there as a bolt passing directly onto property.

If lightning hits your house, the insurer pays for damage to the building: blown off roof tiles, cracked walls, a damaged chimney, burnt cables. If the strike sets the roof structure on fire, that is fire damage and covered as well, including smoke and soot damage.

DamageWhich insuranceNote
Roof tiles, walls, chimney after a strikebuildingsbasic lightning cover
Roof structure burns after a strikebuildingsfire, with smoke and soot
Heating control, wallbox, shutter motors brokenbuildingsonly with surge from lightning
TV, router, computer brokencontentsonly with surge from lightning
Solar panels damagedown add on or own policyexcluded in the model terms

Surge damage: the more common case

Lightning far more often strikes nearby, for example a power line. The surge then travels into the house through the grid and destroys sensitive electronics. The 2022 model terms list this in section A 3.3 as a peril of its own: overvoltage, overcurrent or short circuit caused by lightning or other atmospheric electricity, on insured electrical equipment.

Model terms are a recommendation by the insurers' association, not law. Each insurer may deviate, and older contracts are often narrower. Stiftung Warentest points out that surge damage is not insured in every contract. So check whether your wording names surge from lightning (Überspannung durch Blitz) and whether a cap applies.

Surges without a thunderstorm, for example from switching in the power grid, are not covered by this wording. That needs an explicit promise in your tariff.

Buildings or contents: who pays what

The building includes what is fixed: wiring, heating system, heat pump, door bell and intercom, shutter motors, a hard wired wallbox. If the heating control fails after a thunderstorm, that is a buildings insurance claim.

Movable items such as a TV, computer, router or stereo are contents. Report them to your contents insurer, where it again depends on surge from lightning being included. As a tenant you need your own contents insurance for your devices; the landlord insures the building.

Where cover ends

Solar systems including inverter and storage are expressly excluded in the model terms (A 7.6.1). Many tariffs include them for an extra premium, otherwise a separate solar policy helps. Plug in balcony solar units count as building accessories under the model terms.

Earthquake damage is excluded from the fire and lightning section. And insurance pays for damage, not prevention: a lightning protection system or a surge arrester in the meter cabinet is your own investment.

How to prove lightning damage

After a direct strike the traces are usually obvious. With surge damage you have to show that lightning was the cause. Evidence of a thunderstorm at your location at the right time, for example from a lightning information service, helps, as does an electrician's confirmation that the fault fits a surge.

Do not throw away broken parts before the insurer has seen or released them. Photos of the damage and the repair invoice belong with the claim.

When you need nothing extra

If your buildings policy names surge from lightning without a tight cap, and your contents policy includes the same for your devices, an ordinary house is well protected against lightning. A further add on brings nothing.

A lightning protection system is usually voluntary for an ordinary family home. According to the German electrical engineering association VDE, building law requires it for buildings where lightning can easily strike or cause serious consequences because of location, design or use. An insurer can also make it a condition of the contract.

Step by step

  1. If you smell burning or see smoke, leave the house and call the fire brigade (112).
  2. Photograph damage to roof, walls and technology, note the date and time of the storm.
  3. Have open areas of the roof covered provisionally so no rain gets in.
  4. Report building damage to your buildings insurer and broken devices to your contents insurer.
  5. Have wiring and heating checked by a specialist and the cause confirmed.
  6. Keep broken parts until the insurer releases them.

Checklist

  • Surge from lightning is expressly named in your buildings policy
  • The cap for surge damage covers heating, heat pump and wallbox
  • Contents insurance with surge cover for movable devices
  • Solar system included or separately insured
  • Surge arrester in the meter cabinet installed or planned

Common mistakes

  • Assuming buildings insurance pays for the TV and computer
  • Throwing away broken parts before the insurer has seen them
  • Never checking an old policy for surge from lightning
  • Believing the solar system is automatically covered

Questions and answers

Frequently asked

Does buildings insurance pay if lightning struck the neighbour's house?

For surge damage to your fixed technology, yes, if surge from lightning is in your policy.

Without it only a direct strike on your property is covered.

Who pays for the broken TV after a thunderstorm?

Contents insurance, if it includes surge from lightning.

Buildings insurance only covers the house and fixed technology.

Is the heating covered after lightning damage?

Yes, the heating system is part of the building.

A direct strike is in the basic cover,

a control unit destroyed by a surge only if surge from lightning is in your contract.

Do I need a lightning conductor for the insurer to pay?

Usually not for an ordinary family home.

According to VDE an insurer can make lightning protection a condition of the contract.

If your policy has such a requirement, you must meet it.

How do I prove lightning was the cause?

With evidence of a thunderstorm at your location at the right time,

for example from a lightning information service,

and an electrician's confirmation that the fault fits a surge.

Is damage from power fluctuations without a storm covered?

Usually not.

The model terms only describe surges caused by lightning or other atmospheric electricity.

Grid faults need an explicit promise in your tariff.

What does lightning damage cost on average?

In 2025 insurers paid about EUR 1,760 per lightning and surge claim,

contents and buildings combined.

A roof fire after a strike costs far more.

Sources

NAMMERT insurance broker

Request a quote: Buildings insurance

We compare insurers and come back to you, in English.

Free; the insurer pays our fee.

1Who is it for?
2Which insurance?

Choose as many as you like. For each one, the details an insurer needs for a quote appear below.

Personal

Business

3Details

Buildings insurance in Germany (Wohngebäudeversicherung)

If fully renovated, please mention the year in the message field

4Your current policy
5How can we reach you?

Free of charge and without obligation. A person will get back to you.

Related questions

Updated

Was this useful?