In most cases insurance does not pay out for war damage in Germany: contents (Hausrat), buildings (Wohngebäude) and comprehensive car cover (Kasko) exclude war in the model terms. Life insurance often pays the full sum only if you were caught up in a war abroad without taking part, otherwise a lower amount. Motor liability has no war exclusion in the model terms.
Private customers in Germany cannot buy war cover as an add-on. These prices show what the standard policies cost whose war clause you should check.
Example
Typical range
Contents, 80 square metres in Dresden
about EUR 23 to 25 a year
Contents, 80 square metres in Düsseldorf
about EUR 51 to 54 a year
Term life, age 30, non-smoker, EUR 200,000, 30 years
about EUR 9 to 16 a month
Term life, small sum, young non-smoker
from about EUR 2.50 a month
Guide prices as of October 2026 from published tariff examples.
They include no war surcharge, because none is offered to private customers in these lines.
Policies for travel to conflict zones cost much more; guide value from broker practice.
We obtain the exact quote for you.
Worked example
Family with a house, a car and term life cover
How the war clauses work if a conflict reaches Germany itself. The amounts are assumptions for illustration.
House damaged by shelling, EUR 120,000
buildings insurance does not pay
Furniture and electronics destroyed, EUR 40,000
contents insurance does not pay
Car destroyed, value EUR 18,000
full Kasko does not pay
Term life EUR 250,000, death from war in Germany
only the lower amount under the war clause
Private policies barely cushion a war at home. The life policy is where checking pays off most, because war clauses differ most there.
Why German policies exclude war
A war does not hit one household, it hits whole regions at once. No insurer can price that with premiums of a few euros a month, so the war exclusion sits near the top of almost every German property policy.
The model terms for contents and buildings insurance state that war damage is not covered, regardless of any contributing cause. If your flat burns after a missile strike, your Hausrat will not pay via the fire cover either.
Policy
In a war
Clause in the German model terms
Contents (Hausrat)
no cover
VHB 2022, A 2.1
Buildings (Wohngebäude)
no cover
VGB 2022, A 2.1
Partial and full Kasko
no cover
AKB 2015, A.2.9.4
Motor liability (Kfz-Haftpflicht)
no war exclusion listed
AKB 2015, A.1.5
Private accident (Unfallversicherung)
only if surprised abroad, until day 7
AUB, clause 5.1.3
Life insurance
restricted, depends on the policy
separate war clause
Life insurance and war
Life policies have their own war clause. A typical German policy pays only a reduced amount, based on the contract value, if death is linked to acts of war. The full sum is paid if the insured person was exposed to the war while staying outside Germany and took no active part.
In that example, death while serving in the police or armed forces and during civil unrest is expressly covered. Whether your term life policy (Risikolebensversicherung) pays in a war depends on exactly this clause, and wording differs between insurers.
Seven days of accident cover abroad
German private accident insurance excludes accidents caused by war. The exception: you are on a trip abroad and a war breaks out by surprise. Cover then continues until the end of the seventh day after the war starts in the country you are in.
The exception does not apply if you travel to a country already at war. Journalists, aid workers and contractors in conflict zones need special policies with war cover, which cost far more than a standard accident tariff.
Your car in a conflict
If acts of war damage your car, Kasko will not pay. If you injure others with your car, the list of exclusions in the German model terms for motor liability contains no war exclusion.
Planning to drive to a country at war? Ask your insurer first whether your green card and policy apply there at all. Many policies limit the territories they cover.
Terrorism is treated differently
The German model terms for contents and buildings list war, civil unrest and nuclear energy as general exclusions, but not terrorism. A fire after an attack can therefore fall under fire cover unless your policy says otherwise.
Check whether your policy has a separate terrorism clause next to the war clause. Commercial and large buildings often have their own rules for terror.
Step by step
Find the terms of your contents, buildings and car policies and read the exclusions section.
Look for the war clause in your life and accident policies and note whether passive war risk abroad is covered.
Before travelling to unstable countries, read the Federal Foreign Office travel warnings and check your travel health cover.
For work in conflict zones, ask for a special policy with war cover.
Store policies and key documents digitally so you can reach them in an emergency.
Checklist
War clause of the life policy read
Accident policy: cover period after war breaks out abroad known
Territorial scope of the car policy checked for trips abroad
Terror clause in contents and buildings policies checked
Policies and login details stored safely
Common mistakes
Assuming fire cover pays when a fire was caused by acts of war
Travelling knowingly into a war zone and relying on standard accident or travel cover
Treating terrorism like war and not claiming a benefit you are entitled to
Questions and answers
Frequently asked
Does contents insurance pay out in a war?
No.
The German model terms exclude damage from war, civil war, revolution, rebellion and uprising,
even if an insured fire is also involved.
Does term life insurance pay if someone dies in a war?
That depends on the war clause.
Often the full sum is paid only if the insured person was caught up in a war abroad without taking
part, otherwise a lower amount.
Can I buy war cover for my home in Germany?
There is no add-on for private homes and contents that lifts the war exclusion.
It is one of the general exclusions in the terms.
Am I covered if war breaks out while I am on holiday?
Under the German model accident terms, yes, until the end of the seventh day after the war starts,
provided you were taken by surprise.
Use that time to leave.
What does advice cost?
Nothing.
Norman Nammert acts as an insurance broker, and the insurer pays the commission.
