Does my bike have to be locked in the cellar?

Prices for locks, frame coding and the bike add-on from publicly quoted figures, as of 2026.

German contents insurance draws a hard line. Burglary (Einbruchdiebstahl) means someone used force to get into a locked room: they broke the cellar door, bent a grille or destroyed a lock. In that case your bike is covered at that address even if it was standing free.

Simple theft (einfacher Diebstahl) means the bike was accessible and nobody had to break anything. The classic case is the shared cellar whose door never really closes, or which every neighbour opens with the normal building key. Basic cover almost never pays for that, only a specific bike theft add-on does.

A room used by several households is not treated like your flat. The widely used model wording states plainly that you must secure the bike there with a customary lock (verkehrsübliches Schloss). Customary means a lock that matches the value of the bike, not a thin cable lock for an e-bike.

The second half is the part people miss: a shackle through the rear wheel is often not enough. The wording asks for a connection to something fixed, such as a wall anchor, a bike stand or a grille. Otherwise two people simply carry the locked bike out. Also check whether the shared cellar is named as an insured location (Versicherungsort) in your policy at all.

You have to prove the break-in; the insurer does not have to disprove it. So photograph the forced door, the destroyed door lock and the remains of your bike lock before the building management repairs anything, and keep the lock remains, they are your main piece of evidence.

The payout limit then decides the amount. Without a bike add-on, many policies cap the payment at 1 to 2 percent of the sum insured. With the add-on, a fixed sum is agreed and it should match the purchase price. Keep to your duties as well: report the theft to the police, notify the insurer without delay and hand in a list of what was stolen.

Plainly said: with no signs of a break-in and no lock on the bike, you get nothing without the add-on or a separate policy. The same applies if a neighbour opened the cellar with their own key, because then there is no force on the door. Hardly any policy pays when only parts are gone, such as the saddle, a wheel or the battery.

Gross negligence (grobe Fahrlaessigkeit) can also cut the payout, for example if the cellar key was left in the lock. Good tariffs waive that cut up to the sum insured, cheap ones often do not. If your bike is worth more than about EUR 2,000 and lives in a shared cellar, a separate bike policy is usually the more honest answer than hoping for the contents policy.