How is a leased company bike insured in Germany?

Published premiums of leasing policies and extra packages, 2026.

Three parties are involved. The leasing company owns the bike, your employer is the lessee and you ride it. Because the bike is not yours, the leasing company requires insurance that protects its property. This full cover is normally mandatory and paid with the leasing rate out of your gross salary.

The full cover protects the bike itself. It does not protect you as the rider, nor the people you injure or whose things you damage. There are three different insurances for these three questions, and only one comes with the leasing.

Typical leasing policies pay for theft of the bike and fixed parts, robbery, accident and fall damage, vandalism and operating errors. Many include battery, motor and control unit. Often there is no deductible.

Wear is usually not part of the basic cover: chain, sprockets, brake pads and tyres are on you unless your employer offers a service or wear package. Accessories such as helmet, bags or a removable navigation device are normally not insured either.

The leasing contract runs between your employer and the leasing company, usually for 36 months. If you change jobs or move away before the end, the bike does not simply go with you. Depending on your agreement (Überlassungsvertrag) you may have to return it, or your employer settles the remaining rates and may pass costs on to you. Read this part before you sign, especially if your stay in Germany has an end date.

The insurance ends with the leasing contract. If you take the bike abroad on holiday, check how long the cover applies outside Germany and whether the lock rules there are the same.

If the company bike is stolen, the insurer pays the leasing company and the leasing contract usually ends. You do not automatically get a replacement. Some providers credit half of the rates already paid towards a new bike if you lease again within a deadline, others give a subsidy, a few provide a replacement bike until the end of the term.

You do not get back the rates paid so far, since they were the price for using the bike. So check before signing which of these three rules applies to your contract.

Leasing policies almost always ask for a branded lock with a minimum price, often around EUR 48 to 49, and that you lock the frame to a firmly anchored object. A frame lock that only blocks the rear wheel is usually not enough.

If you leave the bike unlocked in front of the supermarket even briefly, you can quickly lose cover after a theft. You are then liable to the leasing company, in the worst case for the open residual value.

A separate bike policy next to the leasing cover is pointless during the term. You would insure the same bike twice and still be paid only once. The bike add-on of your contents insurance does not help either, because the bike is not yours.

What you should check is your personal liability insurance. For a normal pedelec it is the only cover if you hit someone. And after 36 months, when you take over the bike for a residual value of often around 18 percent of the list price, the leasing policy ends. From then on the bike is yours and needs its own cover.