How much does business interruption insurance cost in Germany?
In short
How much does business interruption insurance (Betriebsunterbrechungsversicherung) cost in Germany? It depends on the sum insured and your trade. As an add-on to contents cover, small businesses often pay only about EUR 110 to 240 a year. With EUR 1 million contents cover, published add-on prices ranged from EUR 150 for a grocery to EUR 820 for a joinery. A stand-alone policy costs more.
There are no reliable published ranges for stand-alone policies of larger firms;
the premium is known once we have a quote for you.
Worked example
Restaurant with a small add-on, EUR 100,000 sum
What the published premium means if a kitchen fire closes the restaurant for three months.
Sum insured for 12 months
EUR 100,000
Annual premium in the example
about EUR 109
Three months of loss, pro rata
around EUR 25,000
Excess
EUR 250
For about EUR 9 a month, three months of closure are covered with around EUR 24,750, provided the sum matches your real earnings.
What drives the business interruption premium
Business interruption insurance pays the profit you lose and the fixed costs that keep running after physical damage such as fire, burst pipes or burglary. Its price therefore follows the property risk: a joinery with sawdust and machines pays several times what a grocery pays for the same sum insured.
On top come the sum insured, the indemnity period (Haftzeit, how long payments run after the damage), the perils included and the time excess. If you carry the first two or three days yourself, you pay less.
Factor
Effect on the premium
Trade and fire risk
strong, workshops cost more than shops or offices
Sum insured
direct, profit plus continuing costs
Indemnity period of 18 or 24 instead of 12 months
noticeably higher
Extra perils such as storm, water, flooding
higher, but often decisive
Time excess
lowers the premium, hurts with short closures
Supplier and customer risks (Rückwirkungsschäden)
surcharge, important if you depend on one supplier
Small add-on or stand-alone policy
The small add-on (Klein-BU) sits inside your contents policy (Inhaltsversicherung). Its sum is tied to the contents value and the indemnity period is usually twelve months. It is cheap and often enough for shops, practices and small workshops whose annual profit plus fixed costs is close to the value of their equipment.
If your earnings are far higher than your equipment value, for example a service firm with high staff costs and little furniture, the add-on leaves you underinsured. You then need a stand-alone policy with a sum taken from your profit and loss account.
The sum insured is not your turnover
What is insured is what disappears in a shutdown: operating profit plus continuing costs such as salaries, rent, leasing and interest. Cost of goods and other costs that stop when you stop do not belong in it. Insuring turnover means paying premium for money you could never claim.
Too low is just as costly. If the sum is below the real figure, the insurer cuts the payout in proportion. Growing businesses should calculate with expected figures and ask for a waiver of underinsurance (Unterversicherungsverzicht).
When a longer indemnity period is worth the extra cost
Twelve months is fine for an office that can move into temporary space. A business with its own building or special machines often needs longer for surveys, permits, rebuilding and delivery times, but business interruption insurance only pays until the indemnity period ends.
Choosing 18 or 24 months costs more, but it covers exactly the months in which many firms give up after a major loss.
When you do not need business interruption insurance
Freelancers with no premises or machines who can work anywhere with a laptop face a different risk: their own illness. Business interruption insurance is the wrong product for that.
If you have savings to cover twelve months of fixed costs without income, you can also do without it. In practice that applies to few small businesses.
Step by step
Ask your tax adviser (Steuerberater) for operating profit plus continuing costs for one year.
Check whether your contents policy already includes a small add-on and whether its sum fits.
Choose the indemnity period by how long it would really take to get back to normal.
Include the same perils as in your property cover, including flooding.
Compare quotes with the same sum, indemnity period and excess.
Checklist
Sum based on profit plus continuing costs, not turnover
Indemnity period long enough for rebuilding and restart
Waiver of underinsurance
Same perils as contents and building cover
Supplier risks if you depend on one supplier
Time excess of one or two days at most
Common mistakes
Insuring annual turnover and overpaying
Not raising the sum after years of growth
Assuming business interruption cover pays if the owner is ill
Having flood cover on contents but not on business interruption
Questions and answers
Frequently asked
What does business interruption insurance cost per month?
As a small add-on for small businesses often EUR 9 to 20 a month.
Workshops and high fire risks pay much more.
Is the small add-on cheaper than a stand-alone policy?
Usually much cheaper, but its sum is tied to your contents value.
If your earnings are far higher, you are underinsured.
Can I deduct the premium from tax?
Yes, premiums for cover after physical damage are business expenses in Germany.
In return, any payout is taxable business income.
Why is my trade so expensive?
Because the price follows the fire and damage risk.
Wood, paint, cooking oil and many machines mean more and bigger claims.
Does it cover me if my landlord's building burns down?
Yes, if your business premises are damaged by an insured peril.
Fire in a neighbouring building that only blocks access is often not covered.
