Which insurance do I need when a baby is coming in Germany?

In short

When a baby is coming in Germany you need four things: sort out the baby's health cover, usually free, switch your personal liability insurance to a family plan for about EUR 60 to 180 a year, insure each parent with term life cover, about EUR 8 to 15 a month for EUR 200,000 at age 30, and consider child disability insurance.

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Which insurance do I need when a baby is coming in Germany?

What it costs

Documented premiums for the policies that matter once a baby arrives in Germany.

Example	Typical range
Baby's health cover in statutory family cover	EUR 0
Personal liability, family or couple	about EUR 60 to 180 a year
Term life, age 30, non smoker, EUR 200,000, 25 years	about EUR 7.59 to 15.35 a month
Child disability insurance, good plans in a 2020 test	about EUR 107 to 421 a year
Child accident insurance, base sum from EUR 100,000 with progression	often EUR 40 to 80 a year

Guide values from published tariff examples and tests; the term life example dates from July 2024,

the child disability test from March 2020.

Your premium depends on age, health and cover.

Worked example

Couple, both 30, statutory health funds, first baby

What the new policies cost together in the first year if you cover everything important.

Baby's health cover	EUR 0
Personal liability, family plan	about EUR 60 to 180 a year
Two term life policies, EUR 200,000 each	about EUR 180 to 370 a year
Child disability insurance	about EUR 107 to 421 a year

Together about EUR 350 to 970 a year, around EUR 29 to 81 a month. If money is tight, liability and term life come first.

The order of things when a baby is coming

Not everything has to be done on day one, but two things come with deadlines or gaps. Sort out the baby's health cover right after the birth and switch your liability insurance before the child starts to move around. Then protect the parents, because the baby lives on their income, and finally look at cover for the child itself.

The table shows which policy carries which risk, roughly what it costs and when to deal with it.

Insurance	What for	Rough cost	When
Baby's health cover	doctor, hospital, check ups	EUR 0 in statutory family cover	right after the birth
Personal liability, family plan	damage you or later the child cause to others	EUR 60 to 180 a year	in the first year
Term life cover per parent	family income if a parent dies	EUR 8 to 15 a month at age 30	soon, while you are healthy
Parents' disability income cover (Berufsunfähigkeitsversicherung)	income if a parent can no longer work	depends on job and age	check existing cover
Child disability insurance	lasting severe impairment of the child, also from illness	EUR 107 to 421 a year	a few weeks after the birth
Child accident insurance	accidents at home and in free time	EUR 40 to 80 a year	once the child is mobile

Health cover: the one real deadline

If the parents are in a statutory health fund (gesetzliche Krankenkasse), the baby usually joins free family cover. If one parent is privately insured, the baby may have to be insured privately, and then the rule is strict: register no later than two months after the birth or face health questions.

Whether the baby is insured through the mother or the father and which income limit applies in 2026 is explained in detail on our page about health cover for the baby.

Liability: from a single plan to a family plan

A single plan only covers you. With a baby you need a family plan that includes your partner and children, usually until the end of their first training or degree. The extra cost is small: family plans run at about EUR 60 to 180 a year.

One point becomes important with a baby. Under section 828 of the German Civil Code (BGB) children under seven are not liable for damage they cause. Without cover for children below that age, the neighbour is left with the scratch on the car and a friendship can suffer. Good family plans pay such damage up to a high sub limit.

Protect the parents, not the baby

A baby costs money for years and earns none. If a parent dies, the income is missing for decades. Term life cover on each parent for three to five times gross annual income, running until the child is about 25, is therefore the most important new policy. At age 30, EUR 200,000 over 25 years costs about EUR 8 to 15 a month.

If you already have disability income cover, check whether the monthly benefit still fits a family budget. Whether your policy has an option to increase cover without new health questions when a child is born, and within which deadline, is set out in its terms.

For the child: disability before accident

In day care and with a registered childminder your child is covered by statutory accident insurance, at home and in free time it is not. Child accident insurance costs only about EUR 40 to 80 a year but pays only after accidents.

Severe disability is far more often caused by illness. Child disability insurance pays in that case too, but costs several times more and asks health questions. Applying a few weeks after the birth is often possible and gives the best chance of cover without exclusions. Whether it is worth it for you is explained on our page about child disability insurance.

What you do not need when a baby is coming

Term life cover on the baby is pointless, because nobody lives on the baby's income. German law also limits it for children under seven, without their consent, to normal funeral costs. Savings plans with a little accident cover added are not protection either; keep saving and insuring apart.

Your household contents insurance (Hausratversicherung) usually does not change with a baby unless you move. Prams and nursery furniture do add value, so after the first purchases check that the sum insured is still enough.

Step by step

Register the baby with the health fund right after the birth, or with the private insurer within two months.
Switch personal liability to a family plan that covers damage by children under seven.
Take out term life cover for each parent, running until the child is about 25.
Check existing disability income cover for an increase option at birth.
Ask for child disability insurance while the baby is healthy.

Checklist

Baby registered with the health fund or insurer
Liability on a family plan, cover for children under seven
Term life cover for both parents
Beneficiary of the term life policy set to partner or child
Disability income benefit fits the family budget
Child disability insurance considered
Sum insured for household contents checked after the big purchases

Common mistakes

Keeping the single liability plan
Insuring the baby's life instead of the parents' lives
Thinking child accident insurance is full protection
Missing the two months for private registration
Waiting with child disability insurance until a first diagnosis

Questions and answers

Frequently asked

Which insurance do I need before the birth?

None is compulsory, but term life cover for the parents can be arranged before the birth.

The earlier, the younger and usually healthier you are when answering health questions.

Is the baby automatically on my liability policy?

Only on a family plan.

A single plan covers nobody but you, so you need to switch.

Which insurers should I tell about the birth?

Your health fund or health insurer, your liability insurer if you have a single plan,

your disability insurer if you want to increase cover,

and for term life cover the beneficiary if needed.

Which matters more, child accident or child disability cover?

Child disability cover, because it also pays after illness.

Accident cover is cheaper but only covers the rarer cause.

Do I need an education insurance policy for the baby?

Not as insurance.

If you want to save for your child,

keep saving and protection apart and use a separate savings plan.

Sources

NAMMERT insurance broker

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