Is there insurance against errors made by artificial intelligence?
In short
Yes, there is insurance against errors made by artificial intelligence, but only as specialist cover for businesses: from a large reinsurer since 2018 and in the London market for chatbot errors since 2025. Prices are not published. In Germany most firms cover AI errors through financial loss liability and cyber insurance, from about EUR 590 to 1,060 a year.
Published premiums in Germany for the covers that usually absorb AI errors today, plus the specialist cover.
Example
Typical range
IT freelancer, EUR 75,000 to 100,000 turnover, EUR 1 million financial loss, cyber add-on EUR 150,000
EUR 588 net, EUR 699 gross a year
Cyber insurance for software development, EUR 750,000 to 1 million turnover, sum insured EUR 250,000
from about EUR 646 a year
Cyber insurance for software development, EUR 750,000 to 1 million turnover, sum insured EUR 1 million
from about EUR 1,061 a year
Specialist AI performance cover via a partner of the reinsurer
initial capacity up to EUR 15 million, premium not published
Guide values as of October 2026 from published premium examples;
the example with cyber add-on may be older.
The range for financial loss liability in the worked example is a guide value from quoting
practice (Richtwert aus der Angebotspraxis).
Your premium depends on turnover, sum insured and AI use.
Worked example
Agency in Berlin using an AI writing tool, EUR 1 million turnover
How an agency covers AI errors when it drafts client copy with AI and has people check it.
Cyber insurance, sum insured EUR 1 million
from about EUR 1,061
Financial loss liability, sum insured EUR 1 million
about EUR 600 to 1,000
Dedicated AI cover
not needed, a person checks every text
Together about EUR 1,660 to 2,060 a year. Specialist AI cover would only become necessary if the agency guaranteed clients a level of AI accuracy.
What AI error insurance covers
Insurance against AI errors pays when an AI model performs worse than promised and someone loses money as a result. Unlike cyber insurance, it does not look at hacking but at whether the AI output was right.
A large reinsurer offers several building blocks: performance guarantees for AI vendors, own losses for firms using AI, and liability for discriminatory AI decisions or copyright claims. It wrote its first such policy in 2018 for a fraud detection model.
Building block
For whom
What is paid
Performance guarantee
AI vendors
customers' losses when the AI misses the promised performance
Own loss
firms using AI
your own financial loss from weak AI output
Liability
vendors and users
claims over discriminatory AI decisions
Copyright
vendors and users of generative AI
claims and legal costs when AI output infringes others' works
Chatbot error policies in the London market
Since May 2025 insurers in the London market have offered policies against errors by AI chatbots. They pay compensation and legal fees when a company is sued because its chatbot gave customers wrong information.
Cover is triggered when the model's performance falls well below what was expected. A single slip is not enough; what counts is the measured performance of the AI.
What your existing German policies pay for AI errors
Many AI losses end up in contracts you may already hold in Germany. What matters is the type of loss, not whether a person or an AI made the mistake.
Ask your insurer to confirm in writing that using AI tools is not excluded. Explicit AI clauses are still rare in German policy wordings.
AI loss
Matching policy
AI controlled machine injures a visitor
business liability (Betriebshaftpflicht)
Wrong AI answer costs a client money
financial loss or IT liability (Vermögensschaden- or IT-Haftpflicht)
Attack on your AI system, data stolen
cyber insurance (Cyberversicherung)
Your AI misses a contractually promised accuracy
only specialist AI cover
When you do not need dedicated AI insurance
If you only use AI for drafts that a person checks before sending, solid financial loss liability usually does the job, as long as it does not exclude AI. Dedicated AI insurance would then be an expensive extra.
Specialist cover makes sense if you sell AI and guarantee its performance to customers, or if your AI decides without human review, for example on loans, job applications or prices.
From December 2026 AI software is liable like a product
EU Directive 2024/2853 treats software, including AI, as a product. The German Bundestag passed the new Product Liability Act (Produkthaftungsgesetz) on 8 October 2026; it is due to take effect on 9 December 2026 for products placed on the market from then.
Vendors of AI software will then be liable without fault for personal injury, property damage and destroyed private data. The old EUR 85 million cap and the EUR 500 deductible disappear, so check whether your product liability cover includes software.
Advice on AI insurance in Germany
Norman Nammert arranges liability and cyber cover as an insurance broker (Versicherungsmakler) for firms using AI. The insurer pays the commission, so the advice is free of charge for you.
Step by step
List where your business uses AI and who checks the output.
For each use, work out whether injury, property damage or pure financial loss could follow.
Check existing liability and cyber policies for AI exclusions.
Answer AI questions on the proposal form fully and truthfully.
Ask for specialist cover only if you guarantee performance or let AI decide on its own.
Checklist
Financial loss liability without an exclusion for AI tools
Cyber insurance with a sum insured that fits your turnover
Copyright infringement included if you publish AI images or texts
Product liability including software if you sell AI
Written confirmation from the insurer about AI use
Common mistakes
Assuming cyber insurance pays for wrong AI answers
Leaving out AI use when the proposal form asks about it
Guaranteeing clients an AI accuracy rate without any policy behind it
Questions and answers
Frequently asked
Does cyber insurance pay if my chatbot gives customers wrong advice?
Usually not.
Cyber policies target attacks, data loss and business interruption.
Compensation for wrong information is a case for financial loss liability.
How much does insurance against AI errors cost?
Specialist covers have no published prices; the premium depends on model quality and stability.
Cyber and financial loss liability together cost small German firms from about EUR 1,200 to 2,000
a year.
Is there AI insurance for private individuals?
The known covers are aimed at businesses.
Damage you cause to others in private life is covered by personal liability insurance
(Privathaftpflicht), even if you used AI.
Do I have to tell my insurer that we use AI?
Yes, if the insurer asks in text form.
Under section 19 VVG you must disclose the risk factors asked about,
otherwise the insurer may withdraw from the contract.
Is the vendor of the AI tool liable for its errors?
Towards your own clients you are liable first.
Whether you can recover from the vendor depends on your contract with it;
from 9 December 2026 product liability is added for injury, property damage and private data loss.
