Is your home office covered by contents insurance in Germany?
In short
Usually yes. In Germany, contents insurance (Hausratversicherung) normally covers your home office: desk, chair, your own laptop and, in many wordings, the company laptop kept in your flat. Limits apply to rooms used only for work, to goods for sale and to client visits. Accidental damage is not covered; laptop cover for a device around EUR 1,500 costs about EUR 80 to 100 a year.
What German contents insurance costs and what extra laptop cover costs.
Example
Typical range
Contents, 65 square metres, sum insured about EUR 42,000
about EUR 70 to 140 a year
Contents, 90 square metres, sum insured about EUR 58,000
about EUR 90 to 190 a year
Laptop cover for a device around EUR 1,500
about EUR 80 to 96 a year
Basic laptop tariffs
from about EUR 3 a month
As of October 2026, from published tariff examples and one wording based on the industry model
conditions.
Whether your study and your employer's devices are included depends on your contract.
How contents insurance and the employer's insurance share a claim is a guide value from our
quoting practice.
We obtain the exact quote.
Worked example
Burglary in a flat with a desk corner
An employee works from home three days a week, 70 square metres, sum insured by the rule of thumb. Burglars take her own monitor, her tablet and her employer's laptop. Her contract includes work equipment and third party property.
Sum insured (70 x EUR 650)
EUR 45,500
Own monitor and tablet, replacement value
EUR 900
Employer's laptop
EUR 1,800
Forced front door, repair
EUR 600
Contents insurance pays
EUR 3,300 minus any agreed deductible
Contents insurance replaces her own devices, the company laptop and the door. Without third party property cover, the laptop stays with the employer's insurance. Calculation with guide values.
What counts as contents in a home office
Contents are everything you use in your home. Many German wordings expressly include work equipment and furnishings that serve your job or business. One published wording based on the industry model conditions says so in section 6 no. 2 c) hh) VHB 2009, with an exception for goods for sale and sample collections.
Third party property in your household also counts as contents there, which covers the laptop your employer lends you. But some clauses exclude work equipment outright, so reading your own wording is the only way to know whether your home office is covered.
Item
Covered by contents insurance?
Your own desk, chair, shelves
yes
Your own laptop and monitor after burglary or fire
yes, at replacement value
Employer's laptop in your flat
often yes as third party property, check the wording
Goods for sale, sample collection
no
Laptop falls off the desk, coffee on the keyboard
no, contents insurance has no accidental damage cover
Laptop stolen from a cafe
no, simple theft is not covered
A desk in the living room or a separate study
A desk in the living room or bedroom is no problem, the room stays part of your home. A room you use only for work can be different: some wordings say such rooms are not part of the home, for example section 6 no. 3 a) in the wording mentioned above.
Many newer German tariffs expressly include a study (Arbeitszimmer), often if it can only be reached through the flat. If your policy is silent, ask and get the inclusion confirmed in writing. It usually costs nothing and avoids an argument after a claim.
Company laptop: who pays what
If burglars take the company laptop from your flat or it burns, your contents insurance can pay when third party property and work equipment are included. If your employer has its own equipment insurance, the two insurers settle between themselves who pays. Report the loss to both sides straight away.
If you damage the device yourself, say by dropping it, contents insurance pays nothing. When it happens while you are working, German employee liability rules apply, and with slight negligence employees are usually not liable. In your free time your personal liability insurance (Privathaftpflicht) matters; some tariffs exclude devices lent by an employer.
Freelancers working from home
For freelancers with one room and no client visits, the home office is included in many German contents policies. If clients come to your flat, goods are stored there or staff work with you, contents insurance is often not enough and the office belongs in a business contents policy (Inhaltsversicherung).
Tell your insurer about any business use. Keeping quiet risks an argument about how the rooms were used once you claim.
When you need nothing extra
As an employee with a desk corner and normal technology you usually need no extra policy. Just check the sum insured: at EUR 650 per square metre or more, many insurers waive the deduction for underinsurance (Unterversicherungsverzicht).
Separate laptop cover against breakage and theft on the go is mainly worth it for expensive devices you carry around a lot. A laptop that never leaves your desk is already covered against burglary and fire.
Step by step
Search your wording for work equipment, third party property and study.
If you have a room used only for work, get its inclusion confirmed in writing.
Ask your employer whether its devices are insured.
Check the sum insured after buying expensive technology.
As a freelancer, report the business use.
Buy laptop cover only for expensive devices you carry around.
Checklist
Work equipment included in your contract
Third party property in your home covered
Study expressly included if you have one
Sum insured at least EUR 650 per square metre
Business use reported if self-employed
Receipts for technology kept
Common mistakes
Assuming contents insurance pays for breakage or user error
Not clarifying a room used only for work with the insurer
Storing goods or samples at home and thinking they are insured
Not reporting client visits
Buying expensive laptop cover for a device that never leaves the flat
Questions and answers
Frequently asked
Do I have to tell my insurer that I work from home?
As an employee usually not, because there is no business use.
As a freelancer with clients, goods or staff, yes.
Is the company laptop covered when I travel?
Only via the outside-the-home cover (Außenversicherung) and only for insured perils such as
robbery or fire, not simple theft on a train.
Does contents insurance pay if coffee goes over the laptop?
No.
You need laptop or electronics cover, or employee liability rules apply.
Do I need to raise my sum insured?
Only if your technology and furniture together are worth clearly more than EUR 650 per square
metre.
Can I deduct part of the premium from tax?
With a study recognised for tax purposes, a partial deduction may be possible.
