What insurance do employed tradespeople in Germany need?

In short

What insurance employed tradespeople in Germany need starts with protecting your ability to work. Disability insurance (Berufsunfähigkeitsversicherung) often costs several times the office rate in a trade, at 30 about EUR 90 to 180 a month for a EUR 1,500 benefit. If that is too much, consider basic abilities cover (Grundfähigkeitsversicherung). Add private accident insurance for about EUR 120 to 260 a year.

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What insurance do employed tradespeople in Germany need?

What it costs

Guide values from published German guides and tariff examples, 2026.

Example	Typical range
Disability insurance, young office staff, for comparison	from under EUR 30 to about EUR 50 a month
Rule of thumb roofer, disability insurance	about EUR 200 to 250 a month
Rule of thumb roofer, basic abilities cover with the same benefit	about EUR 70 to 90 a month
Private accident insurance, manual trades, EUR 100,000 basic sum, 350 percent progression	about EUR 120 to 260 a year
Tariff example hazard group B, EUR 100,000, 350 percent	EUR 165.60 a year
Tradesperson, 30, EUR 1,500 disability benefit	about EUR 90 to 180 a month

The last value is a guide value from our quoting practice.

Your premium depends on the exact trade, age, health and benefit.

Worked example

Electrician, 35, EUR 3,200 gross, slipped disc

He can no longer work on ladders and in shafts, but could still work full time in an office. Net pay is assumed to be EUR 2,200.

Trade association	nothing, because there was no accident and no recognised occupational disease
Sickness benefit after six weeks	for up to 78 weeks, at most 90 percent of EUR 2,200
Reduced earning capacity pension	none, because he can work six hours a day in other jobs
Private disability cover, EUR 1,500 benefit	pays if he can no longer do his trade to at least 50 percent

Without private cover he has to take a lower paid job. With disability insurance he gets EUR 1,500 a month and can retrain without pressure.

Why tradespeople have to calculate differently

Working in a trade strains your back, knees and joints every day, with machines, ladders and scaffolding. Insurers therefore rate employed tradespeople in more expensive groups for disability and accident cover than office workers.

That is exactly why cover matters more for tradespeople: the likelihood of having to give up the trade before retirement is higher. If you cannot afford the premium, a smaller benefit or an alternative is better than nothing at all.

What the trade association and pension insurance pay

Accidents at work and on the direct way to work are covered by statutory accident insurance, which for employed tradespeople is the firm's trade association (section 8 SGB VII). It does not pay if your knees or back wear out through illness, unless a recognised occupational disease applies.

If you fall ill, the firm keeps paying wages for six weeks, then health insurance pays 70 percent of gross, at most 90 percent of net pay, for up to 78 weeks. A reduced earning capacity pension (Erwerbsminderungsrente) is only paid if you cannot work six hours a day in any job. If a roofer could still work as a gatekeeper, the pension insurance can refuse.

Event	Who pays	What is left
Fall from scaffolding on site	trade association	private accident insurance pays on top
Slipped disc without accident	continued pay, then sickness benefit	no pension from the trade association
Permanently unable to work in the trade	pension insurance only for reduced earning capacity	disability benefit only privately
Accident in free time	health insurance for treatment	private accident insurance

Liability for damage in a trade

If you damage something at a customer's home as an employed tradesperson, the customer has a contract with your firm. The firm answers for the fault of its staff as for its own (section 278 BGB), which is why it has business liability insurance (Betriebshaftpflicht).

Towards the firm, employed tradespeople are only liable to a limited extent: not for slight negligence, partly for medium and usually fully for gross negligence. Labour courts have, for example, treated filling a lorry with petrol instead of diesel as gross negligence and made the driver pay two thirds. Your private liability policy does not cover such work damage.

If disability insurance is too expensive

Many employed tradespeople fail on the premium or the health questions. Then there are alternatives: disability for any work (Erwerbsunfähigkeitsversicherung) only pays once you cannot work at all, basic abilities cover pays when you lose defined abilities such as walking, kneeling or lifting.

For tradespeople, basic abilities cover is often closer to daily work because it is tied to physical abilities. It does not replace real disability insurance, because mental illness is usually missing. As a rule of thumb, for a roofer it costs about a third to half of disability insurance for the same benefit.

Order of priority for employed tradespeople

For employed tradespeople in Germany the order looks like this. The top rows secure your income; the bottom ones can wait.

Priority	Insurance	Typical premium
1	Disability insurance or alternative	guide value EUR 90 to 180 a month at 30 for a EUR 1,500 benefit
2	Private liability	small annual premium
3	Private accident insurance	about EUR 120 to 260 a year for physical work
4	Private and employment legal cover or a trade union	about EUR 250 a year
rarely needed	own business liability, tool cover for company tools	the firm's job

Tools, legal cover and starting your own business

Under the GDV model terms, your own tools at home count as contents if they are used exclusively for work. For tools in the company van or on site, ask your firm how they are insured.

For disputes about wages, overtime or dismissal, legal cover with employment law helps after a waiting period of usually three months; trade union members often get legal help through their union. If you set up your own trade business, you need business liability and more; we have separate pages for that. Norman Nammert arranges cover as an insurance broker, the insurer pays the commission.

Step by step

Describe your trade and tasks precisely in the application, including office or supervisory share.
Request disability insurance quotes and compare alternatives if refused or too expensive.
Add private accident insurance with progression.
Check legal cover or trade union membership.
Before going self-employed, sort out business insurance.

Checklist

Ability to work protected, disability or basic abilities cover
Health questions answered completely
Accident insurance with the right hazard group for your trade
Private liability in place
Legal cover including employment law or union membership

Common mistakes

Having only accident insurance and ignoring wear-and-tear illnesses
Stating office work in the application although you work on sites
Choosing no cover at all because disability insurance is expensive instead of a smaller benefit
Buying your own business liability as an employee

Questions and answers

Frequently asked

Why is disability insurance so expensive for tradespeople?

Because physical jobs more often have to be given up before retirement.

Tradespeople often pay several times the office rate.

Does the trade association pay for back problems?

Only after an accident at work or for a recognised occupational disease,

not for normal wear and tear.

Am I liable as a journeyman for damage at a customer's home?

The customer turns to the firm, which answers for its staff's fault as for its own.

Towards the firm you are only liable to a limited extent.

What is an alternative to disability insurance for tradespeople?

Basic abilities cover pays if you lose physical abilities such as walking or lifting.

Disability for any work cover only pays once no work at all is possible.

Do I need accident insurance as an employed tradesperson?

It is useful because it also covers free time and pays on top of the trade association.

For tradespeople it costs about EUR 120 to 260 a year.

Sources

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