Insurance broker / Insurance questions / Professional indemnity

What is financial loss liability insurance and who needs it in Germany?

In short

What it is: financial loss liability insurance (Vermögensschadenhaftpflicht) pays when a professional mistake of yours causes someone a pure money loss, with nobody hurt and nothing damaged. In Germany it needs to be held by those who advise, plan, audit or manage money; for lawyers and tax advisers it is mandatory. For consultants with a EUR 300,000 limit it costs from about EUR 185 a year.

Request a quote +49 3375 29 12 77

What is financial loss liability insurance and who needs it in Germany?

What it costs

Published premium examples for annual premiums in Germany, 2026.

Example	Typical range
Management consultant, EUR 60,000 turnover, EUR 300,000 limit	from about EUR 184 a year
Management consultant, EUR 60,000 turnover, EUR 500,000 limit	from about EUR 257 a year
Management consultant, EUR 60,000 turnover, EUR 1 million limit	from about EUR 518 a year
Lawyer, EUR 1 million limit, EUR 1,500 deductible, three year term	about EUR 1,250 a year
Usual range across professions	about EUR 240 to 1,560 a year, EUR 20 to 130 a month
Duty add-on in public service, financial loss raised from EUR 3,000 to EUR 250,000	about EUR 105 a year extra, net

Guide values as of October 2026 from publicly quoted premium examples; the minimum limits come from the statutes.

The statements on exclusions for knowing breaches of duty, on inclusions in business liability and the list of professions without an obligation are guide values from our quoting practice.

Your premium depends on profession, turnover and limit; we obtain the exact quote for you.

Worked example

Property manager misses a deadline

A self-employed property manager forgets to prepare the heating cost statement for an owners' association in time. Additional payments from the tenants can then no longer be enforced.

Lost additional payments from tenants	about EUR 18,000
The association's lawyer	about EUR 2,000
With financial loss liability, EUR 500,000 limit	insurer checks, fends off excessive parts and pays the rest
Deductible	about EUR 250 to 1,000

Without a policy he pays about EUR 20,000 out of his own pocket. With a policy it stays at the deductible and a premium of a few hundred euros a year.

What a pure financial loss is

A pure financial loss (echter Vermögensschaden) happens without anyone being injured or anything being damaged. Your client simply has less money afterwards: because a deadline passed, a subsidy was lost, a tax was set too high or a contract has an expensive gap.

Private or business liability insurance does not pay in such cases, or only to a very small extent. It is built for damage where something breaks or someone gets hurt. Financial loss liability closes exactly this gap.

What happens	Type of damage	Policy that pays
A client falls in your office	injury	business liability
You damage a client's laptop	property damage	business liability
Your tax return for a client is wrong, he pays too much	pure financial loss	financial loss liability
You miss the deadline for a subsidy application	pure financial loss	financial loss liability
Your coding error takes the client's online shop offline	pure financial loss	financial loss liability, depending on the tariff

Who must have it in Germany

For lawyers, section 51 of the Federal Lawyers' Act requires at least EUR 250,000 per claim; the annual payout may be capped at four times that. For tax advisers, section 52 of the implementing regulation to the Tax Advisory Act also requires EUR 250,000 per claim and at least EUR 1 million per year. Notaries need EUR 500,000 per claim. Insurance and investment intermediaries must show it for their licence.

Without the required cover there is no admission, or you lose it. The legal minimum is a floor, not a recommendation.

Who needs it without an obligation

Management consultants, IT service providers, project managers, property managers, surveyors, translators, copywriters and agencies: in all these jobs one mistake can cost a client more than your annual turnover. Many German clients therefore ask for a certificate of insurance before they sign.

Club board members, managing directors and civil servants in administration also carry a financial loss risk. There are separate forms of cover for them, such as liability for company officers or the duty add-on in public service.

When you do not need it

As an employee, your employer is liable first for mistakes, so your own policy is usually unnecessary. That changes as soon as you advise clients as a freelancer on the side.

Trades, retailers and restaurants cause almost only injury and property damage. For them good business liability insurance matters more; small amounts of pure financial loss can often be included there.

What to check in the contract

Mistakes often show up years later. Prior acts cover (Rückwärtsdeckung) insures mistakes made before the contract started that nobody has noticed yet. Run off cover (Nachhaftung) protects you if a client only makes a claim after you have stopped working.

Also read the exclusions: knowingly breaching a law, instruction or contract is not insured under many terms, even if you did not intend the damage. Redoing your own work is not paid either, only the further loss the client suffers.

Step by step

Check whether your professional law requires financial loss liability and a minimum limit.
Play through the most expensive mistake that could happen in a typical project.
Check whether your business liability already includes small amounts of pure financial loss.
Set the limit per claim and the annual aggregate.
Put prior acts cover, run off cover and exclusions of the offers side by side.

Checklist

All activities named in the contract, including extras
Limit per claim fits your projects and professional law
Annual aggregate at least twice the limit per claim
Prior acts cover for undiscovered earlier mistakes
Run off cover after you stop working
Injury and property damage covered by business liability

Common mistakes

Believing business liability also pays for advice errors
Choosing only the legal minimum although your projects are bigger
Offering new services without telling the insurer
Cancelling the contract when you retire without settling run off cover

Questions and answers

Frequently asked

How does it differ from professional liability?

Professional liability (Berufshaftpflicht) is the umbrella term. For advisory professions it usually means financial loss liability; for doctors and architects it also covers injury and property damage.

Do IT freelancers need it?

Usually yes. A coding error can cost a client revenue without anything breaking. Make sure data loss and software errors are named explicitly.

What is consequential financial loss?

A money loss that follows from injury or property damage, such as lost earnings after an accident. Business or private liability covers it.

Does it pay for gross negligence?

Yes, gross negligence is usually insured. Intent and knowing breaches of duty are usually excluded.

What does it cost per month?

For consultants with low turnover from about EUR 15, for lawyers with high limits around EUR 100 and more.

Do club board members need it?

Often yes, if the club manages money or receives grants. Many clubs take out a joint policy for the board.

Sources

NAMMERT insurance broker

Request a quote: Professional indemnity

We compare insurers and come back to you, in English. Free; the insurer pays our fee.

1Who is it for?

Personal My company

Company Industry Number of employees Annual turnover (roughly)

2Which insurance?

Choose as many as you like. For each one, the details an insurer needs for a quote appear below.

Personal

Business

Please review all my existing policies

3Details

Professional indemnity insurance in Germany (Berufshaftpflicht)

Profession and main area of work * For example tax adviser with payroll, freelance software developer, architect for residential buildings Does your chamber or trade law require insurance? * Legal form * Annual net fee income in euros * Number of professionals and staff * Preferred limit per claim * Claims in the last five years * Anything else we should know For example current policy abroad, clients in the US, side activities, expiry date of existing cover

4Your current policy

Current insurer Policy ends on What matters more to you?

5How can we reach you?

Name * Email * Phone Postcode Town Preferred contact Anything else we should know