Which insurance can people with disabilities get in Germany?
In short
Which insurance can people with disabilities get in Germany? Almost all of it. Personal liability, contents and car insurance ask no health questions and often cost EUR 40 to 180 a year. German equal treatment law only allows surcharges for a disability if they rest on actuarial risk calculation. It gets harder with income protection, term life and private health insurance, where health questions decide.
Premiums and statutory benefits that apply to people with disabilities in Germany. Property insurance costs the same as for everyone else.
Example
Typical range
Personal liability, single
about EUR 40 to 120 a year
Personal liability, family with a disabled child
about EUR 60 to 180 a year
Vehicle tax with mark H, Bl or aG
EUR 0, a 100 percent saving
Vehicle tax with orange pass
50 percent reduction
Tax allowance at degree of disability 50
EUR 1,140 a year
Liability premiums from published market overviews, October 2026.
Tax values from the current statutory text.
Surcharges in income protection and term life are set by each insurer after its own assessment,
so there are no general figures.
Worked example
Family with an adult son, intellectual disability, degree 80, mark H
What the basic cover looks like and how much the law takes off the family budget.
Family liability including people without legal capacity
about EUR 80 to 150 a year
Son's health insurance
family cover without age limit, EUR 0
Vehicle tax for the family car registered to the son
waived on application
Son's tax allowance
EUR 7,400 because of mark H
The key policy costs under EUR 150 a year. The relief from tax and family health cover is usually larger than any premium.
What German law says about insurance for people with disabilities
Section 19 of the General Equal Treatment Act (Allgemeines Gleichbehandlungsgesetz, AGG) bans private insurers from treating people with disabilities worse. Section 20 (2) allows one exception: different treatment is lawful only if it rests on recognised principles of risk based calculation, meaning statistics and actuarial maths.
In practice a disability alone is no reason to refuse you. If it affects the insured risk, for example the chance of becoming unable to work, the insurer may add a surcharge, exclude the condition or decline.
Insurance
Health questions
What to expect with a disability
Personal liability (Privathaftpflicht)
no
normal cover, choose a policy that covers people without legal capacity
Contents and buildings
no
normal cover, your own aids at home count as contents
Car insurance
no
normal cover, declare adaptations at their full value
Accident insurance
often
insurable, an existing impairment reduces the payout
Income protection, term life
yes, detailed
surcharge, exclusion or refusal possible
Private health insurance
yes
basic tariff must accept you, normal tariffs may refuse
Personal liability and people who cannot be held liable
Under Section 827 of the German Civil Code (BGB), someone who causes damage while in a state of mental disorder that excludes free will is not liable. Without liability your personal liability insurance does not pay either, and the other person is left with the loss. For families with a relative with an intellectual disability this often leads to disputes with neighbours or friends.
So check whether your liability policy also pays for damage caused by people without legal capacity (deliktsunfähige Personen) up to an agreed sum. Whether and how much is set out in the policy wording. Also check that an adult child with a disability can stay in the family policy without an age limit.
Accident insurance with a disability: prior impairment
The model terms of the German insurance association for accident insurance contain the rule on prior impairment (Vorinvalidität): if an arm, leg or sense organ was already permanently impaired before the accident, that share is deducted from the degree of disability. If illness or infirmity contributed at least 25 percent to the consequences, the payout is reduced further.
Accident insurance can still be worth it for people with disabilities if the rest of the body is healthy, because it pays for the new damage. With severe multiple disabilities check whether much of the body remains insurable at all.
Health and long term care insurance
Statutory health insurance accepts people with disabilities without any health check. Under Section 10 of Social Code Book V children stay in free family cover without an age limit if their disability means they cannot support themselves and it already existed while they were family insured.
In private health insurance the insurer must offer the basic tariff (Basistarif) under Section 193 of the Insurance Contract Act (VVG) without refusal. Normal tariffs and top ups such as dental or long term care cover may ask about pre existing conditions and decline.
Car and tax benefits in Germany
Vehicle tax (Kfz-Steuer) is waived for one car under Section 3a of the Motor Vehicle Tax Act if your severe disability pass shows the mark H, Bl or aG. With the orange printed pass it is halved, as long as you do not use free local public transport. Both only apply on written application to customs.
For income tax, Section 33b of the Income Tax Act grants a lump sum allowance from EUR 384 at a degree of disability of 20 up to EUR 2,840 at 100. For car and liability insurance itself there is no statutory discount for a disability.
When certain insurance makes no sense
Income protection (Berufsunfähigkeitsversicherung) makes no sense if your disability already stops you working in your trained job, because existing limitations cannot be insured. State earning incapacity pension and social law benefits matter more then.
Long term care top up insurance is usually out of reach once a care grade (Pflegegrad) has been assessed, because the risk has already happened. If you do not have a care grade yet, read the health questions carefully before relying on an offer.
Step by step
Work out which risks really threaten the household: liability, home, car, income.
Ask the liability insurer about people without legal capacity and children without age limit.
Check the marks on the disability pass and apply to customs for the vehicle tax exemption.
For income protection or term life, have an anonymous pre enquiry made before signing anything.
Answer health questions fully, including about the disability.
Ask for written reasons for any refusal or surcharge.
Checklist
Liability covers damage by people without legal capacity
Disabled child stays in the family policy without age limit
Car adaptations declared to the comprehensive cover
Vehicle tax exemption and tax allowance applied for
Health questions answered completely
Pre enquiries made anonymously
Common mistakes
Leaving out the disability in an application, which lets the insurer withdraw later
Assuming liability insurance always pays even if the person was not liable
Submitting several named applications instead of anonymous pre enquiries
Not declaring car adaptations and risking they are missing after a total loss
Questions and answers
Frequently asked
Can an insurer in Germany refuse me because of my disability?
Only if the disability measurably raises the insured risk.
The equal treatment law requires a justification based on risk calculation.
Do I have to mention a disability for liability insurance?
Usually not, personal liability and contents insurance do not ask about health.
Do check whether damage by people without legal capacity is covered.
Can I get accident insurance with a disability?
Usually yes.
An existing impairment counts as prior impairment and is deducted after a later accident.
Is there a car insurance discount for severely disabled people?
There is no statutory discount.
The relief comes from vehicle tax, which is waived or halved depending on the marks in your pass.
What happens to my child's health insurance at 25?
The child stays in family cover if the disability prevents self support and already existed during
