Which insurance do you still need in a care home in Germany?
In short
Which insurance do you still need in a care home in Germany? Health and long term care insurance continue, and personal liability for about EUR 40 to 120 a year still makes sense. Contents insurance is only needed for the room in the home, with a much lower sum. A sold car and policies without use can go. The main cost is the place itself: on average EUR 3,364 a month paid out of pocket.
What a care home costs and what insurance there costs, figures for 2026.
Example
Typical range
Own share in a care home, first year, national average
EUR 3,364 a month
Own share, range across federal states
EUR 2,891 to 3,761 a month
Care fund benefit in a home
EUR 805 in care grade 2 to EUR 2,096 in care grade 5
Personal liability, single
about EUR 40 to 120 a year
Small contents policy for a room in a home
from about EUR 25 a year
Care costs from vdek as of 1 July 2026 and 2026 benefit amounts from the Federal Ministry of
Health.
Insurance premiums are guide values from published tariff examples;
contents for a room in a home is a guide value from quoting practice.
Norman Nammert obtains quotes as an insurance broker.
Worked example
Widow, 84, moves into a home with care grade 3, house stands empty
How the family sorts out the policies after the move into the care home.
Contents sum reduced from EUR 70,000 to EUR 10,000
premium falls significantly
Personal liability
stays, about EUR 60 a year
Building insurance
stays, vacancy reported, water shut off
Car insurance
ends with the sale of the car
Care daily allowance
benefit claimed
The family saves on contents and car and closes the dangerous gap: an empty house without a reported vacancy.
Which insurance continues in a care home
Moving into a care home (Pflegeheim) changes what you need: household, car and house shrink or disappear, the liability risk remains. Go through the policies one by one instead of cancelling everything at once.
The table shows what usually stays, what is adjusted and what can go.
Insurance
In a care home
Why
Health and long term care insurance
stays
compulsory, the care fund pays the care share
Personal liability
stays
damage in the home or during visits still happens
Contents
adjust
only furniture and things in the room
Building insurance
keep and report the vacancy
the house remains your risk until it is sold
Car
ends with sale or deregistration
passes to the buyer on sale
Supplementary care and funeral cover
stay
they pay now or later
Personal liability: still useful in a care home
A lot can happen in a care home: a walker damages a fellow resident's door, a glass falls on someone else's hearing aid, something breaks when the grandchildren visit. The resident is liable for such damage, and personal liability insurance pays.
Advanced dementia is a special case: anyone who cannot decide freely because of a pathological disorder is not liable under section 827 BGB. Then liability insurance normally does not pay either. Some tariffs still cover such damage if they include persons without capacity for liability, which is easier for relatives and fellow residents.
Contents in the care home and the old flat
If you move into the care home with your own furniture, you still need contents insurance, but with a much smaller sum. Under the model terms cover moves to the new home when you move; whether a room in a care home counts is set by your tariff. Report the move in writing and get confirmation of cover in the home.
If the old flat is dissolved and the contents sold, the insured interest ceases. Under section 80 VVG the insurer is only entitled to the premium up to the point it learns of this, so report the dissolution early.
The empty house: don't cancel building insurance
If your own house stands empty after the move into a care home, keep the building insurance at all costs. An empty house is a higher risk, which you should report to the insurer (section 23 VVG).
For unused buildings, the model terms require regular checks and shutting off and draining water pipes, or heating the house in winter. Failing to do so risks reductions after frost damage. If the house is sold, the insurance passes to the buyer under section 95 VVG.
Check supplementary care, funeral and accident cover
A care daily allowance or care pension policy pays now, often also for full residential care. Claim the benefit and ask whether premiums are waived during care; each tariff sets this itself.
You will usually keep a funeral expenses policy (Sterbegeldversicherung), because taking out a new one at an advanced age is expensive. Private accident insurance only makes sense in a care home if it offers benefits you actually need there; read the terms before cancelling.
What is no longer needed in a care home
Car insurance ends when the car is sold or deregistered. Hardly anyone in a home still needs legal expenses for work or traffic. Whether a dispute over the care home contract is covered by legal expenses insurance depends on the tariff; clarify this before cancelling.
Glass insurance for the old flat, annual travel policies or a breakdown cover for the car can usually go too.
Step by step
List all policies with premium and notice period.
Report the move into the care home to the contents insurer and lower the sum.
Report the vacancy of the house to the building insurer and secure the pipes.
Claim the care daily allowance or care pension and ask about premium waiver.
End the car insurance on sale or deregistration.
Check whether personal liability covers damage in case of dementia.
Checklist
Personal liability continues
Contents adjusted to the room in the home
Vacancy of the house reported
Supplementary care benefit claimed
Funeral expenses policy kept
Car and car insurance settled
Common mistakes
Cancelling building insurance although the empty house still belongs to you
Not reporting the vacancy and risking reductions after frost damage
Continuing to pay contents at the old level although the flat has been dissolved
Not claiming the benefit from supplementary care insurance
Questions and answers
Frequently asked
Do you still need liability insurance in a care home?
Yes, it remains useful.
Residents can damage other people's things or injure someone.
With advanced dementia a tariff that includes persons without capacity for liability helps.
Do you need contents insurance in a care home?
If you take your own furniture and valuables, yes, but with a small sum.
Get confirmation that the room in the home is included.
What happens to contents insurance when the flat is dissolved?
If the insured contents cease to exist, the interest ends.
The insurer may only charge the premium up to the point it learns of this.
Do I have to report the empty house to the insurer?
Yes.
Vacancy increases the risk, and the terms require checks and shut off or heated pipes.
Does long term care insurance pay for the whole care home?
No.
It pays part of the care.
Accommodation, meals and investment costs are yours, on average EUR 3,364 a month remains.
Can I cancel the funeral expenses policy in the home?
Yes, but it is usually wiser to keep it.
Taking out a new one later is expensive at an advanced age or no longer possible.
