Which insurance pays for online identity theft? Mainly personal cyber insurance, about EUR 7 to 212 a year in Germany, or an internet add-on to contents insurance. Depending on the policy they pay legal advice, data removal and financial losses up to a few thousand euros. Your bank must refund unauthorised debits first, your share is at most EUR 50. You do not have to pay for contracts fraudsters made in your name.
Personal cyber insurance and internet add-ons are relevant for online identity theft. Your legal rights against the bank cost nothing.
Example
Typical range
Personal cyber insurance, basic tariff, one person
around EUR 45 a year
Personal cyber insurance, basic tariff, family
around EUR 53 a year
Personal cyber insurance with up to EUR 3,000 per fraud case
around EUR 137 a year
Range of all tested cyber tariffs, one person
EUR 7 to 212 a year
Your share of unauthorised debits without gross negligence
at most EUR 50
Guide values, October 2026, from published examples.
The amounts in the worked example are guide values from broker practice.
Worked example
Stolen data, fake orders and card charges
Fraudsters use stolen ID and card details. They order goods worth EUR 1,200 on invoice and charge EUR 800 to the credit card.
Credit card charges of EUR 800
bank refunds, your share at most EUR 50
Orders on invoice of EUR 1,200
no contract with you, dispute in writing
Lawyer against a debt collector
cyber or legal expenses insurance, depending on the policy
Removing a fake profile
cyber insurance, if included
The law and the bank deal with most of it. Insurance helps with the clean-up and legal costs, not with the first loss.
With identity theft, the bank pays first
If fraudsters use your stolen data to take money from your account, the bank must refund it promptly under section 675u BGB. You can be charged at most EUR 50, unless you were grossly negligent, for example by giving a TAN over the phone (section 675v BGB).
If fraudsters order goods in your name, no contract is formed with you. You do not have to pay these bills, but you must dispute them. Insurance is mainly needed for what comes next: lawyers, clean-up and losses the bank does not cover.
Which insurance covers what after identity theft
Two types of policy are relevant for online identity theft. What they pay differs strongly between policies, so the table only shows the usual direction.
Benefit
Cyber insurance
Contents with internet add-on
Debits the bank does not refund
partly, up to the policy limit
partly, often only after the bank refuses
Legal advice against false claims
often included
rarely
Removal of fake profiles and data
often included
rarely
Fraud when shopping online
often included
depends on the policy
Your time and stress
not insured
not insured
What personal cyber insurance pays for identity theft
Personal cyber insurance is designed for losses online. Typical benefits are help with identity misuse, data recovery, legal advice and compensation for online fraud. A large German consumer test found big differences in benefits, with prices from EUR 7 to 212 a year.
Important: no cyber policy pays for losses that began before the policy started. And money you transferred to fraudsters yourself is excluded in many terms.
Internet add-on to contents insurance and its gaps
Normal contents insurance (Hausrat) pays nothing for identity theft, because internet fraud is not one of its insured perils. Some policies offer an internet add-on that covers financial losses up to a few thousand euros and often only applies if the bank does not refund.
Read the clause carefully: a German court decided that an add-on naming only phishing by email did not cover fraud by text message.
Legal expenses cover for false claims
If a debt collection letter or a court payment order (Mahnbescheid) follows the identity theft, legal expenses insurance helps if you have the right module and the dispute arose after the policy started. Whether disputes over identity misuse are covered is in your terms.
You can object to a court payment order yourself without a lawyer. What matters is that you meet the two week deadline.
When you do not need cyber insurance
If you rarely shop online, use strong authentication for online banking and have legal expenses cover, you will usually manage identity theft without a cyber policy. The key steps such as blocking, reporting and requesting information cost nothing.
Advice on protecting your identity
Norman Nammert works as an insurance broker (Versicherungsmakler) and can check whether your policies for contents, legal expenses and cyber insurance overlap or leave gaps for identity theft. The commission is paid by the insurer, so the advice is free for you.
Step by step
Change passwords and block cards and online banking.
Report it to the police and note the reference number.
Report unauthorised debits to your bank at once and ask for a refund.
Notify your cyber or contents insurer if you have the relevant cover.
Dispute all false claims in writing and keep to deadlines.
Checklist
Strong authentication active for online banking
Cyber insurance or internet add-on in place
Clause covers email, text messages and messengers
Legal expenses cover with a suitable module
Emergency numbers for blocking cards at hand
Common mistakes
Paying false bills out of fear
Contacting the insurer instead of the bank first
Taking out a cyber policy after the loss and hoping for a payout
Giving a TAN or login details over the phone
Questions and answers
Frequently asked
Does contents insurance pay for identity theft?
Not in its basic cover.
Only an internet or cyber add-on to contents insurance can pay financial losses up to its limit.
Do I have to pay if someone orders in my name?
No, no contract was formed with you.
Dispute the claim in writing and enclose the police report.
Does the bank always refund?
Not if you were grossly negligent, for example by handing a TAN to fraudsters.
The bank can then claim the full loss from you.
Does cyber insurance also cover my family?
If you choose a family tariff, yes.
The extra cost compared with single tariffs is usually small.
Does a cyber policy help if the identity theft has already happened?
No.
Losses that began before the policy started are not covered.
Is cyber insurance against identity theft worth it?
Mainly if you buy and sell a lot online and have no legal expenses cover.
Otherwise the free rights against banks and sellers are often enough.
