Who pays for the damage? A claims guide for Germany

A pipe inside the bathroom wall bursts and water soaks the floor and furniture.

Does not pay
Personal liability does not pay for your own home. It only responds when water reaches a neighbour and you were at fault.

The catch
Tenants often assume the landlord's buildings policy covers their furniture. It does not, and in Germany contents are always the occupant's own business.

After a thunderstorm, water backs up through the drain and runs down the basement stairs.

Does not pay
Standard buildings and contents policies cover water from pipes, storm, hail and fire, not water from outside.

The catch
Natural hazard cover is an add-on in Germany that must be chosen actively. Without a maintained backflow valve many insurers reduce or refuse payment.

The river breaks its banks and the ground floor stands under a metre of water.

Does not pay
Government emergency aid is paid only after major disasters and is not a right. Compulsory flood insurance has been proposed in Germany but has not been passed.

The catch
In high-risk zones natural hazard cover is expensive or comes with a high excess. Buying cover once a flood warning is out rarely works because of waiting periods.

An autumn storm strips tiles, rain gets into the loft.

Does not pay
Rain leaking through an old roof without storm damage is maintenance, and nobody pays.

The catch
German policies count a storm from wind force 8 on the Beaufort scale. Without a measurement, the insurer asks for evidence such as damage in the neighbourhood or weather service data.

Lightning strikes nearby, afterwards the TV, router and heating controls are dead.

Does not pay
The manufacturer's warranty never covers power surges.

The catch
A direct strike is always covered, the far more common indirect surge only when the policy says so. Older contracts often cap it low.

Oil in a pan catches fire, the kitchen burns out and soot spreads through the flat.

Does not pay
The landlord's buildings insurance does not pay for your furniture, and it may seek recovery from you for gross negligence.

The catch
Leaving the pan unattended can count as gross negligence. Good policies waive that defence, basic ones reduce the payout.

The front door is forced, jewellery, laptop and cash are gone.

Does not pay
Without signs of forced entry, for instance through an open window, it is not burglary under German terms.

The catch
Cash and jewellery outside a safe are covered only to fixed limits. Report to the police immediately and submit a list of stolen items.

Your locked bike stands in your basement storage, one morning the door is broken open and it is gone.

Does not pay
Stolen outside the station, contents insurance pays only with a bicycle clause.

The catch
Shared bike rooms without break-in marks on your own door are difficult. Keep the receipt and frame number.

The hose bursts and water drips through the ceiling of the downstairs flat.

Does not pay
Your liability cover does not pay automatically. If the hose failed without fault on your side, you are not liable and the neighbour's contents policy pays their belongings.

The catch
Running the machine while nobody is home often counts as contributory fault. A water-stop valve on the hose is the cheapest prevention.

You lose the key to the building's central lock system and the landlord wants every lock replaced.

Does not pay
Contents insurance does not pay this. At most it covers changing your own lock after a burglary.

The catch
Many policies cap key claims and exclude keys from your employer. Work keys need an explicit extension.

An inherited house stands empty over winter, a pipe freezes and bursts.

Does not pay
The heir's contents insurance applies to the heir's own home, not to the empty house.

The catch
In the cold season an unused building must be heated, or all pipes shut off and drained. Otherwise cover can be lost in full or in part.

A hailstorm leaves dozens of dents in roof and bonnet.

Does not pay
Motor liability never pays for your own car, and contents insurance does not cover vehicles.

The catch
If you keep the money instead of repairing, VAT is deducted. A later hail claim on the same panels has the old damage subtracted.

On a country road a deer jumps out, the front of the car is crushed.

Does not pay
If you swerve and end in a ditch without touching the animal, partial cover pays only if swerving was clearly necessary. Otherwise it needs fully comprehensive cover.

The catch
Without a certificate from the police or the local hunter there is no proof. Photos of the animal and hair on the car help.

The side window is smashed and the bag with laptop and camera taken from the back seat.

Does not pay
Motor insurance never pays for items you carry. Contents insurance without a special clause does not either.

The catch
Even when included, cover may apply only during the day, up to a low limit, and only if items were not visible from outside.

Driving a hire car in Spain, you cause an accident and the other driver is badly hurt.

Does not pay
Personal liability excludes damage caused while driving motor vehicles, including hire cars.

The catch
Legal minimum limits in some countries are low. The Mallorca extension is included in many German motor policies but usually only for Europe.

While you are at dinner, the room door is forced and camera and watch are gone.

Does not pay
The hotel's liability is limited by law and depends on whether valuables were in the safe.

The catch
Cover away from home usually applies only to trips of up to three months. Report the theft to the local police, a report back home is not enough.

On holiday in Antalya your appendix has to come out, and the hospital wants payment upfront.

Does not pay
Statutory health insurance pays outside the EU only where an agreement exists and only at German rates. It never pays repatriation.

The catch
Many policies cover trips of up to six or eight weeks only. If you visit family abroad for longer, you need longer cover.

Three days before a package holiday your child falls seriously ill.

Does not pay
Health insurance does not refund cancellation fees, and the operator need not cancel free of charge.

The catch
Cancel immediately once the trip is impossible. Waiting to see whether things improve means you only get the fees that would have applied on the earlier date.

Riding your e-bike, you hit a pedestrian who breaks a hip.

Does not pay
Accident insurance pays for your own injuries, not for the other person's.

The catch
This applies to pedal-assisted e-bikes up to 25 km/h. A speed pedelec up to 45 km/h needs an insurance plate, and personal liability does not cover it.

The drone loses signal and falls onto the windscreen of a parked car.

Does not pay
Many personal liability policies exclude drones or cover only light models.

The catch
Flying against the rules, for example over residential properties without permission, can lead to recovery claims against you. Carry proof of insurance when flying.

Your eight-year-old rides a scooter along a parked car and leaves a long scratch.

Does not pay
The neighbour's own comprehensive cover would pay but costs him his no-claims class, so he will claim from you.

The catch
The rule that children under ten are not liable in road traffic does not apply to parked cars, according to the Federal Court of Justice. A child under seven is never liable, then only a policy including young children pays.

You borrow a friend's phone to take a photo and it falls on tiles.

Does not pay
Basic policies exclude borrowed and rented items. And liability never pays the price of a new phone.

The catch
Because the phone was in your hand, it counts as borrowed, exactly the situation the exclusion targets.

You carry a large mirror during a friend's move, it slips and breaks.

Does not pay
Without the clause insurers often refuse: German courts usually hold unpaid helpers liable only for gross negligence.

The catch
Some policies exclude damage to goods during loading and unloading of vehicles. Check before moving day.

At the weekend your daughter falls from a climbing frame, a complex fracture leaves the joint stiff.

Does not pay
Statutory accident insurance covers children only at nursery, school and on the way there. Health insurance pays treatment but no compensation.

The catch
Many policies pay only from a certain degree of impairment, and the impairment must be medically confirmed within 15 months.

A father dies aged 42, two children, the house half paid off.

Does not pay
Statutory survivors' pensions replace only part of the income. Accident insurance pays only for death by accident, most deaths are from illness.

The catch
Wrong health answers on the application let the insurer withdraw from the contract in the first years. Adjust the sum when the mortgage changes.

The dog jumps the garden fence and bites the delivery worker's leg.

Does not pay
Personal liability does not cover dogs, one of the most common misunderstandings among newcomers.

The catch
Dog owners are liable even without fault. Breaking local rules such as leash or muzzle orders can give the insurer recourse against you.

A startled horse breaks loose, runs onto the main road and a car hits it.

Does not pay
Personal liability does not pay, not even the rider's if they are not the owner.

The catch
Shared riders and third-party riders must be included in the owner's policy, otherwise the insurer may claim from the rider.

A torn cruciate ligament, and the animal hospital quotes several thousand euros.

Does not pay
Pet liability pays damage to others, not treatment of your own animal.

The catch
Waiting periods and exclusions for known conditions are standard. Some policies reimburse only up to twice the fee scale, while animal hospitals often charge more.

A fall on the piste, helicopter rescue, surgery in the valley.

Does not pay
With the European Health Insurance Card, statutory insurance pays what a local contract doctor would cost. Helicopter rescue is generally not covered.

The catch
Many clinics in ski resorts treat patients privately. Without travel health cover the difference lands with you.

A molar has to come out and the dentist recommends an implant costing around 3,000 euros.

Does not pay
Statutory insurance pays a fixed subsidy of 60 percent of the standard treatment, 70 or 75 percent with a complete bonus booklet. The standard treatment is a bridge, not an implant.

The catch
Dental plans do not pay for treatment already recommended or started before you signed. In the first years annual caps apply.

After months of overload a project manager is off with severe depression, no return in sight.

Does not pay
Statutory sick pay ends after 78 weeks. The statutory reduced earning capacity pension applies only if you cannot work in any job at all.

The catch
Mental illness is among the most frequent causes of disability claims. Concealing past psychotherapy on the application can void the contract.

After a stroke, your mother needs a care home place at care level 4.

Does not pay
Statutory care insurance pays a fixed amount per care level, not the full cost. Accommodation, meals and investment costs stay with the resident.

The catch
Supplementary care cover must be taken out before care is needed. With existing conditions or at an advanced age insurers often decline.

After years in the job your employer dismisses you for operational reasons and you want to challenge it.

Does not pay
At first instance in German labour courts each side pays its own lawyer, even the winner.

The catch
Employment cover usually has a three-month waiting period. Buying it once a dispute is looming does not work.

A tax adviser files an objection too late, the client loses a 40,000 euro refund.

Does not pay
General business liability covers injury and property damage, not pure financial loss from advice.

The catch
Many professional indemnity policies cover only claims reported during the policy period. Retiring professionals need run-off cover.

A GmbH loses heavily on a risky investment and the shareholders demand compensation from the managing director.

Does not pay
The company's business liability does not respond when the company sues its own director. Personal assets are liable without limit (§ 43 GmbH Act).

The catch
Intentional breaches are never covered, and defence costs eat into the sum insured.

A customer slips on a freshly mopped floor and breaks her wrist.

Does not pay
The owner's personal liability does not cover business activities.

The catch
It turns on the duty to keep premises safe. Without a warning sign liability is clear. Record cleaning times and signage.

An employee opens an attachment, next morning all systems are encrypted with a ransom demand.

Does not pay
Contents and equipment policies do not pay data restoration after an attack. Business interruption cover needs physical damage, not a hack.

The catch
Cyber policies often require current updates, separate backups and multi-factor login. Missing them can reduce the payout.

A customer with 80,000 euros in open invoices files for insolvency.

Does not pay
No other business policy pays for bad debt.

The catch
Only customers with a credit limit approved in advance are covered. Keep delivering while payments are overdue and you lose cover for the new deliveries.

An employee drops heavy tools while installing a kitchen and ruins the parquet.

Does not pay
Under German employment law the employee's own liability is limited, for slight negligence to nothing. The business carries the loss.

The catch
Basic policies exclude damage to items being worked on, which is exactly what matters for trades.

An operating error destroys the spindle, the machine is down for six weeks and orders are lost.

Does not pay
Contents insurance pays for fire, burglary, water and storm, not for operating errors.

The catch
Wear and tear is never covered, and standard business interruption follows fire and similar perils. Machinery breakdown needs its own module.