# Insurance for pharmacies and pharmacy owners in Germany

> In a pharmacy, one mixed up packet can put someone in hospital, and the fridge may hold vaccines and insulin worth as much as a small car. Since the e-prescription arrived, every sale also depends on the technology working. This page sets out which insurance a pharmacy needs and what it costs.

Quelle/Source: https://www.nammert.com/en/business-insurance-pharmacy.php  
Updated: 2026-09-18

## Will insurance pay if we hand out the wrong medicine?

Yes. The pharmacy's professional and public liability cover pays if a patient's health is harmed by a mix up, a wrong dose or a compounding error, and it also fights off unjustified claims. What is usually not covered is a statutory health insurer refusing to reimburse a prescription because of a formal error. These clawbacks, known in Germany as Retaxation, can only be insured to a limited extent and through separate add ons.

## At a glance

- **Compulsory:** The professional codes of the regional chambers of pharmacists (Landesapothekerkammern) require adequate professional liability cover; mail order pharmacies need transit insurance
- **Biggest risk:** Dispensing and compounding errors that harm a patient's health
- **Basic cover from:** around 125 euros a year for the liability cover of a small pharmacy
- **Berufsgenossenschaft:** BGW, the statutory accident insurer for health and welfare services, compulsory for every pharmacy with employees
- **Often forgotten:** Refrigerated stock: vaccines and biologics that have to be thrown away after the fridge fails
- **WZ 2025 / NACE:** 47.73 Einzelhandel mit pharmazeutischen Erzeugnissen

## What goes wrong in this trade

- **Dispensing errors:** Similar names, similar packs, a queue at the counter: handing over the wrong product or the wrong strength can have serious consequences.
- **Compounding in house:** Ointments, capsules and solutions made on the premises: one weighing error turns the pharmacy into a manufacturer with full liability.
- **The cold chain:** Vaccines, insulin and biologics in the fridge are often worth tens of thousands of euros. If the fridge fails over a weekend, all of it is lost.
- **Technology and e-prescriptions:** Stock management software, the dispensing robot and the connection to the national health data network: an attack or a fault stops dispensing and puts patient data at risk.
- **Burglary:** Narcotics, high priced drugs and the till attract burglars; the damage to doors and cabinets often costs more than what is taken.
- **Home delivery:** Your courier takes medicines to patients' homes. Accidents on the round and deliveries to the wrong address are part of everyday life.

**Risk radar** (Compared with other trades, 1 low to 5 high.): Liability 5, Fire and water 4, Theft 3, Cyber 4, Downtime 4, Health 3

## The insurance you need

- **Professional indemnity** (Essential): Covers harm to health from dispensing, advice and compounding errors, and meets the requirements of your chamber of pharmacists. https://www.nammert.com/en/insurance-broker-professional-indemnity.php
- **Business liability** (Strongly advised): For falls in the shop and damage to other people's property; insurers often combine it with professional liability in a single pharmacy policy. https://www.nammert.com/en/insurance-broker-business-liability.php
- **Business contents** (Strongly advised): Replaces stock, fittings and refrigerated medicines after fire, water and burglary, and after a fridge breakdown if the cold storage add on is included. https://www.nammert.com/en/insurance-broker-business-contents.php
- **Business interruption** (Strongly advised): Keeps paying wages, rent and lost gross profit while the pharmacy stays closed after a loss. https://www.nammert.com/en/insurance-broker-business-interruption.php
- **Cyber insurance** (Strongly advised): Helps after attacks on your stock management and e-prescription systems, after a loss of health data and with your duties towards the data protection authority. https://www.nammert.com/en/insurance-broker-cyber-insurance.php
- **Electronic equipment** (Depends on the business): Covers the dispensing robot, tills and compounding equipment against power surges, operating errors and breakdowns. https://www.nammert.com/en/insurance-broker-electronic-equipment.php
- **Fleet insurance** (Depends on the business): For your delivery vehicles; motor third party liability is compulsory for every one of them. https://www.nammert.com/en/insurance-broker-fleet-insurance.php
- **Company pension (bAV)** (Depends on the business): Pharmaceutical technicians and licensed pharmacists are in short supply; a company pension helps you keep them. https://www.nammert.com/en/insurance-broker-company-pension.php

## What it costs: example prices

Pharmacies pay a moderate amount for liability cover and considerably more for stock, technology and loss of income. What matters is turnover, the number of licensed pharmacists, how much compounding you do, whether you sell by mail order and the value of your stock.

| Insurance | Example | Typical range |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Professional indemnity | Pharmacy, liability cover of 3 to 10 million euros, basic tariff | around 125 to 350 euros a year |
| Professional indemnity | Pharmacy with compounding, care home supply or mail order, extended cover | around 400 to 1,500 euros a year |
| Business contents | Stock and fittings worth 300,000 euros, cold storage included | around 800 to 2,000 euros a year |
| Cyber insurance | Pharmacy with e-prescriptions and customer files, 250,000 euros cover | around 500 to 1,100 euros a year |
| Electronic equipment | Dispensing robot worth 150,000 euros | around 500 to 1,500 euros a year |

For comparison: A pharmacy's liability and contents cover costs about as much a year as the fixed pharmacy fee earned on 150 prescription only packs.

_The basic liability tariffs come from public examples and in some cases already include insurance tax. The other figures are guide figures excluding insurance tax from our own quoting practice, as of September 2026. We will obtain the exact quote for you._

- [Finanzchef24: Berufshaftpflicht für Apotheker](https://www.finanzchef24.de/versicherung/apotheker)
- [Berufshaftpflichtversicherung Experten: Betriebshaftpflicht Apotheken](https://berufshaftpflichtversicherung-experten.de/betriebshaftpflicht-apotheken/)
- [Versicherungsengel: Kosten der Inhaltsversicherung](https://www.versicherungsengel.de/versicherungen/inhaltsversicherung/kosten)
- [Insurancy: Kosten der Cyber-Versicherung](https://www.insurancy.de/cyber-versicherung/kosten/)

## Our suggestions: three packages

- **Basic** (small rural pharmacy without mail order and with little compounding): Professional indemnity, Business liability, Business contents. Together: around 1,000 to 2,300 euros a year
- **Dispensary** (pharmacy with compounding, home delivery and a dispensing robot): Professional indemnity, Business liability, Business contents, Business interruption, Electronic equipment, Cyber insurance. Together: around 2,500 to 5,500 euros a year
- **Group** (main pharmacy with branches, care home supply or mail order): Professional indemnity, Business liability, Business contents, Business interruption, Electronic equipment, Cyber insurance, Fleet insurance, Company pension (bAV). Together: around 6,000 to 14,000 euros a year

## The worst day in the pharmacy

Six losses that pharmacies really experience, all on one Monday after a weekend on emergency duty. Tap through and see who pays.

- 07:50: The medicines fridge reads 14 degrees. Vaccines, insulin and two biologics have to be discarded. (€23,000, Paid by: Business contents)
- 09:20: A gripper breaks and the dispensing robot stops dead. Engineer call out and spare parts. (€6,500, Paid by: Electronic equipment)
- 11:05: A patient is given ten times the prescribed strength of a blood thinner and is admitted to hospital with bleeding. (€45,000, Paid by: Professional indemnity)
- 13:40: The stock management system is encrypted by ransomware and e-prescriptions cannot be retrieved. IT forensics and restoration. (€16,000, Paid by: Cyber insurance)
- 16:15: An elderly customer trips on the step at the entrance and breaks her wrist. (€7,000, Paid by: Business liability)
- 18:30: Pulling out of a parking space, the delivery car clips a cyclist's back wheel and the cyclist falls. (€5,500, Paid by: Fleet insurance)

**Damage so far:** €103,000

## Practical tips from your broker

- Choose at least 5 million euros of cover for bodily injury; a single serious dispensing error can lead to a pension payable for life.
- Have compounding, batch production, care home supply and blister packing named in the policy if you offer them.
- Insure refrigerated stock with its own limit and check whether a temperature alarm is a condition of cover.
- Ask about cover for Retaxation clawbacks and check carefully which cases it includes, because many exclusions are standard.
- Include loss of income after a cyber attack: without stock management and e-prescriptions, dispensing comes to a halt.
- If you sell through your own website, make sure you hold the transit insurance that the Apothekengesetz (Pharmacy Act) requires for mail order.

## Why NAMMERT for your business

- **We compare pharmacy policies:** Professional liability, cold storage and cyber cover are shaped differently by every insurer. As a broker we set several quotes side by side so you can compare cover and premium.
- **We know claims from the inside:** We settle boat claims ourselves. After a fridge failure we know that the temperature log, the batch list and purchase prices decide how much you are paid.
- **Pharmacy and family with one contact:** Your dispensary, branches, delivery service, your team's pensions and your own cover are looked after together, on +49 3375 29 12 77.
- **Family owned since 1989:** Pharmacies are often run over generations, and so are we. Our advice costs you nothing; the insurer pays for it.

## FAQ

### Is professional liability insurance compulsory for pharmacists?

The professional codes of the regional chambers of pharmacists require pharmacists to hold adequate liability cover. Each federal state sets out the details itself.

### What does liability insurance cost for a pharmacy?

Basic tariffs start at around 125 euros a year. With compounding, care home supply or mail order and higher limits, a few hundred to over a thousand euros is usual.

### Are employed pharmacists covered through the pharmacy?

For their work in your pharmacy, usually yes, through the owner's policy. For locum work in other pharmacies or side jobs they need their own professional liability cover.

### Will insurance pay for spoiled refrigerated stock?

Only if cold storage or spoilage cover is included. Make sure the limit is high enough for expensive individual medicines too.

### Does a pharmacy need cyber insurance?

It is strongly recommended. A pharmacy processes health data and is connected to the national health data network; an outage stops dispensing.

### Is our delivery service covered?

Delivery mistakes fall under professional liability, accidents with the vehicle under motor insurance. If staff use their own cars for deliveries, that should be arranged separately.

## Request quotes

We obtain quotes and come back with a comparison. Free of charge and without obligation: the insurer pays our commission. You can write in English. https://www.nammert.com/en/business-insurance-pharmacy.php#anfrage

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NAMMERT Assekuradeur GmbH, insurance broker licensed under section 34d(1) of the German Trade Regulation Act, broker register no. D-C08Q-TOSD4-37. For boat and yacht insurance we act as underwriting agency, not as broker.

NAMMERT Assekuradeur GmbH, Karl-Marx-Straße 4, 15711 Königs Wusterhausen, +49 3375 29 12 77, info@nammert.com. Wikidata: Q141141479.