# Insurance for graphic, fashion and product designers in Germany

> A logo that looks too much like someone else's brand. A label with a missing allergen warning. A chair design whose backrest snaps. Design errors often surface only once thousands of units have been printed or made, and by then the sums involved dwarf your fee.

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

## Do I really need insurance as a solo designer?

If you work for businesses, yes. A printing error on 50,000 packs or a trade mark infringement in a logo falls on you personally and without limit, freelancer or not. Professional indemnity for financial loss starts at around €170 to €400 a year, and the insurer's first job is to check whether the claim is justified at all.

## At a glance

- **Compulsory:** No insurance is required by law for designers
- **Biggest risk:** Financial loss suffered by clients through design errors and rights infringements, and in product design also injury to people
- **Basic cover from:** about €170 a year for a graphic designer's professional indemnity
- **Statutory accident insurer:** usually the VBG, the relevant Berufsgenossenschaft (statutory accident insurer); compulsory from the first employee, voluntary for the self employed
- **Often forgotten:** Product designers need cover for injury and property damage caused by their designs, not just for financial loss
- **WZ 2025 / NACE:** 74.11 Industrie-, Produkt- und Modedesign, 74.12 Grafik- und Kommunikationsdesign, 74.13 Innenraumdesign und Raumgestaltung, 74.14 Sonstige spezialisierte Designtätigkeiten

## What goes wrong in this trade

- **Errors the client signed off:** Two digits swapped in a phone number, the wrong colour in a corporate design, a typo on the packaging. Even after the client's approval there is often a fight over who shares the blame.
- **Logo and trade mark:** A new logo that comes too close to a registered trade mark forces the client to replace signs, vehicle livery and printed matter.
- **Fonts and images:** Font licences often cover only one computer or one medium. Use the typeface in an app or on the web and a demand for back payment follows.
- **Engineering in product design:** A design for furniture, lamps or toys with a weak point can injure people. Then the issue is personal injury and product recalls.
- **Fashion and patterns:** A print that resembles a protected design can stop an entire collection. Stock has to be destroyed or reworked.
- **Data loss:** Open files, client archive, font library: a failed drive or ransomware costs days and sometimes client work.

**Risk radar** (Compared with other trades, 1 low to 5 high.): Liability 4, Fire and water 2, Theft 2, Cyber 3, Downtime 2, Health 2

## The insurance you need

- **Professional indemnity** (Essential): Covers your clients' financial losses from design errors, missed deadlines and infringements of trade marks, images and fonts. https://www.nammert.com/en/insurance-broker-professional-indemnity.php
- **Business liability** (Strongly advised): Covers injury and property damage at meetings, shoots and trade fairs; in product design it must include damage caused by your designs. https://www.nammert.com/en/insurance-broker-business-liability.php
- **Electronic equipment** (Strongly advised): Replaces computers, tablets, printers and plotters even after operating errors, drops and power surges. https://www.nammert.com/en/insurance-broker-electronic-equipment.php
- **Occupational disability** (Strongly advised): Without your eyes, hands and concentration there is no income, and the German state offers the self employed no cover for this. https://www.nammert.com/en/insurance-broker-occupational-disability.php
- **Cyber insurance** (Depends on the business): Helps with ransomware, data recovery and data protection breaches involving client data. https://www.nammert.com/en/insurance-broker-cyber-insurance.php
- **Business legal expenses** (Depends on the business): Legal expenses for disputes over fees and usage rights; copyright disputes are often only included for an extra premium. https://www.nammert.com/en/insurance-broker-business-legal-expenses.php
- **Business contents** (Depends on the business): Covers the studio, sewing machines, fabrics and samples against fire, escape of water and burglary. https://www.nammert.com/en/insurance-broker-business-contents.php

## What it costs: example prices

Graphic design is one of the cheaper professions to insure for liability. Product design costs more, because injuries and recalls are possible, and so does high turnover with big brand clients.

| Insurance | Example | Typical range |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Professional indemnity | Solo graphic designer, financial loss up to €100,000, with an excess | about €170 to €400 a year |
| Professional indemnity | Design studio with three staff, €250,000 limit, injury and property damage included | about €500 to €1,100 a year |
| Business liability | Product designer with design liability, €3 million limit | about €400 to €1,200 a year |
| Electronic equipment | Computers, tablets and printers worth €10,000 | about €100 to €250 a year |
| Business legal expenses | Self employed with no staff | about €250 to €500 a year |

For comparison: A graphic designer's professional indemnity costs about as much a year as a simple logo design for a local tradesman.

_Guide prices excluding German insurance premium tax, as of September 2026. The entry level professional indemnity figure comes from publicly quoted tariffs; the other values are guide figures from our own quoting work. We obtain the exact quote for you._

- [finanzchecks.de: Berufshaftpflicht für Grafikdesigner](https://www.finanzchecks.de/berufshaftpflichtversicherung/grafikdesigner)
- [Finanzchef24: Versicherung für Werbeagenturen](https://www.finanzchef24.de/versicherung/werbeagentur)

## Our suggestions: three packages

- **Solo** (Freelance graphic designers, illustrators, web designers): Professional indemnity, Electronic equipment. Together: about €270 to €650 a year
- **Studio** (Design studio with premises and up to five staff): Professional indemnity, Business liability, Electronic equipment, Business contents, Cyber insurance. Together: about €1,000 to €2,400 a year
- **Product** (Product and industrial design, fashion with its own collection): Professional indemnity, Business liability, Electronic equipment, Business contents, Business legal expenses. Together: about €1,500 to €3,500 a year

## The worst day at the design studio

Six cases of the kind design studios really see, all on one Thursday. Tap through and see who pays.

- 09:00: The printer calls: 40,000 labels are missing an allergen warning that was missing from your artwork. Reprint and relabelling. (€14,000, Paid by: Professional indemnity)
- 11:15: A trade mark owner sends a warning letter over a client's new logo. The client has to redo signs and vehicle livery. (€22,000, Paid by: Professional indemnity)
- 13:30: At a client meeting your sample case falls onto a designer shelf and scratches it. (€1,800, Paid by: Business liability)
- 15:00: The graphics tablet falls off the desk and the display cracks. (€2,600, Paid by: Electronic equipment)
- 16:45: Ransomware locks the server holding every open project. (€8,500, Paid by: Cyber insurance)
- 19:20: A client refuses to pay because he understood the usage rights differently. (€4,000, Paid by: Business legal expenses)

**Damage so far:** €52,900

## Practical tips from your broker

- Have trade mark, copyright, registered design and unfair competition infringements named expressly in your professional indemnity.
- In product design, public liability should include damage arising from your design specifications, even if someone else manufactures the product.
- Check whether errors are covered after the client has signed off; some wordings exclude them.
- Where the insurer offers it, include font licences and software subscriptions in the electronics cover as replacement costs.
- If you work worldwide or for US clients, clarify the territorial scope first; US claims are often excluded.
- Protect your income with income protection (Berufsunfähigkeitsversicherung) while you are young and healthy; later it costs more or is not available at all.

## Why NAMMERT for your business

- **We compare wordings, not just prices:** Whether an approved error is covered comes down to one sentence in the wording. As a broker we lay out quotes from several insurers with that sentence side by side.
- **We know how claims handling works:** In boat insurance we handle claims ourselves. That craft helps when your insurer wants to see documents after a trade mark warning letter.
- **One contact for studio and private life:** Professional indemnity, equipment, income protection and pension are arranged together, matched to an income that goes up and down.
- **Family run since 1989, free for you:** The insurer pays our commission. You call and speak to someone who knows your policy.

## FAQ

### What does professional indemnity for a graphic designer cost?

At entry level about €170 to €400 a year for financial loss up to €100,000. With staff, a higher limit and injury and property damage included, design studios usually pay €500 to €1,100.

### Am I covered if the client approved the design?

Often yes, but not always. The client can still claim despite approving it, and some tariffs exclude such cases. Check this before you sign.

### Do I need different insurance as a product designer?

Yes: in addition to professional indemnity for financial loss, public liability that covers injury and property damage caused by your designs. A broken chair is not a financial loss.

### Are warning letters over fonts covered?

Yes, if copyright infringements are included and there was no intent. The insurer also checks whether the amount claimed is right.

### Do I have to join a Berufsgenossenschaft as a freelance designer?

Not without staff, but you can insure yourself voluntarily with this statutory accident insurer. Once you employ people membership is compulsory, usually with the VBG.

### Does the Künstlersozialkasse also cover accidents?

No. The Künstlersozialkasse, the social insurance fund for self employed artists and writers, pays part of your pension, health and long term care contributions, but not accident, income protection or liability cover.

## 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-designer.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.