# Insurance for paper makers and packaging businesses in Germany

> Paper, board and corrugated card are stored in high stacks and burn accordingly. At the same time your customers pack food, medicines and electronics in them, and a misprinted or too weak pack hits their goods. This page sets out what paper and packaging businesses in Germany should insure.

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

## Who pays if 200,000 folding boxes carry the wrong allergen information?

Reprinting the boxes themselves is your warranty risk. But if your customer has to repack, recall or destroy goods, that creates financial losses which only extended product liability with the right building blocks will carry. Some policies exclude printing errors. That is the first point we check when we compare.

## At a glance

- **Compulsory:** No statutory insurance; if you place packaged goods on the market for end customers you must register in the German packaging register LUCID, but that is not insurance
- **Biggest risk:** Fire in the reel store and finished goods warehouse
- **Basic cover from:** around €600 a year for the general liability of a small packaging maker
- **Berufsgenossenschaft:** The statutory accident insurer is BG RCI for paper making and BG ETEM for paper converting and packaging
- **Often forgotten:** Financial losses at the customer caused by faulty printing, barcodes or mandatory information
- **WZ 2025 / NACE:** 17.11 Herstellung von Holz- und Zellstoff, 17.12 Herstellung von Papier, Karton und Pappe, 17.21 Herstellung von Wellpapier und -pappe sowie von Verpackungsmitteln aus Papier, Karton und Pappe, 17.22 Herstellung von Haushalts-, Hygiene- und Toilettenartikeln aus Zellstoff, Papier und Pappe, 17.23 Herstellung von Schreibwaren und Bürobedarf aus Papier, Karton und Pappe, 17.24 Herstellung von Tapeten, 17.25 Herstellung von sonstigen Waren aus Papier, Karton und Pappe

## What goes wrong in this trade

- **Fire in the store:** Paper reels, cartons and waste paper carry an enormous fire load. A warehouse fire is hard to put out, and the firefighting water ruins the rest.
- **A misprint with consequences:** Wrong barcode, missing mandatory information, mixed up artwork: the customer's packing line stops or the goods must be relabelled.
- **The packaging gives way:** Corrugated board that is too weak lets pallets collapse in the warehouse or goods arrive damaged.
- **The paper machine stops:** A paper machine or corrugator is huge and one of a kind. A broken cylinder or drive stops the whole business.
- **Substances in food packaging:** Mineral oil residues or printing inks can migrate into food and trigger recalls.
- **Cuts and entanglement:** Rollers, guillotines and die cutters draw in hands and clothing. These are the typical serious accidents.

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

## The insurance you need

- **Business liability** (Essential): With extended product liability for financial losses at the customer, for example from misprints, wrong dimensions or insufficient strength. https://www.nammert.com/en/insurance-broker-business-liability.php
- **Business contents** (Essential): Replaces machines, base paper and finished goods after fire, firefighting water, storm and burglary. https://www.nammert.com/en/insurance-broker-business-contents.php
- **Business interruption** (Essential): After a warehouse fire or machinery damage, business interruption cover secures wages, customers and profit. https://www.nammert.com/en/insurance-broker-business-interruption.php
- **Machinery breakdown** (Strongly advised): For paper machines, corrugators, printing presses and die cutters, whose spare parts often take months. https://www.nammert.com/en/insurance-broker-machinery-breakdown.php
- **Cyber insurance** (Depends on the business): Prepress, order data and machine control are networked; an attack stops every customer's orders. https://www.nammert.com/en/insurance-broker-cyber-insurance.php
- **Cargo insurance** (Depends on the business): For reels and pallets on the way to the customer or between sites. https://www.nammert.com/en/insurance-broker-cargo-insurance.php
- **Fleet insurance** (Depends on the business): If you deliver with your own lorries. https://www.nammert.com/en/insurance-broker-fleet-insurance.php

## What it costs: example prices

In paper and packaging, fire insurance makes up a large share of the premium because of the fire load. Turnover, customer sectors and the building blocks of product liability add to it.

| Insurance | Example | Typical range |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Business liability | Small packaging or carton maker up to €1 million turnover | around €600 to €1,800 a year |
| Business liability | Packaging maker with 50 staff, food industry customers, extended product liability | around €4,000 to €12,000 a year |
| Business contents | Machines and stock worth €2 million | around €3,500 to €9,000 a year |
| Machinery breakdown | Die cutting and gluing machines plus printing unit with a new value of €1 million | around €3,000 to €7,000 a year |
| Business interruption | Business interruption after fire and machinery breakdown, 18 months | around €2,000 to €6,000 a year |

For comparison: Liability, contents and business interruption for a small carton maker cost about as much a year as one full lorry load of corrugated board.

_Guide figures excluding German insurance tax, as of September 2026, from comparable manufacturing firms and our own quoting. Paper mills with their own paper machine are always priced individually and are well above these figures. We obtain the exact quote for you._

- [transparent-beraten.de: Betriebsunterbrechungsversicherung](https://www.transparent-beraten.de/betriebsunterbrechungsversicherung/)
- [Versicherungen.org: Maschinenversicherung, Beitragsbeispiele](https://www.versicherungen.org/wiki/Maschinenversicherung,_Beitragsbeispiele)
- [Funk: Rückrufkosten-Versicherung](https://www.funk-gruppe.de/de/themen-blog/versicherungs-management/rueckrufkosten-versicherung)

## Our suggestions: three packages

- **Cartons** (Small packaging and carton makers with cutting and die cutting): Business liability, Business contents, Business interruption. Together: around €2,500 to €7,000 a year
- **Packaging** (Manufacturers with printing, die cutting and food industry customers): Business liability, Business contents, Business interruption, Machinery breakdown, Cyber insurance. Together: around €12,000 to €30,000 a year
- **Mill** (Corrugated board and paper mills with large stores and their own fleet): Business liability, Business contents, Business interruption, Machinery breakdown, Cyber insurance, Cargo insurance, Fleet insurance. Together: around €30,000 to €80,000 a year

## The worst day at the packaging plant

Six losses that happen at paper and packaging firms, all on one day before Christmas. Tap through.

- 06:20: The flatbed die cutter jams; the crankshaft has broken. Three weeks' delivery time for the spare part. (€34,000, Paid by: Machinery breakdown)
- 09:00: A confectionery maker reports wrong barcodes on 150,000 folding boxes. Its goods must be relabelled. (€48,000, Paid by: Business liability)
- 11:30: Pallets collapse in a customer's warehouse because the boxes were too weak. Glass bottles are destroyed. (€26,000, Paid by: Business liability)
- 14:10: Prepress is encrypted, and orders from 40 customers are stuck. (€30,000, Paid by: Cyber insurance)
- 20:40: A forklift with an overheated battery sets the reel store on fire. (€780,000, Paid by: Business contents)
- 21:00: The Christmas trade is lost and customers switch to other suppliers for the time being. (€350,000, Paid by: Business interruption)

**Damage so far:** €1,268,000

## Practical tips from your broker

- Have printing and labelling errors expressly included in extended product liability.
- If you make food packaging, look at your customer's recall costs as a separate block.
- Allow generously for firefighting water and clearance costs; after a warehouse fire the remaining stock is usually soaked.
- Charge forklift batteries in a separate fire compartment; that lowers the risk and often the premium.
- Set the indemnity period for business interruption at 18 to 24 months if you have machines with long delivery times.
- Insure customer property such as printing plates, cutting dies and supplied goods with a sum of its own.

## Why NAMMERT for your business

- **We compare clauses, not just prices:** Whether misprints are covered often decides tens of thousands of euros. As a broker we compare the wordings of several insurers.
- **We know claims settlement first hand:** In boat insurance we settle claims ourselves. We help you document a warehouse fire properly, from stock lists to downtime.
- **Works, fleet and staff:** We align property, liability, vehicles and workplace pensions with each other, and can walk you through it in English.
- **A family business since 1989:** One fixed contact. Our work is free for you; the insurer pays our commission.

## FAQ

### Are misprints on packaging covered?

No insurance pays for making the packaging again. Follow-on costs at the customer can be insured through extended product liability if printing and labelling errors are not excluded.

### Why is fire insurance so expensive?

Paper and board have a high fire load, and firefighting water destroys even unburnt goods. Insurers therefore look closely at stacking heights, distances and sprinklers.

### What does insurance cost for a carton factory?

Small firms usually pay €2,500 to €7,000 a year for liability, contents and business interruption.

### Do I need recall insurance?

If you make food or pharmaceutical packaging, it makes sense. A recall at the customer can come back to you.

### Which Berufsgenossenschaft is responsible?

For paper mills it is BG RCI; for paper converting and packaging it is BG ETEM. Both are statutory accident insurers.

### Is the packaging register a form of insurance?

No. Registering with LUCID and joining a dual system for collecting packaging are duties under the German Packaging Act, but they do not replace insurance.

## 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-paper-packaging.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.