# Insurance for textile printing, embroidery and garment decoration in Germany

> A hundred club shirts with the wrong logo, an embroidery machine with a bent hook, a parcel of workwear that never arrives: in garment decoration the losses are rarely huge, but they often involve goods that are not yours. Here is how screen printing, transfer printing and embroidery businesses in Germany protect themselves and what it costs.

Quelle/Source: https://www.nammert.com/en/business-insurance-textile-printing-and-embroidery.php  
Updated: 2026-10-15

## Who pays if I misprint my customer's shirts?

No insurance pays for redoing your own work. For the ruined garments your customer supplied, business liability can pay if processing damage is included. If you bought the blanks yourself, the loss stays with you.

## At a glance

- **Compulsory:** No compulsory insurance for the business
- **Trade status:** Embroiderers belong to the textile designers, a licence free craft under Annex B of the German Crafts Code
- **Biggest risk:** Ruined customer goods and machine breakdown just before a delivery date
- **Basic cover from:** about €150 to €300 a year of business liability for a small shop, a guide figure from our quoting work
- **Often forgotten:** Processing damage to supplied garments and disputes over trade marks and copyright in designs

## What goes wrong in this trade

- **Customer goods ruined:** Wrong colour, misplaced design, curing too hot: supplied jerseys or workwear can no longer be used.
- **Machine breakdown:** Embroidery heads, carousel, dryer and heat press run flat out in peak season. A fault before a club event costs orders.
- **Dryer fire:** Tunnel dryers and flash cure units run hot, and solvents and cleaning rags burn easily.
- **Other people's brands:** A customer supplies a design that belongs to someone else. Warning letters often reach the printer too.
- **Shipping and collection:** Parcels of finished workwear get lost or damaged and the customer wants compensation.
- **Data and web shop:** Customer logos, print files and your web shop sit on computers that an attack can lock.

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

## The insurance you need

- **Business liability** (Essential): With processing damage to supplied garments and product liability for goods you sell yourself. https://www.nammert.com/en/insurance-broker-business-liability.php
- **Business contents** (Essential): Replaces embroidery machines, print carousel, dryer, blanks and customer goods after fire, water, storm and burglary. https://www.nammert.com/en/insurance-broker-business-contents.php
- **Machinery breakdown** (Strongly advised): For breakdown of embroidery machines, presses and print equipment through operator error or short circuit. https://www.nammert.com/en/insurance-broker-machinery-breakdown.php
- **Business legal expenses** (Strongly advised): Helps in disputes over complaints and payments. Whether trade mark and copyright disputes are included varies between policies. https://www.nammert.com/en/insurance-broker-business-legal-expenses.php
- **Cargo insurance** (Depends on the business): For goods in your own vehicle and in the post when the parcel carrier's liability is limited. https://www.nammert.com/en/insurance-broker-cargo-insurance.php
- **Cyber insurance** (Depends on the business): For web shop, print files and customer data. https://www.nammert.com/en/insurance-broker-cyber-insurance.php
- **Business interruption** (Depends on the business): If a fire wipes out the season with clubs and corporate customers. https://www.nammert.com/en/insurance-broker-business-interruption.php

## What it costs: example prices

Textile printing and embroidery are usually inexpensive to insure. Machine values, the value of customer goods on site and whether you run your own web shop matter most.

| Insurance | Example | Typical range |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Business liability | Small embroidery or print shop, turnover up to €200,000, including processing damage | about €150 to €350 a year |
| Business contents | Machines and stock worth €120,000 | about €300 to €800 a year |
| Machinery breakdown | Two multi head embroidery machines worth €60,000 together | about €400 to €900 a year |
| Business legal expenses | Small business with contract and employment legal expenses | about €350 to €800 a year |
| Cyber insurance | Web shop, €100,000 sum insured | about €400 to €1,000 a year |

For comparison: Liability and contents cover for a small embroidery shop costs about as much a year as two dozen embroidered polo shirts.

_Guide figures from our own quoting work, excluding German insurance premium tax, October 2026. We obtain the exact premium from several insurers. The sources below support the legal statements._

- [German Crafts Code, Annex B](https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/hwo/anlage_b.html)
- [German Product Liability Act, § 1](https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/prodhaftg/__1.html)

## Our suggestions: three packages

- **Bench** (One person business with a heat press or one embroidery machine): Business liability, Business contents. Together: about €400 to €900 a year
- **Print shop** (Screen printing and embroidery with a few staff and corporate customers): Business liability, Business contents, Machinery breakdown, Business legal expenses. Together: about €1,200 to €2,800 a year
- **Decorator with web shop** (Garment decoration with online shop, shipping and several machines): Business liability, Business contents, Machinery breakdown, Cyber insurance, Cargo insurance, Business interruption. Together: about €2,800 to €6,000 a year

## The worst day in garment decoration

Six losses from screen printing and embroidery, squeezed into the Friday before the city run. Tap through and see who pays.

- 07:10: The hook of an embroidery head breaks; the machine stands and the engineer can only come in three days. (€3,200, Paid by: Machinery breakdown)
- 09:30: 250 supplied running shirts were cured with the press too hot and show shiny marks. (€4,500, Paid by: Business liability)
- 12:00: A competitor sends a warning letter: the design your customer supplied infringes his trade mark. (€3,800, Paid by: Business legal expenses)
- 14:15: A parcel with 80 embroidered jackets for a trade business disappears in transit. (€4,800, Paid by: Cargo insurance)
- 17:40: Cleaning rags next to the dryer ignite; print room and store are covered in soot. (€45,000, Paid by: Business contents)
- 18:00: Ransomware encrypts the web shop and the week's orders are gone. (€6,500, Paid by: Cyber insurance)

**Damage so far:** €67,800

## Practical tips from your broker

- Include processing damage to supplied garments in your liability policy and set the limit by your largest order.
- Insure customer goods in your store under contents cover; they are not automatically included.
- Ask customers to confirm in writing that they hold the rights to supplied designs.
- Check whether your legal expenses policy covers trade mark and copyright; many exclude it.
- Keep cleaning rags in closed metal bins and away from dryers.
- Check your parcel carrier's liability limit and insure valuable shipments separately.

## Why NAMMERT for your business

- **Customer goods properly included:** Processing damage and third party property are the typical gaps in this trade. We watch for them and compare several insurers.
- **Independent broker:** Cover is arranged by Norman Nammert as an insurance broker, not tied to any insurer, and explained in English.
- **Family business since 1989:** Business, vehicle and private cover in one place. Free for you; the insurer pays our commission.

## FAQ

### What insurance does an embroidery business need?

Business liability with processing damage and contents insurance for machines and goods. With expensive multi head machines, machinery cover is worth it.

### Are misprinted customer garments covered?

Garments supplied by the customer can be covered through processing damage in your liability policy. Your own labour and blanks you bought are not insured.

### What does insurance for textile printing cost?

Small businesses usually pay about €400 to €900 a year for liability and contents. That is a guide figure from our quoting work.

### Am I liable if a customer's design infringes someone's trade mark?

Warning letters can reach the printer as well. A written rights confirmation from the customer helps, and suitable legal expenses cover can pay lawyers' fees if this area is included.

### Do I need a master craftsman certificate for an embroidery shop?

No. Embroiderers are part of the textile designers in Annex B of the Crafts Code, the licence free crafts.

### Am I liable for shirts I sell under my own name?

If you are the manufacturer of the goods, you are liable under the Product Liability Act for injury and property damage caused by defects, even without fault. Product liability within your business policy covers such claims.

## Request quotes

We obtain quotes and come back with a comparison, free of charge. You can write in English. https://www.nammert.com/en/business-insurance-textile-printing-and-embroidery.php#anfrage

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Your broker: Norman Nammert, trading as NAMMERT. Insurance broker licensed under section 34d(1) of the German Trade Regulation Act. Broker register no. D-C08Q-TOSD4-37. NAMMERT Assekuradeur GmbH is a separate company. It does not arrange your contract.

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