Private liability insurance Individual and powerful protection for you

The sum insured of the liability insurance

The insured sum nowadays is usually from five to ten million euros for property damage and personal injury as well as for financial losses – with a individual liability insurance a sum up to 50 million euros is possible already. For individual features, however, the insured sum may also be significantly below that for personal injury and property damage: Lease damage is often insured significantly less as well as damage due to loss of keys, complacency damage or damage by children that are unable to cope. Pay attention here to the extent of your liability insurance, even with individual features. 

The features of private liability insurance

Each liability insurance can be upgraded with additional modules - we have put together the most important for you here:

Key loss

If you lose your keys for home or office, it can be expensive: the replacement of a locking system with a few thousand euros quickly becomes a breeze. A good liability insurance covers the follow-up costs of a private or professional key loss with a coverage of at least 10,000 euros - and the insurance pays the replacement of the locks and agrees to the costs of replacing the entire locking system to the security of the object.
Secondary damage of a key loss can be burglary damage, especially when the appartment has been secured with the found or even stolen key. Such so-called consequential damage covers the key loss insurance only to small upper limits, if that. The resulting payment of a liability insurance will usually not be enough to adequately replace the household effects after a burglary.

Incidentally, home contents insurances do not necessarily have to pay in such a case either, although it is a case for home contents insurance, if you break in with an original key. This only applies if the perpetrators have stolen the key. A burglary that could be happen because of a lost key usually won't be replaced.

Acts of kindness

Those who are doing others a favor should not be punished with legal liability if they "accidentally" cause damage. This is a common case law, and if there is no liability, personal liability also has no harm that you can take. If you accidentally drop the expensive vase of your friend during a move, you cannot expect the private liability insurance to intervene due to a lack of liability. When comparing liability insurances make sure that the liability for damage due to favors at least for smaller amounts of damages will be payed by the insurance.

Lent things

If you borrow something from friends and damage the borrowed item, most of the insurances won't pay the costs. Private liability rarely does have insurance cover here, but more and more provider are offering it.

Computer damage

The Internet carries a not insignificant security risk - thus substantial damage can be done if you unintentionally transfer computer viruses from your computer to a foreign device. Such damages should be insured by the personal liability insurance.

Bad debt protection

Of course, it can also happen that you want to assert claims for damages yourself against a third party because, for example, you hit a bicycle. But what if the injuring party has not completed private liability and cannot carry the damage out of his own pocket? So that you, as the injured party, do not have to pay the damage, it is good to have a private liability insurance with default settlement: Your liability insurance then carries your own damage.
Tip: Ideally, liability insurance will cover the costs of enforcing your claims in court.

Damage to rental property

In the private liability, tenants should make sure that they are protected against Mietsachschäden. A loss amount of at least 300,000 euros should be covered in the personal liability insurance, if something happens to a rented apartment or apartment - even abroad. Today, the insurance companies usually provide that rental damage is unlimited hedged. Indicate such unlimited coverage when you start to compare liability insurances.

Beware of foreign dogs / animals

Do you or your children occasionally take care of the neighbor's dog? Then that also means that with your legal liability you are responsible for, for example, the dog causing an accident or biting someone. Your personal liability should therefore cover the risk that results from taking care of strangers. Incidentally, this also applies if you ride foreign horses occasionally- here, too, you take on the full liability for the ride, for which, ideally, your personal liability.

gradual damages

Gradual damages are damages that are not immediately obvious. This can be the case, for example, when you connect a new dishwasher in the kitchen, loosening a connection pipe. Over days and weeks then water comes out and damages the floor of your home or even in adjacent apartments for water damage. If such cases, which often occur in practice, are not insured, private liability insurance does not have to step in and you must bear the damage yourself. 

When does the liability insurance not pay?

Certain damages are always excluded from liability insurance or at least for many contracts - among others

• Damage caused intentionally
• Damage that you suffer yourself - the exception is the bad debt protection,
• Damages of relatives who live with you or who are covered by the contract,
• Damage due to the use of vehicles.

What to do in case of damage?

If you have caused a third party liability, you should react in a prudent manner and heed some important points:

• Limit the damage as much as possible: Make sure that the damage done cannot be greater or worse.
• Document the damage: use a camera to document the damage or make a sketch.
• Report the damage of your insurance: This should be done directly after the damage - usually a telephone notification is sufficient, preferably within the next three to five days after the damage event.
• Always include your liability insurance: Receive lawsuits, reminders or other letters and information from the victim, forward all these to your insurance company. It will regulate the claims and, if necessary, fend off unjustified claims.