Private Liability
“You break it, you pay it”
Private liability insurance is not required by law, but it is one of the most important types of insurance to have. You are responsible for damages when you cause an accident that hurts someone, damages their property, or causes financial loss to a third person. These claims can include costs like medical bills and legal fees. If you have personal liability insurance, you do not have to pay these costs yourself, even if they are very high. In Germany, this insurance is especially important because the law says you must pay for damages without limits, using your current and future income and assets. In many other countries, payments are limited based on your income. Most insurance policies only cover some damages, like losing a private or work key, damage to rented or leased property, or damages caused by polite actions, but not all possible costs.
Example: Mr. Expat lost the key to the apartment he is renting. The building also has several medical offices. Because of this, the entire central lock system must be changed. The landlord asks Mr. Expat to pay for the cost, which is 10,000 euros.
Example: Mr. Expat damaged the wooden floor of his rented apartment with his desk chair. The landlord asks Mr. Expat to pay for sanding and sealing the floor. The cost is 2,400 euros.
Income Protection
The labour disability pension is a benefit paid to people who cannot work because of health problems or disability.
This insurance is very useful because it helps you keep your usual way of life. It can replace lost income to pay for daily living costs, cover debts, and help with medical and rehabilitation expenses. The German welfare system has strict rules for getting public disability benefits. Who can get public disability, and under what conditions? This depends on specific health reasons;
- You have a partial disability if you cannot work at least six hours a day. In this case, you may receive about 14.5% of your previous gross income as a pension.
- You have a full disability if you cannot work at least three hours a day in any full-time job, regardless of your skills. In this case, you may receive up to 29% of your previous gross income as a pension.
To receive this pension, you must prove that you:
- have paid into the pension scheme for at least 60 months (5 years), and
- have paid compulsory insurance contributions for at least three years within the five years before your ability to work was reduced.
There are special rules for members of professional pension schemes called berufsständische Versorgungswerke, which include doctors, architects, and lawyers. These people can only get a disability pension if they are completely unable to work. They also need to lose their medical license or their permission to practice law to qualify for the disability pension from these schemes.
The strict rules and low payments from the public welfare system often do not allow you to keep a good standard of living in difficult situations. With a private labour disability pension, you get much better support if you have a serious illness or injury that stops you from working for at least six months. It also helps if you probably cannot return to work in your trained job, based on your work experience, education, and training. Since 2005, in some cases, you can even deduct the cost of these policies from your taxes. We can help you find the right coverage and best benefits. This insurance is almost essential if you want to keep your standard of living in Germany, and we are here to support you.
Example: A 38-year-old general practitioner was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a nerve disease, a few years ago. The disease got worse last year, and because of his physical and mental difficulties, he could no longer work in the hospital or on-call. His job ended. He was approved for occupational disability benefits. He now receives a private disability pension of 2,977 euros every month until he turns 67.
Legal Expense Insurance
This insurance helps you pay for unexpected legal costs. It covers situations where you need help because of legal problems. The insurance pays for your lawyer, court fees, witness costs, and other expenses if you go to court or need legal advice. It can also cover the lawyer fees of the other side if you lose the case. You can choose this insurance for yourself or add it to other policies. This insurance is very useful for common legal issues, like claiming damages or problems with work, housing, property, or taxes.
Example: Mr. Expat rents an apartment in the city center. After seven years, the landlord wants to raise the rent by three euros per square meter. The landlord says this is because similar apartments in the city cost more now. Mr. Expat checks the prices himself and finds that similar apartments are actually cheaper. Since the landlord does not agree, Mr. Expat goes to court. An expert will prepare a report to find out the usual rent in the area.
Example: Mr. Expat’s employer asks him to work an unreasonable amount of overtime. Then, the employer refuses to pay for these extra hours. The legal expense insurance recommends a specialist lawyer in labor law for Mr. Expat. The insurance also pays for the cost of this professional help.
Car Insurance
This insurance is the only mandatory insurance in Germany besides social insurance. You can choose it individually to cover your liability to other people, or add more coverage with a comprehensive or partial comprehensive plan. The full comprehensive insurance pays to fix any damage to your car. If your car is completely damaged, it pays enough to buy a new similar car. As trusted advisors, we can help you choose the best option for you and your vehicle.
Contents insurance
This insurance helps you pay for loss or damage to your belongings at home, like furniture, rugs, clothes, shoes, and handbags. It also covers the cost to repair or replace these items if they are damaged by fire, theft, or bad weather like storms or earthquakes. Content insurance is especially useful if you have expensive things in your home.
Example: A water pipe bursts and floods Mr. Expat’s kitchen. The content insurance pays to replace the damaged furniture, appliances, food, and other household items.
Example: Mr. Expat’s television catches fire, and the fire spreads to the whole living room. The content insurance pays to replace the destroyed furniture, books, clothes, and other items damaged in the fire.
Home insurance
This insurance helps cover costs if your home is damaged or lost because of fire and smoke, wind, vandalism, hail, explosions, falling objects, or damage from snow, sleet, or ice. If you own a home, big damages can seriously affect your finances. With this home insurance, you will get money to cover your losses or damages.
Example: A water pipe bursts and floods Mr. Expat’s bathroom. The water soaks through the floor into the room below. The wet ceiling must be dried, and the floor needs to be replaced. Homeowners insurance will pay for the cost of this damage.
Example: A storm damages part of the roof on Miss Expat’s house. The home insurance pays for fixing the damaged roof area and repairing the rain gutters.
