Does the liability insurance pay for your own fault? You have to know that

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Lerato Khumalo

Good to know

Liability insurance: This damage is excluded


Updated on May 14, 2025 – 8:24 a.m.Reading time: 2 min.

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Little carelessness, great damage – but liability insurance does not always apply. (Source: Peanut8481/Getty-Images pictures)

Liability insurance pays for damage that you add to other people. This sometimes even applies to damage caused by gross negligence.

A moment of inattentiveness can quickly lead to serious damage to the body or property of other people in the private sector and in road traffic. Since such damage is associated with high costs, you should take out liability insurance. Depending on the insurance company, you can choose between different tariffs when taking out liability insurance.

Private liability insurance occurs in the event of damage that you have culpably added to another person. In the event of damage, the insurance company checks whether the claim is justified. This insurance occurs as a passive legal protection because it repels unauthorized claims at its own expense.

In the event of a legitimate claim, she pays the damage. The prerequisite for this is that the damage has not been deliberately brought about. The liability insurance covers the following damage within the framework of the agreed coverage amounts:

Damage that goes beyond the coverage you have to bear yourself. Therefore, it is particularly important for personal injury if you agree a high coverage amount as a precaution. This applies not only to private liability insurance, but also to motor vehicle liability insurance. In addition to damage caused by inattentiveness or carelessness, liability insurance also covers damage caused by gross negligence.

In the event of a deliberate damage, private liability insurance does not pay. Also, it does not do the case with damage that arose at work. This damage is covered by the professional liability insurance or the liability insurance of your employer.

Many private liability insurance also does not pay for damage that the policyholder inflicts on his relatives living in the same budget through negligence. Even in the event of damage to relatives who are insured in the contract, private liability often does not occur. However, there are insurance companies who also insure these cases accordingly. So explicitly ask.

If you have damage to your property through your own fault, it is not covered by private liability insurance. Household insurance does not occur in the event of damage caused by self -fault.

Most of the time, the household insurance also excludes damage caused by negligence on personal property. Therefore, it is important to prepare against burglaries with suitable locks and other measures. Read more about household insurance here.