Important criteria
Private liability insurance: You should do that
Updated on February 25, 2025 – 12:37 p.m.Reading time: 3 min.
Private liability insurance costs relatively little – but is probably the most important policy in general. Which criteria you should choose.
A short carelessness or a small mistake in everyday life happened quickly – and often sufficient to cause immense damage. So that you do not remain at the expense of others through your negligence, private liability insurance is a must.
Lost key to rental apartment? When pedestrians got in the way of a cyclist who then fell and injured himself? Then private liability insurance can become important. The insurance assumes personal, property and financial losses that arise third parties through its own negligent actions.
However, the policy not only covers the financial damage, but also defends unauthorized claims, says Julia Alice Böhne from the Bund of the insured. Means: If someone wrongly demands compensation from you, the insurance can ward off the claims – if necessary also in court.
The insurer usually also pays for damage in volunteering. “The same applies to damage through an unintentional transfer of a computer virus,” says Elke Weidenbach from the Consumer Center North Rhine -Westphalia. Because the numerous tariffs from different providers can be designed differently in the details, you should deal with the content before the conclusion. Because different hedges can be valuable for different insured persons.
The coverage of private liability insurance should be at least ten million euros – better more -. According to Weidenbach, this is the damage amount that the insurer then takes over per damage. What sounds a lot at first can be achieved quickly in an emergency if, for example, one or more people who are no longer able to work after an accident are no longer able to work.
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When completing the policy, you should make sure that a so -called default cover is included. This cover protects if you are damaged by someone who neither has your own private liability insurance, nor is it able to pay from your own wallet.
The co -insurance of rent damage also makes sense for tenants. “Damage caused in rented apartments or houses or on rented movable things should also be insured with at least one million euros,” says Julia Alice Böhne.
If you live in an apartment building, you should make sure that the key loss is also insured. “Because it can be very expensive if the locking system of the entire house has to be exchanged because of the loss,” says Elke Weidenbach.
According to Julia Alice Böhne, it makes sense for families that insurance coverage also exists for damage from so -called co -insured persons – for example for children or dementia.
“In general, when choosing the tariff of private liability insurance, make sure that the conditions fit the personal situation,” says Weidenbach. For real estate owners, it can be important whether damage caused by photovoltaic systems or construction projects are also insured.
Be sure to create photos of the damage and scene of the accident – this is easily possible with the smartphone. Then write down all relevant details of the damage so that the incident can be taken precisely.
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Then report the damage to the insurer immediately. “It is best to call the damage department and report the damage again after the conversation with the help of the sentence sent,” said Julia Alice Böhne.
Important: Beware of the acknowledgment of guilt before the insurer has completed the damage check.
According to Weidenbach – depending on the scope of protection – the annual contribution to the indispensable private liability insurance is less than 100 euros. “However, like all other policies, the policy should occasionally be put to the test,” said the consumer protection. Because if the personal life situation changes, it is important to adapt insurance cover.
If an insurance contract is several years old, it can also be worthwhile to switch to a tariff that is up to date. The reason: According to the “Finanztip” guide portal, many providers of private liability insurance have increased the sums of insurance and recorded new benefits. For example, damage to the pleasure: These are damage that has occurred if you have helped someone free of charge and voluntarily and something went wrong.
If you want to change the contract, you have to terminate the previous contract three months before the main due date. After that, you can look for a new, powerful policy until the contract run.
