Business Insurance in Germany
Business insurance in Germany is not a single product. Most companies run a small portfolio: a liability policy, a cyber policy, and for a GmbH often a D&O policy on top. This is the English-language hub for international founders, expats and freelancers who want to understand what they actually need before they request a quote. It is free to read, and nobody calls you afterwards.
Key Takeaways
- Three policies cover most SME risks in Germany: cyber insurance (ransomware, data breaches, business interruption), professional liability (financial loss from professional mistakes) and D&O (managing-director personal liability).
- Typical 2026 starting prices: cyber from around 200 EUR per year for solo founders, professional liability from 100 EUR for freelancers, D&O from 350 EUR for an early-stage GmbH or UG.
- NIS-2 changes the picture: the EU NIS-2 directive, now in German law, turns cybersecurity into a contractual obligation for many SMEs that are not classified as essential entities themselves.
- Expats and international founders face one extra hurdle: German liability terms (Berufshaftpflicht, Betriebshaftpflicht) have no clean English equivalent, so the right cover is easy to miss.
- You decide, we compare: no broker call, side-by-side data from compared insurers, and our methodology and affiliate model published in full.
GDV statement to German press, 2025
BSI annual report (Lagebericht)
across cyber, liability, D&O
we are not insurance brokers
Sources: GDV (German Insurance Association), BSI Lagebericht (German).
What is business insurance in Germany?
In Germany, “business insurance” is an umbrella term for several separate policies. The German word is Gewerbeversicherung. Most small and medium companies end up with two or three of them: a liability policy (either Berufshaftpflicht for advice and planning work, or Betriebshaftpflicht for trade and craft work), a cyber policy, and a D&O policy if the company is a GmbH or UG. You cannot buy one ready-made “business insurance” off the shelf. You assemble the cover that matches your own risk profile, which is exactly what the comparison pages on this site help you do.
Which business insurance does your company need?
Not every company needs every policy. But three risks come up across almost all industries. Here is the short version of each, with a link to the deep dive.
Cyber Insurance
Ransomware has tripled in the last three years according to the BSI annual report. Small companies with thin IT budgets are now a primary target. Cyber insurance covers IT forensics, data recovery, business interruption, and liability claims tied to data-protection violations. Solo rates start at around 200 EUR per year.
Compare Cyber Insurance →Professional Liability
Anyone who advises, plans, or develops can make a mistake that costs the client money. Faulty tax advice. A software bug that takes a webshop offline. A structural calculation that does not add up. Professional liability covers the resulting damage claims. Freelance rates start at around 100 EUR per year.
Compare Professional Liability →D&O Insurance
Managing directors of a German GmbH are personally liable, with their private assets, for breaches of duty. D&O (Directors & Officers) covers the financial consequences of management mistakes. Particularly relevant for GmbH founders and startup teams, and often required by investors as a funding condition.
Compare D&O Insurance →Business insurance for expats and international founders
If you moved to Germany or set up a company here from abroad, the insurance part is where the system feels unfamiliar fastest. German law makes the managing director of a GmbH personally liable, the same way it does for a German founder. Your nationality does not change that. Three points come up most often in the questions we get from international readers.
- Language at claim time. A policy can be sold in English and still be governed by German terms and conditions. Read who handles a claim and in which language before you sign, not after a loss.
- The same rules apply to EU and non-EU founders. Liability cover for a German GmbH or UG does not depend on where you hold a passport. If you advise clients or run a trade here, you carry the same exposure as a local business.
- No German credit history is needed for most policies. Unlike a bank loan, business liability and cyber cover are usually priced on your trade, turnover and claims record, not on a SCHUFA score.
German insurance terms, in plain English
The biggest trap for English speakers is that two different German liability policies both translate to “liability insurance”. They are not interchangeable. Here are the terms you will meet most often.
| German term | What it really means |
|---|---|
| Gewerbeversicherung | Business insurance as a category, not one product. |
| Berufshaftpflicht | Professional liability. Covers financial loss from a professional mistake (wrong advice, faulty plan, buggy code). |
| Betriebshaftpflicht | Business or public liability. Covers injury and property damage caused during your work, typical for trades and craft businesses. |
| Deckungssumme | Coverage limit. The maximum the insurer pays per claim or per year. |
| Selbstbeteiligung | Deductible or excess. The share of each claim you pay yourself. |
For the full list, see our insurance glossary. Other policies you may run into include contents insurance (Inhaltsversicherung), business interruption (Betriebsunterbrechung) and legal-expenses cover (Rechtsschutz), which sit outside the three core policies but matter for shops, workshops and physical premises.
Three steps to the right cover
Finding the right coverage does not have to be complicated. This is the path most SMEs follow.
Assess risks
Which losses would seriously hurt your business operations? Data loss? A liability claim? Start with the risks that could threaten the company existentially.
Read and compare
Read our comparison pages and the guide. We explain what each policy covers, what is excluded, and what to watch for.
Get quotes
Once you have decided on a type of insurance, request concrete quotes through our comparison pages.
Business insurance by industry
Each industry carries its own risks. A law firm needs different cover from an electrician. We have built dedicated pages for the largest professional groups.
Why cyber insurance matters now
Three developments make the topic more urgent than two years ago.
Frequently asked questions
Business insurance (Gewerbeversicherung) is an umbrella term for policies that protect companies against business risks. The most common are business or professional liability, cyber insurance, and D&O. Which ones you need depends on your industry, company size, and activity.
This depends on what you do. Most self-employed people need at least professional liability (advice/planning work) or business liability (trade/craft work). Anyone who processes digital client data should look at cyber insurance. GmbH managing directors should consider D&O.
Solo self-employed people typically pay from around 200 EUR per year. Small companies with 2-10 employees usually fall between 400 and 1,200 EUR depending on industry and coverage. Medium-sized SMEs should plan for 1,200 to 5,000 EUR (figures as of 2026).
No, there is no general legal requirement. However, the NIS-2 directive and contractual agreements with larger clients often make it effectively required, especially for SMEs in supply chains of essential entities.
Typical benefits: IT forensics after an attack, data recovery, business interruption, liability claims tied to data-protection violations, and crisis management. Typically excluded: intentional acts and damages caused by missing basic IT security.
Betriebshaftpflicht (business liability) covers personal injury and property damage that happen during your business activity, for example when a craftsman damages something at a client site. Berufshaftpflicht (professional liability) covers financial damages from professional mistakes, such as incorrect advice.
Yes, once you are a managing director of a GmbH or UG, you are personally liable with your private assets. Investors often require D&O as a funding condition. Startup rates begin at around 350 EUR per year.
Yes. Business liability, cyber and D&O cover are available to EU and non-EU founders on the same terms as German businesses, and most policies do not require a German SCHUFA credit history. Pricing depends on your trade, turnover and claims record. Check before signing whether claims are handled in English.
First clarify which risks are actually relevant for your company. Then compare at least three to five providers, looking at coverage amount, deductible, and included benefits. Pay equal attention to exclusions and how the insurer handles claims.
NIS-2 is the EU directive on cybersecurity, transposed into German law. It directly applies to "essential" and "important" entities in critical sectors. SMEs outside those categories are often affected indirectly, because larger clients pass cybersecurity requirements down the supply chain.
Yes. The German version is the original. You can switch to the German edition at the top of the page or visit mein-vergleich-portal.de directly. We also maintain a Turkish edition at /tr/.
What does business insurance cost in Germany?
The numbers below are typical market ranges observed across compared insurers in 2026. Premiums vary widely with industry, claims history, coverage limits, and deductible.
| Company stage | Cyber insurance | Professional liability | D&O |
|---|---|---|---|
| Solo self-employed | from ~200 EUR/year | from ~100 EUR/year | usually not needed |
| 2-10 employees | ~400-1,200 EUR/year | ~300-800 EUR/year | from ~350 EUR/year (GmbH/UG) |
| 11-50 employees (SME) | ~1,200-5,000 EUR/year | ~600-2,500 EUR/year | ~500-1,500 EUR/year |
Indicative ranges based on quotes observed at compared insurers (Hiscox, Allianz, HDI, ERGO and others) as of 2026. For a binding quote, use the comparison pages. This portal does not offer individual insurance advice.
Four mistakes we see most often
An honest, short list. Not exhaustive, but these come up again and again when SMEs shop for cover.
1. Picking the cheapest quote without reading the exclusions
Cyber policies in particular have exclusion clauses for “missing basic IT security.” A 200 EUR policy that will not pay out when you actually need it is worse than no policy.
2. Buying liability cover for the wrong activity
A consultancy that buys Betriebshaftpflicht instead of Berufshaftpflicht finds out after the first client claim. The two policies cover different things, and one will not substitute for the other.
3. Treating D&O as optional in early-stage GmbHs
Personal liability of the managing director kicks in from day one. If something goes wrong before the policy is in place, the policy will not cover it retroactively.
4. Underestimating NIS-2 supply-chain ripple effects
You might not be in scope of NIS-2 yourself, but if your customers are, they will pass cybersecurity requirements down to you contractually. That can make cyber insurance a de-facto requirement even when the law does not directly demand it.
About the editor
Yasin Baytuerk runs the editorial side of Mein-Vergleich-Portal.de from Friedrichshafen. Background: independent comparison portals for the German market with a focus on B2B insurance and digital tools for SMEs. Content on this site is researched against primary sources, the BSI, GDV, Bitkom, DIHK, and the German regulatory framework, then independently edited. We do not give insurance advice. For individual recommendations, please consult a licensed insurance broker.
Editorial contact: /en/kontakt/. Methodology: How we compare.
What sets mein-vergleich-portal.de apart
Specialised in business insurance
The big German comparison portals are built for private customers. Commercial cover, and cyber in particular, barely makes the cut. We start there.
Current regulation in context
NIS-2, DORA, GDPR. Each of these reshapes what a policy needs to cover. We track the changes and explain what they mean for SMEs in plain English.
Read up. Decide independently.
Start with the topic that worries you most. Read the guides, compare the providers, and make the decision on solid ground.
The information on this website does not constitute insurance advice. The comparisons are for general information only. For individual advice, please consult a licensed insurance broker.
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