Household contents insurance in Germany: protection in the event of damage to or theft of contents

When there is water damage or fire damage in the home, the despair is often great: furniture is often damaged or the home is flooded. Then it is important to be well insured. This is where household contents insurance comes into play, offering you comprehensive insurance cover and peace of mind. You can find out everything you need to know here.

The most important benefits of household contents insurance

Household contents insurance protects the contents of your home against various risks. The insurance cover in the event of damage extends to all your movable property in your home. This includes, for example

• furniture
• electrical appliances
• lamps
• textiles
• clothing
• Valuables
• Bicycles

Anything that is not permanently installed in the house and belongs to you can be insured against damage via household contents insurance. Items and household contents in adjoining rooms, such as the garage or conservatory, are also insured.

If damage occurs, household contents insurance covers the costs of removing, repairing and replacing destroyed items in the home. In addition, household contents insurance can also pay for accommodation in a hotel if your home is temporarily uninhabitable. This is often the case after water damage or a fire, for example.

In addition to the basic benefits, many household contents insurance providers offer you additional benefits to cover your household contents, which you can book as an option to your policy. This involves additional costs, but also guarantees more comprehensive protection for your household contents: for example, you can insure yourself against natural hazards so that your home contents are also protected against damage caused by natural forces.

Household contents insurance covers these risks

Basically, household contents insurance protects your movable property against the following risks:

• Fire
• Tap water
• Extinguishing water
• Storm (from wind force 8)

Fire insurance covers damage caused by fire, explosion or lightning, for example. The insurance cover also includes consequential damage caused by smoke, soot or extinguishing water in your home.

For example, if there is a fire in your home due to a faulty cable on a household appliance, the fire brigade will extinguish the fire with water. In this case, the household contents insurance covers the costs of the damage caused by the fire to the household contents in the home. The costs for water damage to the contents caused by the extinguishing water are also covered.

If the damage is caused by mains water, household contents insurance does not always cover the costs. Damage to movable property is covered if, for example, a pipe bursts or a hose bursts on a water-bearing household appliance.

Damage caused by burglary, robbery or vandalism is also covered by household contents insurance. This also includes a bicycle or e-bike that is stolen from the cellar. Good household contents insurance policies cover bicycle theft regardless of where the theft took place: if your bicycle is stolen at the railway station or in a beer garden, the damage caused by the theft is covered by household contents insurance.

The insured risk ‘storm’ covers damage to your property caused by wind force 8 or higher. In the event of hail damage, the wind force is irrelevant. However, many household contents insurance providers do not cover damage caused by floods, groundwater or heavy rain. In order to be able to claim these benefits from the insurance, however, you can book optional supplementary policies for an additional charge.

Who should take out household contents insurance

Taking out household contents insurance is worthwhile for everyone. It doesn't matter whether you own or rent the home: if your household contents are damaged by one of the insured risks, you are entitled to compensation from the insurer for the replacement value. This means that your household contents insurance will pay you the amount required to buy new damaged or stolen items. Their condition or age does not matter.

Another advantage is that there is no waiting period for household contents insurance. As soon as you have registered with the insurer, the cover for your household contents takes full effect.

Household contents insurance is voluntary. However, as water or fire damage to your home can occur unexpectedly at any time, this insurance is the best way to protect your contents from expensive consequences.

Risks not covered by household contents insurance

Household contents insurance only covers the costs of movable items. This means that anything that is permanently attached to the house is generally not covered by the insurance. If, for example, water damage in the home results in damaged flooring or a built-in wardrobe, this is covered by buildings insurance. However, you only take out this policy if you are the owner of a house - you do not need it if you rent the flat. This is why many owners opt for a combination of both policies in order to be optimally insured against damage.

In most cases, household contents insurance does not cover any costs if the insured acts with ‘gross negligence’. For example, if you forget to turn off the tap when leaving the house and water damage occurs, you will be liable for the costs yourself. The same applies if you forget to lock the front door of your home, making it easy for a burglar to get in.

Although there are some household contents insurance tariffs that also cover you against negligence, these tend to be the exception and are usually very expensive. Damage caused by fire is generally covered by household contents insurance. However, this only applies if it is an open fire. Imploding electrical appliances or smouldering fires are not included in the insurance cover.

Household contents insurance only pays for storm damage from wind force 8 and above, provided that you have closed the windows beforehand as a preventative measure and they have only been destroyed by the storm. If the wind can then cause damage to the house unhindered, the household contents insurance will pay for it. However, the damage to the window itself is also covered by buildings insurance.

Household contents insurance also does not cover damage caused intentionally. If you deliberately destroy your contents and want to be reimbursed by the insurance company, it will not pay out any benefits. Deliberate misrepresentation of the circumstances is also regarded as insurance fraud and can lead to cancellation of the household contents insurance.

It is important to know that damage caused by natural hazards is not normally covered by household contents insurance. You must apply for this benefit when taking out the policy with additional natural hazard cover.

This includes, for example, damage caused by

• high water
• flooding
• Sinkhole, earthquake or landslide
• Snow pressure or avalanches

Important criteria for choosing household contents insurance

You should consider various aspects before taking out household contents insurance.

The right sum insured

One of the most important points is the right sum insured for your household contents. If you set it too low, you will be underinsured. If the value of your contents is higher than the sum insured, the insurer may reduce your benefits and you may have to cover some of the costs of settling the claim yourself. This can ultimately be more expensive than choosing a higher sum insured from the outset, which fully covers the value of your household contents.

You have two options for calculating the right sum insured for your household contents:

• You can estimate the value of your household contents yourself. Although this requires time and regular adjustments to the sum insured as soon as you buy something new, you are always on the safe side as far as the sum insured is concerned.
• Your insurer will make a flat-rate calculation. The flat-rate sum insured per square metre is usually 650 euros. It is important that your contract contains a waiver of underinsurance in this case. This ensures that the household contents insurance will cover the full cost of any damage even if your household contents would be underinsured due to the flat-rate calculation of the sum insured.

If you collect art, expensive watches or other valuable items in your home, you must declare this when taking out the insurance. The insurance company may ask for an inventory list or send an expert.

Scope of fire damage

Normally, damage caused by scorching, soot and smoke as well as surge damage are not covered by household contents insurance. However, you can extend your policy with most insurers to protect you against these risks as well. For example, if you have a lot of electrical or electronic appliances in your household that increase the risk of fire, you should consider adding them to your policy.

Scope of water damage

Although water damage in the home is covered by household contents insurance, this does not include damage caused by leaking water. This includes, for example, leaking aquariums or water damage - these are not normally covered by the insurance unless you take out extra cover for these risks. If this results in damage to a neighbour's home, the costs are covered by personal liability insurance.

Other useful modules

Many household contents insurance providers offer you the option of taking out certain supplementary insurance policies in order to optimise the scope of benefits of your household contents insurance to suit your needs. These include the following supplements:

• Glass breakage insurance: This supplement can be useful if your home has many glass elements, such as a conservatory, large windows or expensive mirrors. However, it does not cover any costs if, for example, children playing with a ball break your window pane. This would be a case for your parents' liability insurance.
• Bicycle insurance: You can add a bicycle clause to your household contents insurance. For this, the insurer sets a certain percentage of the sum insured, which is usually two or three per cent. For example: With a sum insured of 50,000 and two per cent, you can expect a reimbursement of 1,000 euros. For very expensive bicycles, separate bicycle insurance may be worthwhile. Although this costs more, it offers you comprehensive protection that also covers accidental damage.
• Extended insurance for valuables: If you own valuable antiques or jewellery, you should check whether they are adequately protected by the policy. The upper limit is usually 20 per cent of the total sum insured. If this is not enough to cover you for a possible loss, you should adjust the sum insured to cover your household contents accordingly.

What does household contents insurance cost?

The exact cost of household contents insurance depends on the value of your household contents and the scope of the insurance cover. This means that if the sum insured is higher, you will also pay higher premiums.

If the contents of your home are damaged, stolen or destroyed as a result of an insured risk, the insurance will pay for it, but only up to the agreed sum insured. You can take out the cheapest tariffs for around 10 to 15 euros per month.

Even in the event of minor damage, taking out household contents insurance can be worthwhile from a financial perspective: If there is damage to furniture or carpets due to water damage, the repair and replacement of household contents can quickly cost several hundred euros. These costs alone often exceed the sum of the monthly household contents insurance premiums paid to date.

The most important steps in the event of damage

In order to receive money from your insurer in the event of a claim, you as the insured person also have certain obligations. These are known as obligations and are set out in your insurance contract.

You should therefore familiarise yourself at an early stage with how to behave correctly in the event of a claim in order to be able to claim on your insurance cover. The most important steps are

• Immediate measures
• Damage report
• Documentation
• Damage repair

Immediate measures: If you notice any damage, you are obliged to contain it as far as possible. Of course, you should never put yourself in danger to do this. However, to prevent consequential damage, you should close the main tap if a pipe bursts, for example, or otherwise try to prevent worse until the fire brigade arrives. However, you do not have to carry out repairs in the home yourself. In the event of a fire or other situation that endangers your life and that of your loved ones, the most important thing is for everyone to move out of the danger zone.

Damage report: Notify the household contents insurance company of the damage as soon as possible - preferably in writing. Many insurers now offer a practical app for this purpose, which you can also use to submit the damage report online. In the event of a burglary or theft, please also call the police, who can secure evidence on site. Important: Make sure you adhere to the specified deadline for reporting the damage to the household contents insurance company, which in most cases is only a few days. If you only inform the insurance company about the damage after a few weeks, you jeopardise the insurance cover for your household contents.

Documentation: It is best to send photos or videos as evidence so that the insurance company can see the scene of the incident for itself. If you have suffered a break-in and theft, the police will often ask for a list of the stolen or destroyed items.

Damage repair: Depending on the extent of the damage, it is up to the fire brigade or a professional restoration company to repair the damage. Do not remove anything from the scene of the damage that you do not urgently need and do not dispose of anything that could be important for settling the claim later. You do not have to carry out repairs. After a fire, you should not enter the scene of the damage until it has been cleared by the fire brigade: The air in the room is often contaminated with soot and other toxic substances for days.

Household contents insurance offers you comprehensive protection

Although household contents insurance is not compulsory, it is one of the most important policies for private individuals. Fire or water damage to your home can occur unexpectedly at any time - which is why it is essential to have the best possible insurance cover for your household contents. Household contents insurance not only provides you with financial security, but also gives you peace of mind in your home.