Expats In Germany Advised To Get Personal Liability Insurance

Expats in Germany are being advised to consider private liability insurance.

For most expats, living like a local is the preferred option, whether expatriation was the result of personal preference or career progression. Germany is a perennially popular expat professional destination, with new arrivals doing their best to adjust and fit in by doing as the Germans do, even in matters they’ve never considered essential.

One example is private liability insurance, considered a must by the German nation as a whole and ignored by the majority of expat arrivals as they’ve never had a need for it at home and believe it’s just overkill. However, for German citizens, it’s an essential, as accidents can and do happen and are usually costly for those involved. Germany’s version of this insurance is more about covering everyday accidents rather than high-profile disasters, and most Germans subscribe to it.

Incidents covered by liability insurance are almost never life-threatening but can be expensive to fix. For example, you’re biking to work when a stranger jumps into the bike lane and causes a collision, or you spill coffee on a stranger’s very expensive laptop whilst you’re working on yours. Claims arising from both incidents are covered, as are medical injuries, causing financial loss by your action and claims when you’ve accidentally damaged another person's property. Also, most German landlords insist on tenant liability insurance.

Basic personal liability insurance is now straightforward to buy as well as being relatively inexpensive at as little as five euros a month. Nowadays, most policies come with an English language option, thus leaving out the German language’s unpronounceable officialese. Also, more insurance providers are now English-savvy as well as offering English web pages. Policies are now designed to be easy to comprehend and English language support throughout the entire application process is easily available.