Is business liability insurance mandatory in Germany?

There is no general legal duty for every company to hold liability insurance. Some regulated professions must insure by law, and many customers and landlords ask for proof before they sign. In practice, general liability (Betriebshaftpflicht) is the first policy almost every business needs.

Is D&O insurance mandatory for a managing director of a GmbH?

No. But managing directors of a GmbH are personally liable to the company if they breach the care of a prudent businessperson (GmbHG section 43), jointly with other directors, and the company can bring claims for five years. D&O insurance pays for the defence and for justified claims, subject to the policy terms.

Will a US customer accept my German policy?

That is the customer's decision. Many German policies limit or exclude the USA and Canada, so the first step is to compare the customer's clause with your wording. We can show you the gaps and ask insurers for written confirmation or an extension. We cannot promise acceptance.

What is a certificate of insurance (COI)?

A short form, often the ACORD 25, that summarises your policies for a customer. It is information only and does not change the cover. Additional-insured status and a waiver of subrogation need policy wording or an endorsement.

How much does it cost?

That depends on revenue, activities, sums insured, territory and claims history, so a fair figure needs a short look at your company. Request the check and we will tell you what to expect.

Can you advise in English?

Yes. You can write to us in English or German, and we explain the five blocks, the policy terms and US clauses in English. The policies and the insurers' documents are usually in German, so we point out what matters.

Is the Five-Part Liability Shield an insurance product?

No. It is a method for checking whether five blocks of cover fit together: directors' liability, legal expenses, cyber, liability and property. Every block is usually a separate German contract, often with a different insurer, with its own wording and conditions. The shield shows where a gap sits between them.

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In English · Independent broker · Münster

Business liability insurance in Germany

The Five-Part Liability Shield: D&O, legal expenses, cyber, general and professional liability, and property, checked against the clauses in your contracts.

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YOUR FREE SHIELD CHECK

Request your liability check in 2 minutes

A few short questions about your company and your contracts. Then Jan replies personally with an honest first assessment, in English or German, whichever you prefer.

2 minutes · free · no obligation

What the check looks at

Directors' liability (D&O) and legal expenses for managers
Cyber cover, including the clauses that quietly cancel payouts
General, product and professional liability, including Tech E&O
Property and business interruption, checked for underinsurance
Your customer's insurance clause, translated and compared with your policies

Independent broker · Licensed under § 34d GewO · Part of Versuro Gruppe

Jan Ruhoff

Independent insurance broker · Makler mit Fliege · Annette-Allee 41, 48149 Münster

Reviews your answers personally before anyone gets in touch. No call centre.

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Your business

Where does your risk sit?

Your starting point

What matters to you (multiple choice)

Independent · based in Münster · English or German

The short version

Five blocks, one method

In Germany, no single policy protects a company against everything. Liability, directors' cover, cyber, legal expenses and property sit in separate contracts, each with its own traps. The Five-Part Liability Shield puts them into one checklist, so you can see in minutes where your cover is good, where it needs a second look and where it has a gap.

The short answer

No single German policy covers all liability and loss risks. You combine five blocks: directors' liability (D&O), legal expenses, cyber, a liability bundle (general, product and professional liability) and property. For each block you check the clauses that decide whether the insurer pays, mark the result good, review or gap, and then decide: yes, no or later.

Key takeaways

The Five-Part Liability Shield is a method, not a product: it checks separate German policies against the clauses that decide a claim.
A GmbH managing director is personally liable to the company for breaches of duty, and claims against them can be brought for five years (section 43 GmbHG). The reporting period of the D&O policy has to take that into account.
German general liability is typically event-based (occurrence). D&O is claims-made. Professional liability and cyber depend on the wording, so US terms such as occurrence, claims-made, retro date and tail need a careful read.
Standard German policies often limit or exclude the USA and Canada and punitive damages. A US customer's clause can ask for more than your policy gives.
A certificate of insurance is information only. Additional insured status and a waiver of subrogation need policy wording or an endorsement.
New EU product liability rules apply to products placed on the market after 9 December 2026, and software counts as a product. Germany promulgated its implementing law on 27 October 2026.

9 Dec 2026

New EU product liability rules start to apply

For products placed on the market after this date. Software counts as a product.

European Commission

5 years

Limitation period for claims against GmbH managing directors

Section 43 GmbHG. This is why the reporting period of a D&O policy matters.

GmbHG, English translation

1M / 2M USD

A common general liability minimum in US contracts

Per occurrence / aggregate. Example from one public US university; limits vary by contract.

Example: public US university

Jan Ruhoff

Independent insurance broker · Makler mit Fliege · Münster

Jan advises owners and managing directors on business insurance and checks policies against the clauses that decide a claim. Last checked: 16 October 2026 (product liability status: 30 October 2026; NIS2 management duty: 30 October 2026).

More about Jan (German page)

Start the free check Jump to the five blocks

Contents

What is on this page

The model

One shield, five blocks

Think of an umbrella with five panels. Each panel is one block of cover, and each protects against a different kind of loss. Take a panel away and the umbrella still looks fine, until it rains. That is why we check all five together.

The shield is a method, not a policy. Every block usually sits in its own German contract, often with a different insurer, with its own wording and its own traps.

Block 1

Directors' liability (D&O)

Protects the people who run the company. Covers claims against managing directors for breaches of duty, usually including claims by the company itself, and pays for the defence.

Block 2

Legal expenses

Pays for lawyers and court costs in contract disputes, criminal and administrative proceedings and data protection cases, for the company and, depending on the policy, its managers.

Block 3

Cyber

Covers the cost of an attack or outage: emergency response, restoring data, lost income and claims from third parties. The conditions in the policy decide whether it pays.

Block 4

Liability bundle

General (operations), product, professional (including Tech E&O), event and property-manager liability. This is where most US contract clauses land.

Block 5

Property

Building, contents, electronics and business interruption. It protects the assets of the company and the income they produce.

Please note

This is a method for checking German contracts. It is not an insurance policy and not a US umbrella policy. In the US, an umbrella policy means extra limits above underlying liability policies. Here, the umbrella is simply a way to see all five blocks at once.

German cover and its closest US equivalent
German term	What it covers	Closest US term	Good to know
Betriebshaftpflicht (BHV)	General liability for your operations: injury and property damage to third parties	Commercial general liability (CGL)	Typically event-based, which is close to occurrence. Closest equivalent, not identical.
Produkthaftpflicht (PHV)	Liability for damage caused by products you make or sell	Products liability	The USA and Canada are often excluded unless agreed. US partners usually expect occurrence wording.
Vermögensschadenhaftpflicht (VSH)	Liability for pure financial loss caused by your advice, work or software	Professional liability, E&O (UK: professional indemnity)	For software and IT services this is Tech E&O. Often triggered by the breach, not by the claim.
Cyberversicherung	Your own costs after an attack, plus claims from third parties	Cyber liability (third-party part) and first-party cyber	Check in each wording what is first-party and what is third-party.
D&O-Versicherung	Personal liability of managing directors and other managers	Directors and officers (D&O)	Claims-made in both systems.
Firmenrechtsschutz	Legal expenses for the company and its managers	No direct equivalent	Not named in the vendor requirements we reviewed, but important for your own protection.
Inhalts- und Gebäudeversicherung	Contents (equipment, stock) and buildings	Commercial property	Check replacement value and underinsurance.
Elektronikversicherung	Damage to electronics: breakage, overvoltage, operating errors	Equipment breakdown / electronics cover	Often a separate module in Germany.
Betriebsunterbrechung (Ertragsausfall)	Lost operating profit and continuing costs after insured damage	Business interruption	The indemnity period is the key number.
Veranstalterhaftpflicht (VHP)	Liability for events you organise	Event liability	Check whether events must be registered one by one.
Hausverwalterhaftpflicht	Liability of property managers for clients' financial loss	Property manager liability	Pure financial loss must be insured explicitly.
Gesetzliche Unfallversicherung (Berufsgenossenschaft)	Mandatory accident insurance for employees in Germany	Closest to workers' compensation	Run by the Berufsgenossenschaft, not placed by a broker. Whether a US customer accepts it as proof is a question for that customer.
Kfz-Flottenversicherung	Motor insurance for company vehicles	Commercial auto	Separate from the five blocks.
Higher limits / excess policy	Extra limit above the basic liability policy	Umbrella or excess liability	Often requested in US contracts. In Germany it is arranged as higher limits or an excess policy.

Closest equivalent, not identical: wording, triggers and exclusions differ. Always compare the actual clause, not the name.

The method

How the traffic-light check works

For each block we hold your policy against a short list of criteria. Every criterion gets a traffic light, and every block ends with a decision.

No jargon, no fog: just a clear picture of what is covered, what is not and what to do next.

Good

Green: the clause does its job

The wording meets what we would expect for a company like yours. Keep it, and look at it again at the annual review.

Review

Amber: worth a second look

The clause works in many cases but carries a limit, a condition or a gap you should weigh up. Often one question to the insurer settles it.

Gap

Red: the cover can fail here

The clause is missing, excluded or so narrow that a typical loss would not be paid in full. These points come first.

Decision

Yes, no or later

Every block ends with a decision. Later is allowed, but only with a date, so that open points do not quietly disappear.

Consulting grid, not norms

The thresholds in our tables are a working grid for advice. They are not legal standards and not market norms. An amber light can be perfectly fine if you know why it is amber. A green light does not replace reading the actual policy wording and the conditions of your contracts.

Where a point is a legal question, such as how a US contract clause is read or whether a US customer accepts a certificate, your lawyer decides. We translate the insurance side.

Block 1 of 5

D&O insurance for GmbH managing directors

Your managing director is personally liable for breaches of duty. Section 43 of the German Limited Liability Companies Act (GmbHG) requires the care of a prudent businessperson, makes several directors jointly and severally liable for damage to the company, and lets claims against them become time-barred only after five years.

D&O insurance pays for the defence against such claims and for claims that turn out to be justified. It is Block 1 because it protects a person, not a balance sheet, and cover for past acts is hard to add later.

Protects

The person, not the balance sheet

A managing director answers with private assets. D&O pays for the defence and for justified claims, within the sum insured.

Who claims

The company itself and others

Claims can come from the company, an insolvency administrator, shareholders or creditors. Whether internal claims are insured is the first thing to check.

Time

Five years and a long tail

Claims often surface years after the decision. The reporting period and the retroactive cover decide whether the policy still responds.

Illustrative scenario

The insolvency administrator writes to the managing director

Example Mobility Software GmbH, 25 employees, has to file for insolvency. The administrator claims EUR 120,000 from the managing director and alleges that payments were still made after the company could no longer pay its debts or was over-indebted (a claim under section 15b of the Insolvency Code, InsO).

Policy A: third-party claims only

The wording insures claims by third parties. The administrator acts for the company, so the claim may count as an internal claim and fall outside the cover. The managing director defends at their own expense and risks personal assets.

Policy B: internal claims insured

Claims by the company itself are expressly insured, also when an administrator brings them, and claims under section 15b InsO are named in the wording. The managing director's own shares do not reduce the payment. The insurer organises the defence and pays justified claims within the sum insured.

Fictional company and invented figures, for illustration only. Real outcomes depend on the policy wording and the facts.

The traffic-light check for D&O

D&O insurance: nine criteria
Criterion	Good	Review	Gap
Internal liability	Claims by your own company against its managing directors are expressly insured.	The wording mentions only third-party claims; internal claims are unclear.	Internal liability is excluded.
Own shareholding	No deduction from company claims for shares held by the managing director or relatives.	A deduction applies, but only above a threshold or in limited cases.	The part of a company claim that matches the share held by the managing director and relatives is not insured; at 100% no damages are paid.
Extended reporting period	6 years or longer, because internal claims against managing directors become time-barred after 5 years.	More than 12 months, but under 6 years.	12 months or less.
Exclusion for intentional breaches	Applies only after a final judgment finds a knowing breach of duty; defence costs are paid until then.	Applies already on a non-final court finding.	Applies already on an allegation or a suspicion.
Defence costs	Paid in addition to the sum insured, also in investigations.	Paid within the sum insured.	Capped, or reimbursed only once a court case has started.
Former managing directors	Former and new managing directors are insured automatically.	Insured only on request or on notification.	Former directors are not insured.
Retroactive cover	Unlimited for breaches of duty you were not aware of.	Limited in time.	None.
Deductible	None. (The mandatory deductible in section 93(2) AktG applies only to stock corporations, not to a GmbH.)	A deductible is agreed: weigh it against the premium saving.	A high deductible, or one that also applies to defence costs.
Insolvency of the company	Cover continues and the reporting period is secured.	Cover continues until the end of the policy period.	Cover ends.

Consulting grid, not norms. The thresholds guide the conversation; the policy wording decides.

Three questions for your insurer

Internal liability

Are claims by our own company against its managing directors expressly insured, including claims brought by an insolvency administrator, and is any part of such a claim cut because the managing director or relatives hold shares in the company?

Reporting period

How long is the extended reporting period after the policy ends, and is it at least six years?

Intent exclusion

From which point does the exclusion for intentional breaches apply (final judgment, first-instance finding or mere allegation), and who pays the defence until then?

What you should know

D&O is written on a claims-made basis: what counts is when the claim is made, not when the decision was taken. When you change insurers, ask for retroactive cover without a time limit and for a reporting period that outlasts the limitation period. Otherwise a gap opens exactly where claims tend to surface. If the managing director owns shares in the company, check how the policy treats claims by the company: the insurers' model wording (GDV) leaves out the part of such a claim that matches the share held by the managing director and relatives, so a sole owner-manager has no cover for it. Whoever buys cover only in a crisis usually gets no protection for circumstances already known.

In US contracts

In the public vendor requirements we reviewed, D&O does not appear. Investors, lenders and acquirers are more likely to ask for it. If someone does, tell us the limit and the territory required and we check both with your insurer.

See the US contract requirements

Have your D&O policy checked English guide: D&O insurance for GmbH directors German specialist page: D&O insurance (DE)

Block 2 of 5

Legal expenses insurance for companies and managing directors

Legal expenses insurance pays for lawyers, courts and experts when the company or its managers have to defend or enforce their rights: in contract disputes, in criminal and administrative proceedings and in data protection cases.

It is the block with no direct US counterpart, and the one whose small print matters most: waiting periods, turnover limits and a right to cancel after a claim decide whether the cover holds when you need it.

Protects

The company's day in court

Pays lawyers, court fees and experts, so that a dispute is decided on its merits and not on who can afford to fight.

Covers

Contracts, criminal and data protection

Contract disputes, defence in criminal and administrative proceedings and defence in data protection proceedings are separate clauses; each can be in or out.

Watch

The conditions do the work

Turnover limits, waiting periods, the limit per case and a cancellation right after a claim decide whether the cover really helps.

Illustrative scenario

A customer withholds EUR 62,000

Example Mobility Software GmbH, 25 employees, delivers a booking platform. The customer claims defects and withholds the last instalment of EUR 62,000. Since the policy was taken out, the company's revenue has grown.

Policy A: turnover limit for contract disputes

Contract disputes are insured only up to a turnover limit. The company has outgrown it, so the dispute is not covered. It pays the lawyer itself or gives up part of its claim.

Policy B: no turnover limit

Contract disputes are insured without a turnover limit. The company enforces its claim with legal support, and the insurer pays the costs within the limit per case.

Fictional company and invented figures, for illustration only. Real outcomes depend on the policy wording and the facts.

The traffic-light check for legal expenses

Legal expenses insurance: eight criteria
Criterion	Good	Review	Gap
Contract legal expenses	No turnover limit, or a broad list of contract types.	A turnover limit, or only some contract types.	Excluded.
Limit per case	EUR 1 million or more.	EUR 300,000 to under EUR 1 million.	Under EUR 300,000.
Criminal legal expenses	Also for allegations of intent, including felonies and offences such as fraud; costs are repaid only if a final judgment finds intent.	GDV model: no cover at first if intent is alleged, and cover applies retroactively only if you are not convicted of intent; it exists only for offences that can also be committed negligently. Felonies and offences such as fraud are excluded.	No criminal or manager legal expenses cover.
Waiting period	None, or up to 3 months.	More than 3 and up to 6 months.	More than 6 months.
Data protection (GDPR)	Defence costs in fine and supervisory proceedings; the fine itself is not insured.	Fine proceedings only.	Not insured.
Debt collection	Collection and dunning proceedings are included.	Only for an extra premium.	Not included.
Choice of lawyer and fees	Free choice; fees above the statutory rate partly covered.	Free choice; statutory fees only.	Steered to network lawyers: choosing your own lawyer has a financial disadvantage.
Cancellation after a claim	The insurer waives its right to cancel.	Cancellation only after two covered claims within twelve months (as in the GDV model).	The insurer may cancel after any single claim.

Consulting grid, not norms. The thresholds guide the conversation; the policy wording decides.

Three questions for your insurer

Intent allegations

If a manager is accused of an intentional offence, or the company faces fine proceedings, do you advance the costs and ask for repayment only if a final judgment finds intent?

Turnover limit and waiting period

Is there a turnover limit for contract disputes, and how long is the waiting period before cover starts?

Cancellation after a claim

Do you waive the right to cancel after a claim, and for how many years?

What you should know

Legal expenses insurance pays costs, not outcomes: it does not pay damages you owe and it does not pay fines. A dispute that begins before cover starts, or during the waiting period, is typically not insured, so the time to improve this block is before there is a dispute. Check that the criminal legal expenses cover the managing director personally, not only the company. The GDV model conditions exclude disputes under company law, disputes from a managing director's service contract and the defence against non-contractual damages claims; ask whether a special wording extends the cover.

In US contracts

Legal expenses cover is not part of the vendor requirements we reviewed, and it has no direct US counterpart. It protects your own position, not your certificate. If a contract is governed by US law or decided by a US court, ask whether the policy covers proceedings there.

See the US contract requirements

Have your legal expenses cover checked German specialist page: legal expenses (DE)

Block 3 of 5

Cyber insurance for companies

A cyberattack is two problems at once: your own systems stop, and other people's data may be affected. Cyber insurance pays for emergency response, restoring data and systems, lost income during the outage and claims from third parties.

The headline limit is the least interesting number. What decides a claim are the duties in the policy (multi-factor authentication, backups, updates) and what happens to the payment if one of them is missed.

Your costs

Systems, data and income

Emergency response, forensics, restoring data and the income lost during an outage are your own costs, the first-party part of the policy.

Their claims

Customers, partners, data subjects

After a data breach or an outage at a customer, third parties may claim. This third-party part is where cyber meets professional liability.

The trap

Duties written as exclusions

If a missing security measure becomes an exclusion, one lapse can cost the whole payment, even when it had nothing to do with the loss.

Illustrative scenario

Ransomware stops operations for ten days

Example Mobility Software GmbH, 25 employees, is hit by ransomware on a Friday evening. Systems are down for ten days, a customer's fleet bookings cannot be processed, and outside specialists are needed to rebuild.

Policy A: duties as exclusions

Security duties are drafted as exclusions. The insurer finds that one old admin account had no second factor and declines the claim, although the attackers came in through a different door.

Policy B: duties as obligations

Security duties are obligations: the insurer may reduce its payment only if the breach contributed to the loss. A hotline answers within hours, and response costs and lost income are paid.

Fictional company and invented figures, for illustration only. Real outcomes depend on the policy wording and the facts.

The traffic-light check for cyber

Cyber insurance: ten criteria
Criterion	Good	Review	Gap
24/7 hotline	Round the clock, with a response within 4 hours.	Weekdays only, or a response time over 4 hours.	No immediate help, only reimbursement of costs.
Security duties (MFA, backup, updates)	Lean duties; the payment is reduced only if the breach contributed to the loss.	Specific duties; the payment can be reduced.	Drafted as exclusions: the payment is lost even for slight negligence, or without any link to the loss.
Restoring data and systems	Up to the full sum insured.	A sub-limit.	Heavily limited, data only and no systems.
Waiting period for business interruption	Up to 8 hours.	More than 8 and up to 24 hours.	More than 24 hours.
Indemnity period	6 months or longer.	3 to under 6 months.	Under 3 months.
Cloud and provider outage	Outages at cloud and IT service providers are insured.	Insured only with a sub-limit.	Own IT only: outages at providers are excluded.
Data protection breaches	Defence, notification costs and, where permitted, fines.	Third-party claims only.	None.
Social engineering (fake payment requests)	EUR 100,000 or more.	More than EUR 50,000 and under EUR 100,000.	EUR 50,000 or less, or excluded.
Gross negligence	The insurer waives its right to reduce the payment.	Waiver for parts of the cover.	The payment can be reduced.
Retroactive cover	6 months or longer.	Under 6 months.	None: only events after the start of the contract.

Consulting grid, not norms. The thresholds guide the conversation; the policy wording decides.

Three questions for your insurer

Security duties

Which security duties does the policy contain, and what exactly happens to the payment if one is missed: a reduction only if the breach contributed to the loss, or loss of cover?

Provider outage

Are outages at our cloud and service providers insured, or only failures in our own IT?

Fake payment requests

How high is the limit for payments made on fake instructions, such as a spoofed invoice email, and is there a waiting period?

What you should know

Cyber wordings differ in what triggers the cover: the attack, the point at which the loss is first established, or the claim. Read what has to happen inside the policy period. For third-party claims, check where and under which law they must be raised; some German wordings count them only if they are raised in the EEA and under EEA law.

Answer the application questionnaire truthfully and completely, and name only measures that are actually in place. Ask whether extortion and ransom payments are insured, where lawful.

In US contracts

US customers often ask for a cyber limit, and the figures vary widely with the size of the vendor and the sensitivity of the data. Typical ranges are in the US requirements section. The key question for this block: does the policy respond to claims raised in the USA or under US law?

See the US contract requirements

Have your cyber policy checked German specialist page: cyber insurance (DE)

Block 4 of 5

General liability, product liability and Tech E&O

This is the block most US contract clauses are really about. It brings together the German liability policies: general liability (BHV), product liability (PHV), professional liability for pure financial loss (VSH; for IT and software companies, the cover US customers call Tech E&O or professional liability), and event and property-manager liability.

They are often sold as one bundle but written as separate clauses with separate limits, exclusions and triggers. The check therefore goes policy by policy: a strong general liability policy says nothing about an error in your software.

BHV

General liability

Injury and property damage caused to third parties by your operations. The closest German match to commercial general liability (CGL).

PHV

Product liability

Damage caused by products you make, sell or deliver. The USA and Canada are often excluded unless agreed; removal and installation costs and recall costs are separate clauses to check.

VSH

Professional liability and Tech E&O

Pure financial loss caused by advice, planning, services or software. Closest US terms: professional liability and E&O (UK: professional indemnity).

Illustrative scenario

A faulty update stops a customer's bookings for two days

Example Mobility Software GmbH, 25 employees, rolls out an update to a fleet-booking platform. A coding error blocks bookings for two days. The customer claims EUR 85,000 for lost revenue and extra costs. Nobody was hurt and nothing was damaged: the loss is purely financial.

Policy A: general liability only

The policy covers injury and property damage. Pure financial loss is not insured, or the software activity is missing from the description of insured activities. The insurer declines, and the company pays the claim from its own assets.

Policy B: professional liability included

Pure financial loss is insured, software development is covered by an open description of activities, and there is no low sub-limit for typical losses. The insurer examines the claim, defends against unjustified parts and pays what is justified.

Fictional company and invented figures, for illustration only. Real outcomes depend on the policy wording and the facts.

The traffic-light check for the liability bundle

Liability bundle: 19 criteria in four groups
Criterion	Good	Review	Gap
General liability (BHV)
Limit	EUR 10 million or more, as one lump sum for all types of damage.	EUR 3 million to under EUR 10 million.	Under EUR 3 million.
Damage to property you work on (Tätigkeitsschäden)	Insured.	Low sub-limit.	Excluded.
Pure financial loss (excluding your own services and software)	EUR 500,000 or more.	Under EUR 500,000.	Not insured.
Subcontractors	Insured.	Insured with proof of their own policy.	Excluded.
Environmental damage	Insured, including environmental damage insurance.	Basic cover with a sub-limit.	Excluded.
Run-off cover	5 years or longer.	More than 1 and under 5 years.	None, or 1 year at most.
Product liability (PHV)
Removal and installation costs	Insured.	Sub-limit.	Excluded.
Recall costs	Own, official and dealer recalls are insured.	Officially ordered recalls only.	No recall cover.
Own-brand seller (quasi-manufacturer, section 4 ProdHaftG, current version)	Goods sold under your own name or brand are insured.	Insured only after notification.	Excluded.
Export to the USA and Canada	Insured on an occurrence basis.	Sub-limit, or claims-made basis.	Excluded.
Serial damage	Limit per series; annual aggregate at least twice the limit.	Annual aggregate equal to the limit.	Excluded, or a low cap.
Growing product range	New products and business units are insured automatically.	Insured only after notification.	Only listed products.
Professional liability and Tech E&O (VSH)
Description of activities	Open: all typical activities, no exhaustive list.	Activities listed exhaustively.	An important activity is missing.
Sub-limits	None, or high for typical losses.	Sub-limits for common types of loss.	Low sub-limits for typical losses.
Delay damages	Deadline and delay damages are insured.	Sub-limit.	Excluded.
Run-off cover	5 years or longer.	More than 1 and under 5 years.	None, or 1 year at most.
Retroactive cover	Unlimited for breaches you were not aware of.	Limited in time.	None.
Events (VHP) and property managers
Events	Summer parties, trade fairs and open days are insured without registering each event.	Registration per event, or a size limit.	Events are excluded.
Property manager liability	Pure financial loss from managing other people's property is insured.	Partly insured.	No cover despite managing property.

Consulting grid, not norms. The thresholds guide the conversation; the policy wording decides.

Which policies fit which business?

Rule of thumb: the usual mix in the liability bundle
Your business	Usual mix in the liability bundle
Craft and installation	General liability (BHV), product liability (PHV) for removal and installation, professional liability (VSH) for planning services.
Consulting, planning, services	General liability (BHV) and professional liability (VSH).
Trade and manufacturing	General liability (BHV) and product liability (PHV), with recall, own-brand sales and export checked.
Hospitality, trade fairs, events	General liability (BHV) and event liability (VHP).
Letting your own property	General liability (BHV) plus landlord (property owner) liability, which is not one of the five blocks.
Managing property for third parties	General liability (BHV) and property manager liability, which includes pure financial loss.
Software and IT	General liability (BHV), professional liability (VSH) as Tech E&O, product liability (PHV) where software or connected devices count as products (check the wording), plus cyber from Block 3.
Mobility and telematics	As for software and IT. Motor cover for the vehicles themselves is a separate policy.

Rule of thumb from advisory practice, not a legal requirement. What your business needs depends on its activities and contracts.

Three questions for your insurer

Pure financial loss and activities

Does the policy insure pure financial loss caused by our software and services, and is every activity we perform named or covered by an open description of activities?

USA and Canada

Where exactly does the cover stop for the USA and Canada (exported products, work performed there, claims raised in US courts), and do defence costs reduce the sum insured?

Trigger and run-off

Is the policy event-based or breach-based, and how long does cover continue after the policy ends?

What you should know

The headline limit says little. Damage to property you work on, pure financial loss and subcontractors are where the expensive disputes arise. Check the description of your activities too: what is not described is, in case of doubt, not insured.

German general and product liability policies are generally event-based: the date of the damage counts. Professional liability wordings differ: some are breach-based (the date of the breach counts, which is why run-off and retroactive cover matter), while IT liability wordings, including the GDV model, are often event-based. For products sold into the USA, partners often expect occurrence-based wording. Ask for the trigger in writing and do not assume.

In US contracts

This is where US clauses bite: general liability, products, professional liability and cyber limits, additional-insured status, primary and non-contributory wording. The next sections show what a certificate can and cannot prove, and where German policies stop at the border.

See the US contract requirements

Have your liability policies checked English guide: Tech E&O insurance in Germany English guide: US insurance clauses and certificates German page: general liability (DE)German page: professional liability (DE)German page: product liability (DE)German page: IT and software companies (DE)

Block 5 of 5

Property, electronics and business interruption insurance

Block 5 protects what the company owns and the income it produces: the building, the contents, the electronics and, if damage stops operations, the operating profit that would otherwise be lost.

Here the traps are numbers. A sum insured that is too low, a waiting period that is too long or an indemnity period that is too short does not show until the loss, and then it is too late.

What it is

Your own assets, not third-party claims

Four covers protect the company's assets and income: building, contents, electronics and business interruption. They pay the company's own losses, not claims from others.

Who is affected

Owners and tenants

Owners insure the building and, like tenants, contents, electronics and business interruption. Tenants also check the duties in their lease.

Typical triggers

Fire, water, storm, burglary, overvoltage

Fire, escape of water (burst pipes), storm, hail, heavy rain, burglary, overvoltage and electronics damage are the usual causes of loss.

Illustrative scenario

Water damage stops operations for three weeks

A pipe bursts above the equipment room of Example Mobility Software GmbH, 25 employees. Devices and hardware stock worth EUR 70,000 are damaged. Operations run at reduced capacity for three weeks while salaries, rent, leasing and interest keep running.

Policy A: contents only

The damaged devices are paid, but there is no business interruption cover. The income of three weeks is lost while the fixed costs run on. If shareholders have guaranteed loans, this can reach them personally.

Policy B: contents with business interruption

With replacement-value cover the devices are replaced at new value (the difference between current value and new value is usually paid only after replacement; very old equipment may be paid at current value). Business interruption pays the operating profit and the continuing costs for the period of reduced operation, at most for the indemnity period.

Fictional company and invented figures, for illustration only. Real outcomes depend on the policy wording and the facts.

The traffic-light check for property

Property insurance: 13 criteria in three groups
Criterion	Good	Review	Gap
Building
Sum insured	Index-linked replacement value with a waiver of the underinsurance reduction; sum based on an expert valuation.	Sum based on an estimate (square metres times price); waiver tied to conditions.	No waiver: proportional reduction under section 75 VVG.
Gross negligence	The insurer waives in full (100%) its right to reduce the payment.	Waiver up to a maximum amount.	Reduction possible under section 81 VVG.
Building-regulation costs	10% of the sum insured or more.	Under 10%.	Not insured.
Loss of rent	Indemnity period of 24 months or longer.	12 to under 24 months.	Under 12 months.
Sewer backflow and natural hazards	Backflow and natural hazards (heavy rain, flood) are insured.	Backflow with a sub-limit; natural hazards missing.	Both excluded.
Switching from an old contract	Old benefits guaranteed: the benefits of the previous contract are preserved.	Partly.	None: benefits of the old contract are lost.
Contents and electronics
Insured perils	All risks: everything is insured that is not excluded.	Named perils, extended (fire, burglary, escape of water, storm, natural hazards).	Fire and burglary only.
Sum insured	Replacement value, waiver of the underinsurance reduction and a precautionary increase of 10% or more.	Waiver without a precautionary increase.	No waiver: reduction under section 75 VVG.
Electronics	Breakage, overvoltage and operating errors are insured.	Breakage and overvoltage; operating errors only with a sub-limit or not at all.	Fire and burglary only, or no electronics cover.
Cover away from the premises	25% of the sum or more (trade fair, building site, customer visit).	10% to under 25%.	Under 10%.
Business interruption
Indemnity period	24 months or longer.	12 to under 24 months (12 months is the standard).	Under 12 months.
Sum insured	Operating profit and continuing costs of the whole indemnity period plus a safety margin of 10% or more.	Operating profit and continuing costs of the indemnity period without a margin.	Sum below the operating profit and continuing costs of the indemnity period: reduction under section 75 VVG.
Knock-on damage (contingent business interruption)	Losses at suppliers and customers are insured.	One side only.	Excluded.

Consulting grid, not norms. The thresholds guide the conversation; the policy wording decides.

Two numbers that decide a loss

Worked example

Underinsurance

Replacement value of the building: EUR 1,000,000. Sum insured: EUR 700,000. Loss: EUR 200,000.

Without a waiver of the underinsurance reduction, the insurer pays in proportion: 70% of the loss. Simplified calculation under section 75 VVG, before any deductible.

Paid: EUR 140,000. You bear EUR 60,000.

Worked example

Indemnity period

After a total loss by fire, planning, permits, rebuilding and ramp-up take 15 months. With a 12-month indemnity period, the last three months have no income replacement. With 24 months, the whole outage is covered.

The 15 months are an assumption for this example, not a statistic.

12 months: 3 months uncovered. 24 months: fully covered.

Three questions for your insurer

Sum insured and waiver

On what basis was the sum insured determined, and do you waive the underinsurance reduction?

Backflow and natural hazards

Are sewer backflow and natural hazards such as heavy rain and flooding included, and up to which sum?

Indemnity period

How long is the indemnity period for business interruption, and is the sum insured based on operating profit and continuing costs for the whole period plus a margin?

What you should know

Building and contents are separate covers. If you rent, you do not insure the building, but you often answer for damage to the rented premises, so check whether your general liability policy covers it and with which sub-limit.

For a building, an expert valuation instead of an estimate sets the sum insured; if the insurer accepts it, an argument about the sum after a loss becomes less likely. Re-check all sums when revenue, stock or equipment change, not only at renewal.

In US contracts

In the vendor requirements we reviewed, property cover does not appear. If a US landlord, lender or customer asks for evidence of property or business-interruption cover, send us the clause and we check what your German policy provides and what a certificate can show.

See what certificates can show

Have your property cover checked German page: contents (DE)German page: electronics (DE)German page: business interruption (DE)

How the blocks interlock

One incident, several policies

An incident rarely hits only one block. Ransomware can stop operations, expose customer data and bring a claim against the managing director within days. What matters is that no gap remains between the policies.

The matrix shows how eight typical situations are usually allocated. It is a simplified picture, not a coverage promise: the wording of each policy decides.

Leadsthis block pays or defends first
Supportsthis block may join in, depending on the policy terms

Eight typical situations and the blocks that usually lead
Situation	1D&O	2Legal expenses	3Cyber	4Liability	5Property
Ransomware stops the business for ten daysCyber pays response costs and lost income. D&O and legal expenses can add cover if managers or the company are blamed.	Supports	Supports	Leads	Not involved	Not involved
Data leak: customer data is goneCyber leads. Liability may respond to claims from customers, depending on the wording. D&O and legal expenses can add cover if managers are blamed or the company is sued.	Supports	Supports	Leads	Supports	Not involved
Fake email: accounting transfers EUR 48,000Cyber leads, but only with social-engineering cover. D&O can matter if managers are blamed for weak payment controls.	Supports	Not involved	Leads	Not involved	Not involved
Fire in the warehouse, neighbour's building damagedProperty insurance pays for your own damage, liability insurance for the neighbour's building. Legal expenses can add cover if your own insurer disputes the claim.	Not involved	Supports	Not involved	Leads	Leads
A customer blames an assembly or software errorLiability defends the claim and pays justified damages. Legal expenses can add cover for the dispute itself.	Not involved	Supports	Not involved	Leads	Not involved
The insolvency administrator claims payments back from the managing directorD&O responds to claims against managers. Legal expenses support the defence only with a special wording, because standard conditions exclude company-law disputes and the defence against non-contractual damages claims.	Leads	Supports	Not involved	Not involved	Not involved
Criminal investigation against the managing director personallyLegal expenses leads with the defence costs. D&O and liability can add cover, depending on the wording.	Supports	Leads	Not involved	Supports	Not involved
Shareholder dispute over a bad investmentD&O leads if the company or shareholders claim against managers. Legal expenses help only with a special wording, because standard conditions exclude company-law disputes.	Leads	Supports	Not involved	Not involved	Not involved

Simplified allocation, no coverage promise. Whether a policy responds depends on its wording, its limits and the facts of the case. Consulting grid, not norms.

What the five blocks do not cover

Personal guarantees and shareholder loans. If you or your co-owners have guaranteed a company loan, or lent money to the company, none of the five blocks protects that exposure.

That belongs to financing and legal planning, not to insurance cover. Talk to your lawyer and tax adviser about it.

Check how your policies fit together

Where to start

In which order to build the shield

The goal is always the full shield. But money and time are limited, and not every gap is equally urgent. If you cannot do everything at once, three questions help you decide what comes first.

Question 1

What can the company not survive?

Months of downtime, or a loss that your liquidity cannot absorb. That points to business interruption and cyber business interruption, which pay lost profit and running costs while you rebuild.

Question 2

What hits you personally and cannot be bought later?

D&O and legal expenses for criminal proceedings. After the first allegation, circumstances that are already known are usually not insured in a new policy. Waiting can mean the cover is no longer available for exactly the case you feared.

Question 3

What do contracts or partners demand?

Usually general liability with an adequate sum insured. Many customers ask for proof of insurance before they award a contract, and US customers often ask for specific limits. See the US contract requirements below.

Review the shield at least once a year, and sooner when

Revenue or headcount rises significantly
You launch new products, open new sites or take on new activities
You take on new loans or guarantees
You move premises or change the legal form of the company
Management changes

A rule of thumb, not a rule of law

The three questions come from advisory practice. They help to set priorities when budget or time is short. The aim stays the same: all five blocks in place and checked together.

Find out where to start

Next Generation Mobility

Mobility and telematics: when software moves vehicles

Connected vehicles, fleet software, car-sharing platforms and charging networks have one thing in common: when a software or cloud service fails, vehicles can become unavailable even though nothing is wrong with them. A Munich Re article of 30 July 2026 makes the same point: disruptions of external digital services can affect the availability of vehicles without the vehicle itself being compromised.

For providers of mobility software and telematics, this changes the insurance question. It is no longer only the question of what happens if our software has a bug, but also of what happens if our cloud, our provider or our update fails and a customer's fleet comes to a standstill.

Short answer

For software that moves vehicles, three policies meet: Tech E&O, cyber and general or product liability. Each has its own exclusions, and a fault that physically affects a vehicle can fall between them. Read the three wordings together, and ask your insurer to confirm in writing how an outage, a defect and a cyberattack would be handled.

9 Dec 2026

New EU product liability rules apply

Applies to products placed on the market after this date; earlier products stay under the 1985 directive. All types of software are covered, including defects that appear later through updates, except free open-source software supplied outside a commercial activity. It protects people who suffer injury, property damage or data loss, not companies as claimants.

European Commission

11 Dec 2027

Cyber Resilience Act: main obligations

In force since 10 Dec 2024. Reporting duties for manufacturers have applied since 11 Sep 2026. It applies to products with digital elements. Whether your product is in scope is a legal question.

European Commission

6 Dec 2025

NIS2 in force in Germany

Management must implement the security measures and oversee their implementation (section 38 BSIG), and personal liability is possible. Whether your company is in scope is a legal question.

Morrison Foerster, Dec 2025

What each block means for a mobility business
Block	Where mobility software is exposed	What to check in the policy
1 D&O	Managers answer for how the company handles cyber security and product compliance. Under NIS2, management must implement the security measures and oversee their implementation.	Does the policy respond to claims about failed oversight and to regulatory proceedings? Is the reporting period after the policy ends long enough?
2 Legal expenses	Disputes with fleet customers about downtime and fees, data protection proceedings, and criminal or regulatory investigations after an incident.	Is the manager personally covered, not only the company? Are there turnover limits or waiting periods for contract disputes?
3 Cyber	An outage of your platform or of a cloud provider can leave customers' vehicles unavailable although nothing is wrong with them. You lose income, and customers may claim.	Is business interruption caused by a provider's outage insured? How long is the waiting period? Does the third-party part respond to claims from abroad?
4 Liability, including Tech E&O	Software placed on the market after 9 December 2026 counts as a product under EU product liability rules. A defect can cause financial loss to customers and, in the worst case, injury or property damage.	Do the insured services include SaaS, hosting and telematics? Are contractual penalties and service credits covered? Who pays when a software fault physically affects a vehicle?
5 Property	Servers, telematics devices, charging hardware and office equipment, and the income they produce.	Is electronics cover included? Is business interruption insured after physical damage, and for how long?
Not part of the shield: the vehicles	The vehicles and the liability from driving them are insured under motor policies.	Fleet and motor insurance is a separate topic. See the German page on fleet insurance.

A checklist for the conversation with your insurer, not a coverage statement. Wordings differ between insurers, so check yours.

Four questions for your insurer

The cloud outage

Does the policy pay for lost income and customer claims when a cloud or data provider that you depend on fails? Is there a sub-limit?

The scope of Tech E&O

Does the definition of insured services include SaaS, hosting and telematics? Are contractual penalties and service credits covered, or only liability under the law?

The gap between policies

If a software fault physically affects a vehicle, which policy responds: Tech E&O, cyber or general and product liability? Is the event excluded in any of them?

The US border

Do the USA and Canada fall inside the territorial scope? Are US courts excluded? Do defence costs reduce the limit?

Status of the German product liability law (30 October 2026)

The Bundestag adopted the German law implementing the directive on 8 October 2026, and the Bundesrat let it pass on 16 October 2026. The law is dated 22 October 2026 and was promulgated on 27 October 2026 (Federal Law Gazette 2026 I No. 321). The EU deadline for national laws is 9 December 2026, and the main provisions take effect on that day. Under the transitional provision of the law as passed, products placed on the market or put into operation up to and including 8 December 2026 stay under the old Product Liability Act of 1989, and the new rules apply to products from 9 December 2026. Your lawyer can tell you which of your products are affected.

Talk to us about your mobility software Fleet and motor insurance (German page)

US contract requirements

What US customers typically ask for in insurance clauses

US customers write insurance requirements into their vendor and services agreements. The clauses are specific: which type of cover, which limit per claim and in total, and proof by certificate.

The figures below are published examples from public sources, not a standard. Limits are negotiable, and what applies to you is what your contract says.

Insurance clauses in US contracts: published examples
Clause in the contract	What it means	Published example (USD)	What to check in your German policy
Commercial general liability (CGL)	Liability for bodily injury and property damage caused by your operations, usually also for personal and advertising injury.	One public US university: 1M each occurrence, 2M aggregate.	Your Betriebshaftpflicht: is the USA included? Is the sum insured high enough? Event-based cover is the closest to occurrence. The GDV base wording excludes personality-rights claims (its optional data module covers some), which US policies cover as personal and advertising injury.
Professional liability / E&O (Tech E&O for software)	Liability for pure financial loss from your advice, services or software.	The same university, where design or build work applies: 1M per claim, 2M aggregate. Other public universities: 1M to 2M.	Your Vermögensschadenhaftpflicht (VSH) or IT liability policy: territory, trigger (breach or claim), retroactive date, run-off.
Cyber liability	Costs and claims after a security incident or data breach.	Public universities: 2M, 5M or tiered 0.5M to 10M. A 2025 law firm review: 2M to 5M is not uncommon for small and mid-size vendors; larger or higher-risk vendors may face demands for 10M or more.	Does the third-party part respond to claims raised in the USA under US law? Some German wordings count only claims raised in the EEA and under EEA law.
Umbrella / excess liability	Extra limit above the underlying liability policies.	The same university: 5M per occurrence.	In Germany this is arranged as higher limits or an excess policy on top of the Betriebshaftpflicht. Check that it follows the same terms.
Commercial auto	Liability for vehicles used on the job.	The same university: 1M combined single limit.	Only relevant if vehicles are used in the USA. Motor insurance is separate from the five blocks.
Employer's liability	Claims by injured employees against the employer.	The same university: at least 1M per accident.	Employees working in Germany are insured with the statutory accident insurer (Berufsgenossenschaft), which largely shields the employer from employee claims (section 104 SGB VII). Whether a US customer accepts this is for that customer to say.
Workers' compensation	Statutory cover for employees injured at work, set by state law.	Statutory limits.	Not something we can place. For staff or a subsidiary in the USA, a local solution is needed on site. German counterpart: the Berufsgenossenschaft.
Vendors outside the USA and Canada	Some customers publish a separate requirements table for foreign vendors.	Another public US university: 1M each for general, products, professional and auto liability. Policies in other currencies are accepted if the limits meet the dollar minimums at current exchange rates.	Ask the customer which table applies to you and whether a German insurer is acceptable. Check euro limits against the dollar minimums.

Examples published by public US universities and a 2025 review by a US law firm, checked on 16 October 2026 (see Sources). Requirements differ by contract, state and project size. The customer's contract is the only binding source.

Hold-harmless clauses

A hold-harmless or indemnification clause is a contract term, not an insurance product. Where it goes beyond your statutory liability, it is insured only if your policy expressly includes that contractual liability, and the legal assessment of such a clause belongs to your lawyer. We check what your policy does with it.

Send us the insurance clause from your contract How certificates of insurance work

Certificates and endorsements

Certificates of insurance: what they prove and what they do not

Before work starts, a US customer will usually ask for a certificate of insurance (COI), often on the ACORD 25 form. It is a short summary of your policies.

The customer's real wishes are a different matter: to be named on your policy, to stop your insurer from claiming against them, to be told when your cover ends. They have to be written into the policy or into an endorsement.

The one thing to remember

A certificate of insurance is not insurance. It reports what the policies say on the day it is issued, for information only. It does not extend or change the cover, and it gives its holder no rights of its own.

Terms you will meet in US insurance clauses
Term	What the customer wants	Where it must be written	Question for your insurer
Certificate of insurance (COI, ACORD 25)	A short summary of your policies as proof of cover.	It is information only. It confers no rights and does not amend the policy.	Who issues it, how quickly, and in English?
Additional insured	To be named on your liability policy for claims that arise from your work.	Policy wording or an endorsement. The certificate alone is not enough.	Can the customer be co-insured for liability arising from your work, and under which wording?
Primary and non-contributory	Your policy pays first, and the customer's own insurance does not share the loss.	Policy wording or an endorsement.	Does the policy have clauses that make it pay only after other insurance? Can they be waived for this customer?
Waiver of subrogation	Your insurer gives up the right to recover its payment from the customer.	An endorsement or an agreement with the insurer.	Is a waiver possible, and for which customers?
Notice of cancellation	To be told if your policy is cancelled or not renewed.	The certificate does not bind the insurer; notice follows the policy terms. Some customers write a notice duty into the contract instead.	What notice will the insurer give, and will it confirm this in writing?
Retroactive date and tail (claims-made cover)	Proof that claims from earlier work stay covered after the contract or the policy ends.	The policy schedule: retroactive date and extended reporting period.	What is the retroactive date? How long can claims still be reported if we change insurer or end the policy?
Limit per claim and aggregate	A cap for one claim and a cap for all claims in the policy year, for example 1M and 2M.	The policy schedule.	Do defence costs reduce the limit? Is the aggregate shared with other cover?

General explanations, not legal advice. Whether an insurer agrees to a specific endorsement is its decision, and we cannot promise it.

Before you sign the contract

Ask for the exact clause

Get the insurance clause and the certificate form the customer expects, in writing.

Compare it with the policies

Each requirement is marked as covered, as needing an endorsement, or as a gap.

Request endorsements and certificate together

Additional-insured status, waiver of subrogation and the certificate go to the insurer in one request, not one after the other.

Plan for the renewal

A certificate is a snapshot. When a policy renews or changes, the customer needs a new one.

Ask about a certificate for your contract Where German policies stop

Honest limits

Where standard German policies reach their limits

German policies are built for German law and German courts, and many of them draw a line at the Atlantic. That is not a flaw; it is how the market prices risk. But it means that a US contract can ask for cover that your current policy does not give.

These are the six places where it shows.

Territory

The USA and Canada are often outside the cover

In the GDV model wording (non-binding), events abroad are covered only in listed cases, and products destined for the USA or Canada are excluded unless agreed. Many policies need an explicit extension.

Punitive damages

Excluded in the model wording

US courts can award punitive damages. The GDV model wording excludes them, and in the USA it depends on the state whether they can be insured at all.

Courts and law

Claims raised in the USA

In the GDV model wordings, the general liability module for data protection and electronic data covers events abroad only if the claims are raised in the EEA, Switzerland or the UK and under their law, and the cyber model only if they are raised in EEA states and under EEA law. One IT liability wording we reviewed insures worldwide, but excludes certain claims raised in US or Canadian courts or under their law (for example under the RICO and ERISA statutes) and counts the costs of US and Canadian court proceedings against the sum insured.

Defence costs

They can eat into the limit

In the GDV model wording, defence costs for proceedings abroad reduce the sum insured, so a long proceeding can use up a large part of the limit.

Triggers

Event, claim or breach

German general and product liability are usually event-based. D&O is claims-made, cyber wordings differ, and professional liability is often triggered by the breach. US contracts speak of occurrence and of claims-made with a retroactive date, so the triggers have to be mapped.

Insurer status

Admitted or not admitted

Some US customers require insurers licensed in their state, others accept non-admitted (surplus lines) insurers under conditions. Policies with non-admitted insurers are generally not backed by a state guaranty fund. Whether a German insurer is acceptable is the customer's decision.

Model wording is not your policy

The GDV, the German insurance association, publishes non-binding model wordings. Insurers use their own, and many differ. What counts is the wording of your policy, so the examples above show where to look, not what you have.

Before you sign

Ask your insurer in writing whether the policy meets each clause of the contract: territory, courts, limits, defence costs and endorsements. A written answer is worth more than any model wording, and more than any web page, including this one.

Have a US clause checked

Clear boundaries

What we can do for you, and what we cannot

Clear boundaries make for better cooperation. We are an independent insurance broker in Münster, Germany, and we work on German policies under German law.

What we can do

Translate the insurance clauses of a US contract into German policy terms, and explain them in plain English.
Compare your current policies with a contract's requirements and show you the gaps.
Approach insurers for quotes and for written confirmations, including extensions for the USA and Canada where the market offers them.
Request certificates of insurance and endorsements for your customers.
Place D&O, legal expenses, cyber, liability (including Tech E&O) and property insurance for your German company.
Support you in a claim and check the shield with you every year.

What we cannot do

Give legal advice. Contract terms such as hold-harmless clauses belong to your lawyer.
Promise that a US customer will accept a German policy or certificate.
Guarantee that an insurer will agree to a specific endorsement or wording.
Place US state-law cover such as workers' compensation, or advise on US law or US licensing.
Insure personal guarantees or shareholder loans. The five blocks do not cover them.
Replace your lawyer, tax adviser or auditor.

Where we stand

We advise on German policies. When a question needs US law or a US-licensed adviser, we say so early, so that you can bring in the right specialist.

Talk to us about your situation

Worked example

From a US contract clause to a certificate

Example Mobility Software GmbH has 25 employees and sells software to mobility providers in Germany. A public US university invites it to bid for a software project, and the vendor agreement contains an insurance clause. This is how the work typically runs.

Fictional example

The company and the figures are invented to show the process. They do not describe a real customer. The requirement figures follow the published examples in the section on US contract requirements.

Six steps from clause to certificate

The clause arrives

The vendor agreement asks for general liability of USD 1M per occurrence and 2M aggregate, professional liability of USD 1M per claim and 2M aggregate, cyber liability of USD 5M, and additional-insured status for the university, shown on the certificate.

We read it against the policies

The company has a Betriebshaftpflicht, a Vermögensschadenhaftpflicht and a cyber policy. We mark each requirement as covered, as needing an endorsement, or as a gap. Typical findings: the USA is outside the territorial scope, the cyber limit is lower than USD 5M, and nobody has asked about additional-insured status yet.

We ask the insurers in writing

Can the territory be extended to the USA, including US courts? Do defence costs reduce the limit? Can the university be co-insured? What would a higher cyber limit cost?

You decide with the numbers in front of you

You see the extra premium and the remaining gaps side by side. For each gap you decide: yes, no, or later with a date. The contract is signed only when the answers are in writing.

Certificate and endorsements

The insurer issues the certificate, or an equivalent confirmation of insurance in English, and the agreed endorsements. We check that they say what the contract needs, and you send them to the university.

Renewal and changes

We note the renewal date, ask for new certificates when policies change, and run the traffic lights again once a year or when the contract grows.

It does not always work

Sometimes an insurer declines an extension, or the customer does not accept a German policy. Then there are three options: negotiate the clause with the help of your lawyer, look for another insurer, or accept that this contract is not for you. It is better to know that before you sign.

Start with your own contract

Beyond the shield

The company is protected. And you?

The five blocks above protect the company and its managers against claims. They do not build your own retirement provision, and for owner-managers of a GmbH that is a second question right next to the first one.

For 2026 your GmbH can pay up to EUR 8,112 a year (EUR 676 a month) into a direct insurance policy (Direktversicherung) for you, free of income tax on the contribution, provided the commitment and the shareholder resolution are in order. Further corporate tax conditions apply to controlling shareholders, so have your tax adviser confirm the arrangement first. The payout is taxed later, so this is a tax deferral, not a tax exemption.

The honest caveat

Whether it pays off depends on your tax rate today against your tax rate at payout. If you are in the statutory health scheme, in particular as a voluntary member, health and care insurance contributions of up to about 22% on the payout can turn a clear advantage into a loss.

We calculate first, and we say plainly when it is not worth it.

What the company pension guide covers

The 2026 allowance and who can use it
A reference calculation against salary and dividend, with the tax rate at which the result flips
Contract design and protection if the company becomes insolvent
The shareholder resolution and the paperwork that make the contribution count
Payout rules, including lump sums and health insurance contributions
Further routes for moving money from the company to your private assets

EUR 8,112

Allowance for 2026

8% of the pension insurance contribution ceiling of EUR 101,400, which is EUR 676 a month. For 2027 a ceiling of EUR 106,200 is proposed, which would give EUR 8,496, but that needs the consent of the Bundesrat.

Section 3 no. 63 EStG

Read the company pension guide

Facts and sources

Sources: what we checked, and when

The facts on this page rest on the sources below, which we checked on 16 October 2026. The status of the German product liability law was updated on 30 October 2026, and the NIS2 management duty was checked against the statute on the same day. The thresholds in the traffic-light tables are our own consulting grid, not taken from a source.

Amounts and clauses in examples are examples, not promises.

Abbreviations: GDV = German Insurance Association; EEA = European Economic Area (EU plus Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein); GmbHG = Limited Liability Companies Act; AktG = Stock Corporation Act; InsO = Insolvency Code; VVG = Insurance Contract Act; ProdHaftG = Product Liability Act; BSIG = BSI Act (federal IT security); SGB VII = Social Code, Book VII (statutory accident insurance); GewO = Trade Regulation Act.

Facts used on this page
Topic	What we found	Source (checked 16 Oct 2026)
EU product liability directive	Applies to products placed on the market after 9 December 2026. All types of software are covered, including defects that appear later through updates; free open-source software outside a commercial activity is excluded. Earlier products stay under the 1985 directive. Claims by companies are not covered.	European Commission, liability for defective products; EUR-Lex, Directive (EU) 2024/2853
German law implementing the directive	Adopted by the Bundestag on 8 October 2026; the Bundesrat let it pass on 16 October 2026. The law is dated 22 October 2026 and was promulgated on 27 October 2026 (Federal Law Gazette 2026 I No. 321). The main provisions take effect on 9 December 2026. Under the transitional provision of the law as passed, products placed on the market or put into operation up to and including 8 December 2026 stay under the old Product Liability Act of 1989; the new rules apply to products from 9 December 2026. Ask your lawyer which of your products are affected.	Federal Law Gazette 2026 I No. 321 (checked 30 Oct 2026); German Bundestag
EU Cyber Resilience Act	In force since 10 December 2024 (Regulation (EU) 2024/2847). Reporting duties from 11 September 2026, main obligations from 11 December 2027 (Article 71).	European Commission, digital strategy
NIS2 in Germany	In force since 6 December 2025. Management must implement the security measures and oversee their implementation (section 38 BSIG); personal liability is possible. Whether a company is in scope is a legal question.	Section 38 BSIG (checked 30 Oct 2026); Morrison Foerster briefing (Dec 2025); BSI NIS2 FAQ
Liability of managing directors	GmbHG section 43: duty to act with the care of a prudent businessperson, joint and several liability, limitation period of five years.	GmbHG, English translation (gesetze-im-internet.de)
Statutory accident insurance	Employees working in Germany must be insured with the statutory accident insurer (Berufsgenossenschaft). Section 104 SGB VII largely shields the employer from employee claims. No source we found says whether a US customer accepts this instead of workers' compensation.	DGUV
German model wording for liability (non-binding)	Punitive damages excluded. Events abroad covered only in listed cases. Products destined for the USA or Canada excluded. Defence costs for foreign proceedings reduce the sum insured. The data-protection and electronic-data module counts claims from events abroad only if they are raised in the EEA, Switzerland or the UK and under their law, and excludes IT activities such as software development. The pure-financial-loss extension excludes losses from your own products, work and services, from advisory work, from data handling and from missed deadlines, and claims for violation of personality and name rights.	GDV model wording for general and professional liability
German model wording for IT service providers	Event-based, not claims-made, so US retroactive date and tail wording may not map one to one.	GDV special conditions for IT service providers
German model wording for cyber insurance (non-binding)	Cover is worldwide, but only for claims raised in EEA states and under their law. The insured event is the loss first verifiably established during the policy period.	GDV model wording: cyber (AVB Cyber, Feb 2024)
German model wording for legal expenses (non-binding)	Criminal defence covers offences that can also be committed negligently; if intent is alleged, cover applies retroactively unless a final judgment finds intent. Felonies and offences that can only be committed intentionally are not covered. Excluded: disputes under company law or from a managing director's service contract, and the defence against non-contractual damages claims. After two covered claims within twelve months, both parties may cancel.	GDV model wording: legal expenses (ARB 2021)
German model wording for D&O (non-binding)	Claims-made. Defence costs reduce the sum insured. For claims by the company, the part matching the share held by the insured person and relatives is not covered.	GDV model wording: D&O (AVB D&O)
One insurer's IT liability conditions	Cover is worldwide. Certain claims raised in US or Canadian courts or under their law are excluded, for example under the RICO and ERISA statutes, and the costs of US and Canadian court proceedings count against the sum insured.	Published IT liability conditions of one German insurer (10/2025, German)
US contract requirements	Limits published by public US universities, and a law firm review of cyber limits. See the table in the section on US contract requirements.	Public university vendor pages; Morgan Lewis (Sept 2025)
Certificates of insurance	The ACORD 25 form is for information only. Additional-insured status and waiver of subrogation need policy wording or an endorsement. Cancellation notice follows the policy terms.	ACORD 25 (copy filed with NY DFS, Dec 2025); Reed Smith; Miller Nash
Punitive damages and non-admitted insurers	Whether punitive damages are insurable depends on the state. Surplus lines insurers are non-admitted and are generally not backed by state guaranty funds.	WTW (page dated 3 March 2023); NAIC
Mobility and digital services	Disruption of external digital services can affect the availability of vehicles without the vehicle itself being compromised.	Munich Re, 30 July 2026
German statutes cited	VVG sections 28 (breach of a duty in the contract), 75 (underinsurance), 81 (gross negligence) and 127 (free choice of lawyer, binding under section 129). AktG section 93(2): a mandatory deductible applies to stock corporations only. ProdHaftG section 4 (current version, replaced for products placed on the market from 9 December 2026): sellers who put their own name or brand on a product count as manufacturers. InsO section 15b: liability for payments made after the company became illiquid or over-indebted.	Gesetze im Internet: VVG, AktG, ProdHaftG, InsO

Consulting information, not legal advice. Laws and market practice change, which is why this page carries a date.

Sources

Jan Ruhoff

Independent insurance broker in Münster (Makler mit Fliege)

In insurance since 2013, trained as an IHK insurance and finance clerk (Versicherungs- und Finanzkaufmann). Jan updates this page when laws or market practice change. Last check: 16 October 2026; product liability status updated on 30 October 2026; NIS2 management duty checked on 30 October 2026.

More about Jan (German page)

Questions and answers

Frequently asked questions

Short answers to the questions we hear most from English-speaking customers and from German companies that work in English.

General liability (Betriebshaftpflicht, BHV) covers bodily injury and property damage to third parties caused by your operations. Professional liability (Berufshaftpflicht; for IT and consulting usually a Vermögensschadenhaftpflicht, VSH) covers pure financial loss caused by your advice, work or software. Software and IT companies usually need both. In US terms, the pair roughly corresponds to commercial general liability (CGL) and errors and omissions (E&O).

Tech E&O (technology errors and omissions) is professional liability for technology companies. It covers claims that your software, platform or IT service failed or was wrongly delivered and caused a customer a financial loss, for example an outage that stops the customer's business. In Germany it sits in the Vermögensschadenhaftpflicht (VSH) or an IT liability policy. If your customers can lose money when your product fails, you should look at it, and US customers often ask for it by name.

Under occurrence (or event-based) cover, the policy in force when the damage happens responds. Under claims-made cover, the policy in force when the claim is made responds, so the retroactive date and the reporting period after the policy ends matter. German general and product liability are usually event-based. D&O is claims-made, cyber wordings differ, and professional liability is often triggered by the breach.

It is the closest German counterpart. Employees working in Germany must be insured with the statutory accident insurer (Berufsgenossenschaft), and section 104 SGB VII largely shields the employer from employee claims. Whether a US customer accepts this instead of workers' compensation is for that customer to say. For staff working in the USA, a local solution is needed, and that is not something we can place.

Possibly. In Germany, NIS2 has been in force since 6 December 2025, and management must implement the security measures and oversee their implementation (section 38 BSIG); personal liability is possible. The Cyber Resilience Act covers products with digital elements: reporting duties have applied since 11 September 2026 and the main obligations apply from 11 December 2027. Whether your company is in scope is a legal question for your lawyer. We look at how your D&O and cyber cover would respond.

Yes. The new EU directive applies to products placed on the market after 9 December 2026, and all types of software are covered, including defects that appear later through updates; free open-source software outside a commercial activity is excluded. It protects people who suffer injury, property damage or data loss. It does not cover claims by companies; these fall under contract law or general tort law. The directive takes effect through national law. Germany has passed its implementing law, which was promulgated on 27 October 2026. Which of your products are affected depends on its transitional provisions, so ask your lawyer.

Ask us your question

How we work

From inventory to annual check: six steps

Whether you come with a US contract or just want to know where you stand, the work follows the same six steps. You decide at every step, and nothing is placed without your yes.

Inventory

You send what you have: policies, contracts that ask for insurance, and your plans for the next twelve months. We read them in full and flag what you should read yourself.

Traffic-light check

Each of the five blocks gets a good, review or gap rating against the criteria shown above. You get the result in plain English.

Decision

For every gap you decide: yes, no, or later. Later only with a date, so that it does not drift.

Market request

For the gaps you want closed, we ask the insurers that fit your risk for quotes and written confirmations, and compare them on wording, not only on price.

Implementation

We place the cover and request the documents your customers ask for: certificates of insurance and, where the insurer agrees, endorsements such as additional-insured status.

Annual check and claims support

Once a year, or when the business changes, we run the traffic lights again. If a claim happens, we support you through it.

Request your shield check

Your next step

Two ways to your shield check

Whether you want the complete check or want to start with one block: a 15-minute call gives you a first view of your gaps and next steps. No obligation, no sales pitch.

Way 1: Traffic-light check

Send your policies, get your traffic lights

Send us your existing policies or the insurance clause from your contract. We check all five blocks against what you have and send back your traffic lights: good, review or gap, each with reasons.

Free and non-bindingTraffic lights across all five blocksA clear recommendation per block, including the option to keep things as they are

Request the check

Jan Ruhoff

Independent insurance broker · Makler mit Fliege

Way 2: Start directly

15 minutes with Jan, online

No sales call, but an honest first assessment: your company, your gaps and the next steps, block by block. Then you decide.

Pick a time

One last step: your shield check

Read it all? Then request your liability check in 2 minutes.

You have seen the five blocks, the US requirements and the limits of German policies. The last step is the simplest: a few details about your company, then Jan replies personally, or you book a slot straight afterwards.

2 minutes · free · no obligation

What happens next

Jan reads your answers personally before anyone gets in touch
You get an honest first assessment: gaps, priorities and open questions
We reply in English or German, whichever you prefer
Your customer's insurance clause is compared with your policies

Independent broker · Licensed under § 34d GewO · Part of Versuro Gruppe

Jan Ruhoff

Independent insurance broker · Makler mit Fliege · Annette-Allee 41, 48149 Münster

Reviews your answers personally before anyone gets in touch. No call centre.

1Situation2Contact

Your business

Where does your risk sit?

Your starting point

What matters to you (multiple choice)

Independent · based in Münster · English or German

LEGAL INFORMATION

Privacy notice (courtesy translation)

This is a courtesy translation of the German privacy notice at versianer.de/impressum#datenschutz. The German version is the binding one. If the two versions differ, the German version prevails.

1. Controller

This privacy notice applies to the website versianer.de and to the forms, calculators and appointment bookings that can be reached through it. It supplements the privacy notice of the Versuro Group at https://www.versuro.de/datenschutzerklarung.

Versuro Insurance Broker GmbH and Versuro Insurance Consulting GmbH, Bonner Str. 12, 51379 Leverkusen, Germany. Managing directors: Alexander Robbins, Sandro Scheffler. Münster office (VERSIANER): Annette-Allee 41, 48149 Münster. Telephone +49 251 59688961, email j.ruhoff@versianer.de. No data protection officer has been appointed; for data protection questions you can reach us at datenschutz@versuro.de.

2. General information

We process personal data only to the extent necessary to provide the website, to answer your enquiries and to provide our services as an insurance broker. The legal bases are Article 6(1)(a) GDPR (consent), (b) (contract and pre-contractual measures), (c) (legal obligation) and (f) (legitimate interests). We process health data only with your express consent (Article 9(2)(a) GDPR).

We delete data as soon as the purpose ceases to apply and no retention obligations stand in the way: six years under section 257 of the German Commercial Code (HGB), ten years under section 147 of the German Fiscal Code (AO), and at least five years for advice documentation under section 61 of the German Insurance Contract Act (VVG). For transfers to third countries we rely on adequacy decisions of the European Commission (including the EU-US Data Privacy Framework) or on EU standard contractual clauses.

3. Hosting and website builder (Onepage)

This website is created and delivered with the website builder Onepage. Provider: One Page GmbH, Hanauer Landstraße 172, 60314 Frankfurt am Main, Germany. When you visit the site, server log files are processed (IP address, date and time, page requested, referrer, browser and operating system, status code, amount of data transferred). Legal basis: Article 6(1)(f) GDPR (secure and stable operation). A data processing agreement under Article 28 GDPR is in place with Onepage. Privacy: https://onepage.io/privacy

4. Contact, lead and calculator forms

If you submit a form on this website (contact enquiry, callback, comparison request, calculator result, webinar registration), we process the data you enter, for example name, email address, telephone number, company and details of your insurance needs. The forms run through the CRM module of Onepage; the enquiries are transferred via the automation platform Make into our customer management system Pipedrive and handled there. Legal basis: Article 6(1)(b) GDPR (pre-contractual measures) and, where you have given consent, Article 6(1)(a) GDPR. For forms with double opt-in you receive a confirmation email; we send further emails only after you have confirmed. We delete your data when your enquiry has been dealt with and no contract is concluded, at the latest when the statutory retention periods have expired.

Some calculators (for example premium quick calculators) are technically provided via Netlify. Provider: Netlify, Inc., 512 2nd Street, Suite 200, San Francisco, CA 94107, USA (certified under the EU-US Data Privacy Framework). Server log files are processed as described in section 3. Legal basis: Article 6(1)(f) GDPR.

5. Appointment booking (Calendly)

You book appointments through Calendly. Provider: Calendly LLC, 271 17th St NW, Ste 1000, Atlanta, GA 30363, USA. We process name, email address, telephone number and your details about the requested appointment. Legal basis: Article 6(1)(b) GDPR. Calendly is certified under the EU-US Data Privacy Framework; a data processing agreement is in place. Privacy: https://calendly.com/privacy

6. Email communication and sending (Brevo, Google Workspace)

We send confirmation, service and information emails through Brevo. Provider: Brevo SAS, 7 rue de Madrid, 75008 Paris, France. Legal basis: Article 6(1)(b) GDPR; for newsletters Article 6(1)(a) GDPR, with the right to withdraw at any time through the unsubscribe link. Our email communication, calendar and document storage run through Google Workspace. Provider: Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland. Data processing agreements are in place with both providers.

7. Customer management (Pipedrive) and automation (Make)

We manage contact and case data in Pipedrive. Provider: Pipedrive OÜ, Paldiski mnt 80, 10617 Tallinn, Estonia (EU). The connection between our systems is handled by Make. Provider: Celonis SE (Make), Theresienhöhe 12, 80339 Munich, Germany. Legal basis: Article 6(1)(b) and (f) GDPR. Data processing agreements are in place.

8. Broker administration and customer portal

As an affiliated broker of the broker network blau direkt, we use the broker administration software Ameise and the customer app simplr to manage contracts, claims and documents. Provider: blau direkt GmbH & Co. KG, Kaninchenborn 31, 23560 Lübeck, Germany. We process contract and contact data and, for personal insurance, health data (Article 9(2)(a) GDPR, express consent). Our customer portal Mein VERSIANER (login.versianer.de) is provided via Netlify; data is stored in a database at Supabase. Provider: Supabase Inc., 970 Toa Payoh North, #07-04, Singapore 318992; processing on EU servers, transfer on the basis of EU standard contractual clauses. Legal basis: Article 6(1)(b) GDPR.

9. Disclosure to insurers and claims notifications

To obtain quotes, to conclude contracts and to look after your contracts, we transmit the necessary data to the respective insurers and to comparison and tender platforms. For claims notifications we process claim descriptions, photos and expert reports. Legal basis: Article 6(1)(b) GDPR; for health data Article 9(2)(a) GDPR. As an insurance broker we are subject to the documentation duty under section 61 VVG and to the obligations of the German Money Laundering Act.

10. Reach measurement and advertising (only with consent)

Where you consent through our cookie banner, we use Google Analytics (Google Ireland Limited), the Meta pixel and the Meta Conversions API (Meta Platforms Ireland Limited, 4 Grand Canal Square, Dublin 2, Ireland) and, where applicable, Hotjar (Hotjar Ltd., Dragonara Business Centre, St Julian's STJ 3141, Malta) to evaluate the use of the website and to measure advertising. Legal basis: Article 6(1)(a) GDPR and section 25(1) of the German Telecommunications Digital Services Data Protection Act (TDDDG). Google and Meta are certified under the EU-US Data Privacy Framework. You can withdraw your consent at any time, with effect for the future, through the cookie settings.

11. Embedded content (YouTube, Google Maps, Google Fonts)

Videos (YouTube, Google Ireland Limited) and maps (Google Maps) are loaded only when you actively release the respective content; until then no data is transferred to Google. Fonts are embedded locally where possible; where Google Fonts are loaded from Google servers, your IP address is transmitted (Article 6(1)(f) GDPR).

13. Artificial intelligence

For internal text work and analysis we use the AI service Claude (Anthropic PBC, 548 Market Street, San Francisco, CA 94104, USA). Customer data is processed there only as far as necessary and, where possible, in pseudonymised form; we do not take automated decisions with legal effect (Article 22 GDPR). Legal basis: Article 6(1)(f) GDPR; transfer on the basis of EU standard contractual clauses.

14. Your rights

You have the right of access (Article 15 GDPR), rectification (Article 16), erasure (Article 17), restriction of processing (Article 18), data portability (Article 20) and objection (Article 21), as well as the right to withdraw consent you have given (Article 7(3)). You can object to processing for direct marketing at any time, without any formalities.

Competent supervisory authority: Landesbeauftragte für Datenschutz und Informationsfreiheit Nordrhein-Westfalen (State Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information of North Rhine-Westphalia), Postfach 20 04 44, 40102 Düsseldorf, Germany, poststelle@ldi.nrw.de. For all data protection enquiries: datenschutz@versuro.de.

15. Data security and changes

This website uses TLS encryption. We apply technical and organisational measures to protect your data against loss, misuse and unauthorised access. Our offer is not directed at children under 16. We will amend this privacy notice if our processing or the legal situation changes; the version currently published on this page applies.

Business liability insurance in Germany

Request your liability check in 2 minutes

Five blocks, one method

What is on this page

One shield, five blocks

Directors' liability (D&O)

Legal expenses

Cyber

Liability bundle

Property

How the traffic-light check works

Green: the clause does its job

Amber: worth a second look

Red: the cover can fail here

Yes, no or later

D&O insurance for GmbH managing directors

The person, not the balance sheet

The company itself and others

Five years and a long tail

The insolvency administrator writes to the managing director

The traffic-light check for D&O

Three questions for your insurer

Legal expenses insurance for companies and managing directors

The company's day in court

Contracts, criminal and data protection

The conditions do the work

A customer withholds EUR 62,000

The traffic-light check for legal expenses

Three questions for your insurer

Cyber insurance for companies

Systems, data and income

Customers, partners, data subjects

Duties written as exclusions

Ransomware stops operations for ten days

The traffic-light check for cyber

Three questions for your insurer

General liability, product liability and Tech E&O

General liability

Product liability

Professional liability and Tech E&O

A faulty update stops a customer's bookings for two days

The traffic-light check for the liability bundle

Which policies fit which business?

Three questions for your insurer

Property, electronics and business interruption insurance

Your own assets, not third-party claims

Owners and tenants

Fire, water, storm, burglary, overvoltage

Water damage stops operations for three weeks

The traffic-light check for property

Two numbers that decide a loss

Underinsurance

Indemnity period

Three questions for your insurer

One incident, several policies

In which order to build the shield

What can the company not survive?

What hits you personally and cannot be bought later?

What do contracts or partners demand?

Mobility and telematics: when software moves vehicles

What US customers typically ask for in insurance clauses

Certificates of insurance: what they prove and what they do not

Where standard German policies reach their limits

The USA and Canada are often outside the cover

Excluded in the model wording

Claims raised in the USA

They can eat into the limit

Event, claim or breach

Admitted or not admitted

What we can do for you, and what we cannot

What we can do

What we cannot do

From a US contract clause to a certificate

The company is protected. And you?

Sources: what we checked, and when

Frequently asked questions

Is business liability insurance mandatory in Germany?

What is the difference between general liability and professional liability?

Is D&O insurance mandatory for a managing director of a GmbH?

What is Tech E&O, and do I need it?