Private liability insurance

The most important things about private liability insurance in brief:

With a powerful private liability insurance, you are insured against claims from third parties for personal injury, property damage and financial loss .
You can also protect your spouse, life partner and children with private liability insurance .
Your liability insurance not only covers the costs (up to the amount of the coverage), but also checks the legal situation and defends against unjustified claims .
With optional additional services, you can tailor your private liability insurance precisely to your needs.

The basics: What is private liability insurance?

If you cause damage due to carelessness, negligence or neglect of duty, private liability insurance will cover the claims of the injured party on your behalf. Private liability insurance, on the other hand, will defend against unjustified claims from third parties. Liability insurance protects you from financial losses.

Guide to who benefits from private liability insurance

In principle, private liability insurance is absolutely advisable for every household . Private liability insurance benefits people who

who participate in road traffic (as pedestrians, cyclists or skaters);
who have minor children;
who live in a property (as tenant or owner);
who do sports;
who have to clear snow from the sidewalks in winter;
who spend their holidays abroad.

You can extend your insurance coverage beyond these everyday risks and be insured against specific risks, such as work-related ones.

For special professional groups or other special cases that require separate insurance, please contact one of our MLP advisors.

Who is covered by private liability insurance?

For married couples and civil partnerships, one insurance contract per household is sufficient. This is the so-called partner tariff . In a family tariff, not only are both partners insured, but also the damage caused by their own children. The children are usually insured in a family tariff at least until they complete their first vocational training.

The benefits: What does private liability insurance cover?

The basic lines of private liability insurance cover three areas:

Personal injuries: If you injure another person, for example in traffic, your private liability insurance will cover the damage caused. This does not include damage that you cause as a driver. Your motor vehicle insurance is responsible for this.
Damage to property: broken windows, vases falling down - if objects are damaged (property damage) or completely destroyed through your fault, your private liability insurance will apply. However, this does not apply to rented or borrowed objects and must not have happened intentionally.
Financial losses: Claims for compensation can arise even if neither persons nor objects were harmed – for example, in the case of lost profits.

Ideally, your private liability insurance also covers you against the loss of keys (private or professional) - or against the costs that a new locking system would entail. This clause may need to be included in your private liability insurance.

Private liability example: What does private liability insurance pay?

Property damage in the rental apartment

While redecorating the rental apartment, a heavy vase falls to the floor and the parquet floor is damaged. This is property damage to the landlord. This damage is covered by private liability insurance.

Extension of liability insurance coverage

Depending on the tariff, additional risks are included in the insurance coverage or can be included for an additional charge.

Damage caused by voluntary work
Private and professional key loss
Damage caused by slight negligence
Damage caused by incapable children (under seven years of age)
Damage caused by borrowed and rented items

When concluding a contract, make sure that you have sufficient insurance cover of at least 5 million euros for personal injury and property damage.

The claim: What you must do now under your liability insurance

What you should do in the event of damage (property damage) depends on whether you caused the damage or whether you are the injured party:

As the person responsible: If you are responsible for damage, you should contact your insurer within one week at the latest and report the damage.
As a victim: Exchange addresses and telephone numbers with the person responsible and keep any damaged items - your insurer may want to check them. This is not unusual, especially when the damage is high.

Process of reporting damage

The damage report must include a detailed description of what happened. The following questions are important:

What kind of damage was caused?
When did the damage occur?
How did the damage occur?
Where did the damage occur?

If you document the damage as accurately as possible (including photos of the damage), it will make it easier for your insurer to process your case – and speed up payments.

Does the premium for private liability insurance increase in the event of a claim?

Private liability insurance does not usually become more expensive because you have reported a claim. Premium increases depend on the volume of claims that the insurer has to settle. However, if you approach your liability insurer with a large number of claims in a relatively short period of time, they may cancel your contract.

Costs and coverage amounts:

This is how much private liability insurance costs

You can find affordable offers for a high-performance private liability insurance policy by comparing insurers and their rates. However, a sufficiently high sum insured is a must. 50 million euros is a good guideline for the sum insured, as legal liability in the event of damage is unlimited and personal injuries in particular can be very expensive.

Termination of private liability insurance: How to proceed

Comparing tariffs is also worthwhile for private liability insurance – as is changing providers. When canceling, you need to take a few aspects into account:

Liability insurance contracts normally run for one year. A notice period of three months generally applies for regular termination at the end of the contract.
Extraordinary terminations are possible after a claim has been settled with a notice period of four weeks or after a premium increase where the benefits have not been adjusted.

Make sure that you have a new insurer in place if you change. This will ensure that you have complete insurance cover.

Your benefits of private liability insurance at a glance:

Satisfaction of justified claims for damages
Defense against unjustified claims for damages
Protection for the whole family

Do you need advice for your personal liability insurance?

Your MLP advisor will clarify in a personal consultation which private liability insurance with which tariff best suits your individual needs.