House insurance in Germany: what is Hausratversicherung & do you need one?

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If you’ve moved to Germany, Hausratversicherung is one of those things you’ll hear about early (and then promptly ignore until something goes wrong). Don’t.

This is actually one of the simplest and most useful types of house insurance you can have in Germany. It’s about making sure that if your apartment is hit by fire, water damage, a break-in, or a storm, you’re not suddenly paying to replace everything you own out of pocket. The good news: it’s straightforward and affordable.

This guide breaks it down in plain language; what it covers, what it doesn’t and what actually matters in real life. The goal is simple: making a confident decision without overthinking it.

House and home contents insurance in Germany guide

And if needed, feel free to leave questions in the comments section. I answer of all of them personally.

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Bastien – Settle in Berlin

Home insurance Germany in a nutshell

This guide is a deep dive into the topic. Here are the most important knowledge nuggets in TL;DR format:

  • Hausratversicherung is insurance for your personal belongings inside your home, not the building itself. It’s home contents insurance.
  • It covers fire, water damage, storms, hail, burglary, and vandalism after a break-in. It does not cover everyday accidents, carelessness, or simple theft without forced entry.
  • Covered items include furniture, electronics, clothes, kitchen items, and most movable belongings. Valuables (jewelry, cash, watches) are covered but usually within strict limits. Bikes are only covered in specific situations unless you add extra protection. This guide has a lot more details about all of that below.
  • It is not mandatory, but strongly recommended because it’s super affordable (starts at 3-5€ per month). Over 75% of German households have it.
  • Providers like GetSafe, Lemonade, or Feather Insurance are good value for money, digital-first & can service you in English. You can compare all German offers via TarifCheck too.
  • In a claim, you should secure the situation, document everything, report quickly, and provide proof of losses

Defining Hausratversicherung: the German home contents insurance

Let’s keep it simple: Hausratversicherung is insurance for your stuff. Not your flat, not the building, just everything you own inside it. If you could turn your flat upside down and shake it, everything that falls out is what this insurance covers. That’s what Germans call Hausrat: your household contents.

This covers your furniture, electronics, appliances, clothes & more against theft & accidental damages. It does not cover normal wear-and-tear. So if your apartment floods and your laptop, bed, and clothes are ruined… that’s on you, unless you have Hausratversicherung.

Most German people have it because it’s affordable & good value for the money (prices starting from 3€ per month on average): according to the German federal association of insurance companies, 75% of German residents have a Hausratversicherung.

Which items are covered under house insurance in Germany?

Hausratversicherung covers movable belongings inside your home. In practice, that includes:

  • Furniture: beds, sofas, tables, wardrobes, shelves
  • Electronics and appliances: laptops, TVs, phones, kitchen devices, household machines
  • Clothing and personal items: clothes, shoes, bags, accessories
  • Household goods: dishes, cookware, cutlery, bedding, towels
  • Valuables: jewelry, watches, cash, collectibles. these are usually covered only up to a certain limit, especially if they’re not stored safely (like in a safe).
  • Stored items: belongings kept in a basement or storage room linked to your apartment.
  • Items temporarily outside the home: during travel at airbnb for example. it’s time-limited and capped, so don’t expect full protection.

Bicycles are in a grey-zone. They are usually only covered if stolen from inside your home or secured storage. Beyond that, you will need an extra policy.

Important: As you sign up for house insurance, create an inventory with all your belongings, complete with photos and receipts if possible. If you only do it once all your stuff has disappeared, it’ll just be a headache to prove it to your insurance company.

Which hazards are covered by house insurance in Germany?

Whether you like it or not, bad stuff can happen: c’est la vie. Only some accidental circumstances are covered by German home contents insurance. Here are some examples.

  • Fire: a spark goes flying out of the fireplace and sets the flat on fire.
  • Water damage: there’s a hole in the washing machine cable and water leaks.
  • Storm and hail: a storm forces the windows open and destroys your furniture.
  • Burglary and vandalism: a bunch of thieves break into your home, steal your stuff and spray graffiti all over your walls.

The good thing is, whether it was destroyed, damaged or stolen, the insurance replaces the original value of an item, rather than the present value. A huge bonus compared with liability insurance for example, where only the present value is replaced.

Imagine the whole interior of your home being destroyed. Considering the fact that electrical appliances such as TVs and computers lose their value so rapidly, their present value just wouldn’t be enough to fund another round of your beloved belongings.

What is typically not covered?

If it’s your mistake, carelessness, or just “bad luck” without one of the defined events above, it’s usually not covered.

  • Bicycle theft outside the home: living in a place that suffers from bike thefts, it’s important to be mindful that bikes aren’t always included in German house insurance. If they are, it’s usually only under certain conditions and up to certain compensation levels.
  • Negligence: house insurance also doesn’t pay the full amount for gross negligence, as in, if you leave your flat without closing a window and a theft occurs. Same goes for a cleaner stealing something from your flat. It’s not considered an insured burglary theft – just regular theft.
  • Rain or snow: damage through rain or snow are also risks that aren’t covered by a home contents insurance in Germany.
  • Glass damage: the same applies to glass damage, for example, on your TV, smartphone or ceramic hob. Like the above, it’s an extra that needs to be added on.

Germany has many other types of insurances for those, as you’ve probably gathered by now.

Other events/costs covered in German house insurance

  • Cleanup (Aufräumungskosten): costs for cleaning up insured items as well as removal and disposal
  • Movement and protection (Bewegungs- und Schutzkosten): costs incurred as a result of moving other items for the recovery and restoration of insured property
  • Transport and storage (Transport- und Lagerkosten): costs for transport and storage of the insured property, if the apartment is no longer usable and you can’t store anything there anymore
  • Change of lock (Schlossänderungskosten): costs for changes to the lock if the keys for the front door or safes are lost whilst being insured
  • Property watch (Bewachungskosten): costs of guarding the insured flat in case it becomes uninhabitable and/or other security measures don’t provide adequate protection
  • Building damage repairs (Reparaturkosten für Gebäudeschäden): costs ensued from property damages caused by robbery or burglary, or the attempt of such an act within the home
  • Provisional measures (Kosten für provisorische Maßnahmen): expenses for provisional measures needed to protect the insured property.
Home contents insurance guide infographics

What’s the right insurance sum?

German house insurance doesn’t require you to insure individual goods based on a list or anything like that. Your household contents are calculated on the basis of a total sum insured, which applies to your entire household. To get to the right number, consider 2 options:

  • You can make a rough list of your most valuable items together with a lump sum for all other smaller items spread across the home. Apply a small multiple on top of that total (e.g: x 0,2) to make sure you are not inder-insured.
  • You can also follow recommendations made by the German consumer association indicates by applying a simpler formula: 650€ per square meter. 
Total square meters x 650 EUR = a realistic insurance sum (e.g)

We mentioned liability insurance before: what’s the difference?

Haftpflichtversicherung (liability insurance) serves a different purpose. It covers you if you’ve inflicted damage on another person or their belongings. This applies to personal injury, property damage and financial losses. Whereas house insurance provides protection against damage or loss of your own household goods, and is more of a property insurance. There is a dedicated post for this here.

And what about homeowner’s insurance?

Hello confusion, my old friend! Homeowners’ insurance (Wohngebäudeversicherung) and house insurance cover similar threats, such as fire, storm and tap water damage, but insure different items.

Homeowner’s insurance insures a building as well as all permanently installed parts, such as walls, pipes or doors. House insurance, in Germany at least, merely secures movable property such as furnishings and utensils. Out buildings, such as garages or garden sheds, are also included. If you are interested in that, you can easily compare policies on platforms like Tarifcheck.

Photo by Rafał Malinowski on Unsplash

How do I pick a good home contents insurance?

You may not be able to find an alternative to Deutsche Bahn trains in Germany (yet), but when it comes to insurance, you’ll be spoiled for choice.

In true German fashion, the process can be pretty overwhelming, especially since it’s all in German. So if you’re looking for the best house insurance Germany has to offer, then you might consider new players like Lemonade, GetSafe, or Feather Insurance.

  • Service in English, from signup, contracts, to insurance claims.
  • Helpful apps
  • Clear pricing, simple terms & transparent conditions
  • Good value for the money

If you’re brave enough to shop for insurance by yourself, then comparison sites like TarifCheck will do the trick. Before you sign any contract though, make sure you get clued up on what the following common terms mean. Because even with home insurance, Germans like to be genau.

Useful insurance jargon when picking your policy

  • Begrenzt / unbegrenzt (limited / unlimited): a limited or unlimited policy coverage, usually lurking in the small print of a contract
  • Best-Leistungs-Garantie (best service guarantee): your insurance company’s word that they’ll treat you at least as well as any other German insurance would (yes, this can be hard to believe when you’ve encountered Berliners a few times).
  • Deckungssumme (Coverage limit): in the event of a claim, the maximum amount covered by that particular home insurance.
  • Groben Fahr­lässig­keit (Gross negligence): the “lack of slight diligence or care” or “a conscious, voluntary act or omission in reckless disregard of a legal duty and of the consequences to another party”
  • Selbstbeteiligung (deductible/excess): the amount that you would have to pay out of your pocket if an insured incident were to happen. It could be either a fixed amount, or a percentage
  • Versicherer (Insurance provider): the company that provides you with your insurance.
  • Versicherungsnehmer (Policyholder): the individual who takes a policy out with an insurance company, i.e. you or a family member
  • Versicherungsprämie / Versicherungsbeitrag (Insurance premium or insurance contribution): the one-time payment or regular amount that comes out of your account and into your insurance company’s

How an insurance claim works

When stuff happens, you need to be prepared to react accordingly.

  1. Secure the situation: make sure everyone is safe and prevent further damage if possible (e.g. stop water leaks, call emergency services if needed).
  2. Document everything: take photos and videos, list damaged or missing items, and don’t throw anything away before documenting it.
  3. Report it quickly: notify your insurer as soon as possible. For theft, you’ll usually also need a police report.
  4. Submit your claim: send your insurer details of what happened, plus an item list, values, and any proof (receipts, photos). This might require sending in a police report in some cases.
  5. Assessment and payout: This is the part where you wait and pray. The insurer reviews the case and pays for repair or replacement (minus any deductible, if applicable).

I hope this little overview was useful. Feel free to ask questions in the comments.

FAQ – home contents insurance Germany

What is Hausratversicherung?

It’s insurance for your personal belongings inside your home. It covers things like furniture, electronics, clothes, and other movable items if they’re damaged or stolen due to specific events.

What does Hausratversicherung cover?

It typically covers fire, water damage, storms, hail, burglary, and vandalism after a break-in. t does not cover everyday accidents, carelessness, simple theft without forced entry, or damage to the building itself.

Is my bike covered?

Only in specific cases. Bikes are usually covered if stolen from inside your home or secure storage. Street theft normally requires extra coverage.

do I need Hausratversicherung in Germany?

It’s not mandatory, but it’s strongly recommended because your landlord’s insurance does not cover your belongings.

What happens if I move?

The insurance moves with you. There’s usually a short overlap period where both old and new homes are covered, and you must inform your insurer.

What is Hausratversicherung in Germany – sources & references

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