Professional liability insurance in Germany with English-speaking experts

• What is covered by professional liability insurance?
• Frequently asked questions about professional liability insurance:
• Can employees be held liable for damage?
• How are employees insured against liability?
• Who is liable if a work laptop breaks down?
• When is a claim grossly negligent?
• How high are the sums insured?

What is covered by professional liability insurance?

Professional liability insurance or corporate liability covers the costs of investment, building, personal, property, and financial losses and defends against unfounded claims from third parties. The most claims result from: advice error, wrong diagnosis and therefore wrong treatment, review errors, coding errors, estimation error, calculation error, measurement error, loss, analysis error, instruction error, and missing deadlines.

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Professional liability insurance covers the financial loss that other people may incur resulting from the business activities of the insured. This includes property damage and personal injury, but in many professions, professional liability insurance is financial loss liability coverage.

Anyone who makes mistakes during their freelance or self-employed work, for example, by missing deadlines as a lawyer, making an incorrect diagnosis as a doctor, or making a planning error as an architect, must also pay compensation to the affected clients or patients. These claims can quickly run into the millions and, without cover, threaten the client’s financial status. Professional liability insurance is required for business-related activities that is tailored to typical claims in the respective profession.

There are professional groups that are obliged by European law or by the requirements of their professional association to have sufficient professional liability insurance. These professions include, for example:

• Insurance brokers
• Property managers
• Tax consultants
• Lawyers
• Doctors
• Engineers
• Auditors
• Architects

They have high professional risks and can cause major damage through even the smallest mistakes.

This insurance is not mandatory for other professions but recommended because all freelancers and self-employed persons are liable for any damage they cause, and without insurance, this can be expensive in the event of a claim. For example, freelance journalists are liable for damage caused by incorrect information in an article. Similarly, interpreters may be liable for damage caused by an incorrect translation. Programmers and developers for wrong code, etc.

Sicher Sicher has deep knowledge and experience in covering the following professions:

• Doctors and paramedics
• IT-Companies
• Insurance brokers and underwriting agents
• Engineers
• Craftsman
• Business Consultants

FAQ. Professional liability insurance:

1. Can employees be held liable for damage?

According to § 619a BGB (German Civil Code), employees can only be held liable for damage incurred if they are responsible for the damage. The burden of proof lies with the employer. The employer must demonstrate and prove that the employee acted intentionally or negligently.

2. How are employees insured against liability?

Employees who work regularly for a company do not normally have to worry about professional liability insurance. As a rule, the employer is liable for any damage they cause. Employees should have their own professional liability insurance if they work as freelancers, next to their employment, even if it’s an occasional activity. This part-time work is generally not covered by the employer’s insurance.

Furthermore, professional indemnity insurance for employees is particularly useful if they hold management positions. This applies to board members, managing directors, or members of the supervisory board. They can be held directly liable and should therefore have appropriate insurance; in the examples mentioned, they would need manager’s liability or D&O (director’s and officer’s) insurance.

3. Who is liable if a work laptop breaks down?

Who is liable for damage to work equipment? If the employee damages work equipment such as a laptop, company cell phone, or similar, he or she is only liable in the event of intent or gross negligence. In the case of medium negligence, the employee may be liable proportionately; in the case of slight negligence, the employer bears the full amount of the damage.

4. When is a claim grossly negligent?

A person is grossly negligent if they have breached the duty of care to be expected of them under the overall circumstances to an unusually high degree and disregarded the consequences that should have been obvious to anyone in the given case.

5. How high are the sums insured?

As in all insurance contracts, a sum insured is also specified for professional liability, for which the insurance pays in the event of a claim. In professional liability insurance, separate sums insured often apply for property damage, personal injury, and financial loss. As professional liability insurance is mandatory for many activities, the minimum sums insured are often set by law.

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Start of insurance coverage *

Please chose the country of business / company registration *

• Germany
• Austria
• Spain
• France
• Italy
• Ireland
• Poland
• Czech Republic
• Denmark
• Netherlands
• Portugal

This product can be purchased in the above mention countries with a EU- or Worldwide coverage including and excluding USA & Canada.

What activities does your company carry out? *

Please describe it as precisely as possible in order to receive a suitable offer that meets your needs. It prevents potential exclusions from insurance coverage in the event of a claim.

Website address of business

With your website, we can better classify risk-relevant activities.

Has your company been in business for more than 6 months? *

• Yes
• No

Requested Insurance sum *

• 3 Mio. €
• 5 Mio. €
• 10 Mio. €

The sums insured apply to personal injury, property damage, and consequential financial loss. We offer higher insurance sums in the industrial insurance sector.

What is your annual turnover? *

The turnover forms in addition to the other risk questions for the premium calculation.

How many employees do you have? *

For a more precise risk calculation, you can use the dimensions below as an example: Managing director/owner = GF 1; full-time employee = VZ 2; part-time employee = TZ 3; mini-job = MJ 1.

Has there ever been a rejection of an insurance application? *

• Yes
• No

Did you have any claims in the last 5 years? *

• Yes
• No

If yes, what kind of claim and what was the claim amount to be paid?

Please let us know about any special features of your company that have not been asked for.

Company name *

First name (contact person) *

Last name (contact person) *

Courtesy title *

• Mr.
• Ms.

E-Mail *

Telefon *

Data use agreement and permission *

• I permit that the Sicher Sicher GmbH can store my transmitted information so that my request can be answered.

Please take note of our privacy policy via https://sichersicher.eu/datenschutz/. In our privacy policy it is explained in which cases you have the right to revoke your consent regarding the use of your data. By submitting this form, you consent to the use and store of your data described in our privacy policy.

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With over 22 years of expertise in the global insurance market, we have accumulated a comprehensive portfolio of corporate insurance to ensure our clients are adequately and suitably covered at all times. As brokers for VIP-private, commercial, industrial, and specialty insurance, we are constantly aware of emerging risks and work with clients and the insurance provider to create new coverage concepts that introduce cutting-edge innovations to the insurance industry.

Some examples of these include our robot insurance, car insurance, restaurant insurance, Error & Omissions insurance, Amazon insurance clause, or health insurance for foreign nationals residing in Germany that includes all vaccinations, mandatory long-term care insurance, and coverage for pregnancy and childbirth expenses.