Insurance in Germany: Lemonade

What is personal liability insurance and do you need it in Germany? Private or personal liability insurance covers any property or personal damages you, your partner, or your kids cause to others. For example, if your action harms one or even several people, the claim for damages can go into the millions.

In case of damages, you are liable for all your assets (savings, properties, etc.). If you don’t have enough, liability will be passed to your parents or other family members. Neither amount nor duration of payments is limited; you will have to pay for a lifetime in the worst case.

Hence, private liability insurance is one of Germany’s most important insurance policies.

Luckily, liability insurance doesn’t cost much, so you can easily afford it and be on the safe side. There are many providers to choose from, but this article reviews private liability insurance and contents insurance from Lemonade.

How much does liability insurance cost in Germany? Read in this article.

How Much Does Liability Insurance Cost in Germany: Overview

What does liability insurance cover?

1. Property damages

Property damages can be big or small, from minor issues like dropping a friend’s smartphone to some severe cases like hurting someone’s health.

It also includes all damages to rented properties as well as properties and items of other people.

2. Financial losses

There are also accidents where you risk someone’s finances. For example, you caused a personal injury for a stranger on a street who can’t work, hence losing his wage. Furthermore, if someone loses part of their assets through your fault, you are also liable for this.

3. Personal injuries to others, including mental damage

If you accidentally trip someone and they break their leg, they can sue you for damages. The insurance company will pay the legal fees and the reparations.

Some liability insurances might cover:

1. Lost keys: Losing apartment keys is frustrating and expensive. However, some liability insurances will cover the cost, even if you need to change the lock in the house.
2. Damages or injuries caused by your pets: Some insurers will also pay for damages made by your pets. Besides, you can get separate liability insurance for your pet.
3. Accidents abroad: Some insurances will pay for damages that happen outside of Germany.

Furthermore, liability insurance also covers your kids and all troubles they make.

For example, you accidentally destroyed something in the rented apartment or spilled water on your friend’s laptop; therefore, you need to pay for repairs or even buy a new laptop. Liability insurance will pay for it.

What doesn’t liability insurance cover?

In general, personal liability insurance doesn’t cover you in the following situations:

• Injuries you have caused to yourself or damages you made to your own things
• Deliberately caused damages
• Damages to items where you need separate insurance, such as cars or e-scooters
• Damages you cause to other people who are insured under your policy (your partner, children)
• Damages and issues at work (you will need legal insurance)

Insurances from Lemonade

Lemonade is an American insurance provider which has been available in Germany since 2019. Lemonade offers personal liability insurance, contents insurance, and a combination of both. Their policies are available in France, Germany, and the Netherlands.

Lemonade is a fully digital, English-speaking company perfectly suited for expats’ needs. With their innovative solution, their insurances have become popular in Germany. They are launching their products in other European counties too.

With Lemonade’s AI bot, you can buy a policy in seconds, without the need for any paperwork or phone calls. Filing a claim is simple and fast; you can do it by using their mobile app.

Prices start from 2 EUR a month, which can protect you financially if you accidentally injure others or cause damage to their belongings.

Lemonade’s highlights:

• Policies start at 2 EUR/month
• Coverage up to 10 million EUR
• English-speaking
• Deductible ranges from 0 to 500 EUR  
• Cancel anytime

Personal liability insurance

Personal liability is the second most crucial insurance in Germany after the health policy. You want to have this protection. Lemonade’s insurance will cover you if you accidentally harm others – whether it’s personal injury or material damage.

Private liability insurance helps reimburse you if you find yourself in one of two scenarios:

1. You accidentally injure someone
2. You accidentally damage someone else’s property

Household contents insurance

Besides personal liability, Lemonade offers household contents insurance, which is super valuable as well.

What are the contents? Contents include everything that belongs to your household, meaning items located in your home, e.g., a rented apartment.

Your items will be protected against damages caused by fire, smoke, explosions, burglary, robbery, vandalism, windstorms and hail, and water damage caused by burst pipes or a leaking appliance like your washing machine. 

You will also get help with temporary accommodation and expenses in case your home becomes uninhabitable. 

The basic plan covers home contents while in your home and while traveling (for trips under 3 months). All individual items less than 5,000 EUR are automatically covered.

Lemonade’s coverage

What does personal liability from Lemonade cover?

• Property damage
• Injury to others
• Financial losses
• Damage to rental property
• Key loss
• Damage while traveling worldwide
• Damage caused by
  • pets (dogs & horses excluded)
  • bikes or e-bikes
  • small boats
  • exchange of electronic data

Covered amount

Their policy provides coverage for items worth up to 5,000 EUR each, up to a maximum of 30,000 EUR per event. Keep in mind that to cover items worth more than 5,000 EUR each for their full value, you’ll need to have them approved.

For damages or injuries to others, they cover up to 5.000.000 EUR in total for all issues occurring within 12 consecutive months you are signed with them. You can also increase these numbers by contacting Lemonade.

Reimbursement

Lemonade offers 100% replacement for any destroyed, damaged, or stolen item minus the deductible. They also pay for repairs or replacement of items based on the price of a new one without any deductions for depreciation.

Covered items (contents insurance)

Lemonade over items that are normally kept in the home, balcony, terrace, garage, garden shed, or storage unit in the building. Items that are usually kept elsewhere, like at your vacation home, office, or storage facility, aren’t included. Yet, they will pay for items that are only temporarily outside your home.

Loss of keys

Losing the key is very frustrating. If you lose the key to the rented apartment, Lemonade will even cover changing the locks and key costs. They pay a maximum of 50,000 EUR per event, which is more than enough. Office keys aren’t insured.

Injuries

The personal liability policy from Lemonade also protects you if you have caused damages or injuries to other people and now are liable for it.

In that situation, they cover up to 5,000,000 EUR in damages total for all accidents occurring within 12 consecutive policy months.

Deductible

You will need to pay a 500 EUR deductible per event. Meaning if your damaged item costs 1,000 EUR, you will get 500 EUR reimbursed. Therefore, if your damages cost less than 500 EUR, there is no point in submitting a claim.

If you choose a higher deductible, you will take on a higher risk, but you will pay a lower monthly rate. With Lemonade, you can increase or decrease your deductible.

Stollen items

Generally, stollen items are also covered, but there are some exceptions. If your items were stolen from your home, Lemonade will pay you.

But if items were stolen from other places, e.g., a coffee shop or university, you will be reimbursed only by taking out an extra Anti-Theft package as part of your policy. You can choose between several add-ons which can be picked after signing for an initial policy.

In which circumstances are you covered? (for contents insurance)

To get paid for damaged items, there must be particular circumstances in place, among others are:

• fire
• smoke
• explosion
• burglary
• robbery
• vandalism
• windstorms
• hail
• collision by vehicles or aircraft
• water damage caused by an unintended leakage of tap water like burst pipes
• leaking appliances (e.g., your washing machine)

You’ll also have the option to include coverage for theft or natural disasters such as flooding or earthquakes by selecting one of the additional packages (Anti-Theft and Extreme Weather Packages) when you sign-up.

Lemonade also covers the costs of the hotel if you are forced to move out due to the circumstances mentioned above.

Damages in the rented property

Personal liability insurance covers damages that you accidentally cause to a rented house, apartment, holiday home, or hotel room. They pay for damage to furnishings and permanent fixtures like sinks, the parquet floor, etc.

However, this rule doesn’t apply to glass breakage or damage to your rental residence due to wear and tear. This won’t be covered.

What isn’t covered by Lemonade insurance?

Liability insurances don’t cover everything, so the insurance from Lemonade won’t protect you in every situation. The policy doesn’t cover:

• power, water or heat outages in the apartment
• items that were damaged or broken accidentally also aren’t covered, e.g., if you drop your phone and the screen cracks.

How to submit a claim?

Filing a claim with Lemonade is very fast and simple. There are two options:

• get your claim approved instantly with AI
• or it will be handled to Lemonades’s employee for further investigations

In both situations, Lemonades will review your case and pay you as soon as possible.

Emergency claim

In some situations, you are eligible for an emergency claim. For example, when you require immediate assistance or temporary housing as a result of fire, ongoing water damage, or any other structural damage that takes place in your home.

After you report an emergency, Lemonade’s response team will contact you to assess the situation and provide emergency services such as water or fire damage cleanup, temporary housing, or a designated specialist as soon as possible. This feature you won’t see in the policies of other insurance companies.

Additional coverage

Furthermore, you can pick the following add-ons which will cost you extra:

1. High-value items

The basic plan covers only items that cost less than 5,000 EUR. If you have more expensive things to protect, you need to take out this add-on.

2. Anti-theft

If you want your items like a bike or laptop to be protected outside of your home, e.g., in the coffeeshop, you need an anti-theft package.

3. Extreme weather

Damage caused by extreme weather, including lightning, floods, weather-related backwater, earthquakes, subsidence, landslides, snow pressure, avalanches, or volcanic eruptions aren’t included in your basic policy, but the extreme weather package will cover it. 

How to get Lemonade insurance?

Insurances from Lemonade are available on their iOS and Android app, as well as on the website.