Insurance in Germany
Germany compels far less insurance than its reputation suggests. Health cover and motor liability cover are the two duties that reach almost everyone. Nearly everything else people describe as essential is a choice, however sensible that choice may be.
Key facts
- Health cost insurance is compulsory for every person resident in Germany, under section 193 paragraph 3 VVG.
- Long-term care insurance follows compulsory statutory health insurance membership, under section 20 paragraph 1 SGB XI.
- Motor liability insurance binds the keeper of a vehicle based in Germany, under section 1 PflVG.
- Employees are covered against workplace accidents by operation of law, under section 2 paragraph 1 number 1 SGB VII, and their employer pays the contributions under section 150 paragraph 1 SGB VII.
- Private liability, household and legal expenses cover are all optional. No statute requires them.
What German law actually requires
Health cost insurance
Section 193 paragraph 3 VVG puts the duty plainly: every person with residence in Germany must hold health cost insurance with an insurer authorised to do business here, and that cover has to include both outpatient and inpatient treatment. You can satisfy the duty through the statutory system or through a private policy. Which route is open to you depends on your employment and income situation rather than preference.
Long-term care insurance
This one is rarely chosen consciously because it arrives attached to something else. Section 20 paragraph 1 SGB XI makes the compulsory members of statutory health insurance compulsory members of the social care insurance scheme as well. If your health cover is statutory and mandatory, your care cover comes with it.
Motor liability insurance
Section 1 PflVG binds the keeper of a vehicle whose regular location is in Germany. Note the wording, because people often get it wrong: the duty attaches to the keeper and the vehicle, not to a driver holding a licence. That is why registration is impossible without evidence of cover, and why lending your car does not move the obligation onto whoever borrows it.
Statutory accident insurance
Most employees never notice this cover, which is reasonable, since they never pay for it. Section 2 paragraph 1 number 1 SGB VII insures employees by operation of law. Section 150 paragraph 1 SGB VII places the contributions on the business owner. In practice this means there is nothing to sign up for and nothing deducted from your salary for it. The wording is published by the Bundesministerium der Justiz and has not changed for 2026.
Common cover that nobody is obliged to buy
Personal liability insurance sits at the top of most recommendation lists in Germany, and it is still entirely voluntary. It responds when you damage someone else or their property. Household contents cover, legal expenses cover, disability cover and life cover are all in the same category: widely held, sometimes very sensible, never compulsory.
We deliberately do not quote starting premiums for these on this page. Prices depend on the insurer, the sum insured, your address and the excess you accept, and a headline figure taken out of that context tends to mislead more than it helps. The individual guides below go into what actually drives each premium.
English-language guides on this site
Each guide explains the German rules for one type of cover.
- Private health insuranceHow PKV works and who may choose it
- Student health insuranceCover rules while you are enrolled
- Health insurance for civil servantsHow Beihilfe changes the calculation
- Long-term care insuranceThe statutory care levels and benefits
- Car insurance comparisonLiability, partial and fully comprehensive
- Reducing car insurance costWhat actually moves the premium
- Personal liability insuranceWhat it covers and what it excludes
- Pet owner liabilityWhere it is required for dogs
- Pension insuranceThe statutory scheme and private top-ups
Questions people ask
Which insurance is mandatory in Germany?
Health cost insurance is required of every person resident in Germany under section 193 paragraph 3 VVG. Anyone with compulsory statutory health insurance is also insured in the social long-term care scheme under section 20 paragraph 1 SGB XI. Separately, the keeper of a vehicle based in Germany must hold motor liability cover under section 1 PflVG. Employees are additionally covered against workplace accidents by operation of law under section 2 paragraph 1 number 1 SGB VII.
Is personal liability insurance required by law?
No. Private liability cover, often called Haftpflichtversicherung, is not among the policies German statute makes compulsory. It is widely held because it responds to damage you cause to other people or their property. For example, if you knock over a television belonging to your neighbour, this is the policy that would answer for it. Nobody can be penalised for going without it, and as of 2026 no reform has changed that.
Do I need German health insurance if I already have a policy from abroad?
Section 193 paragraph 3 VVG requires health cost insurance held with an insurer authorised to operate in Germany, and the cover must include outpatient and inpatient treatment. A foreign policy does not automatically satisfy that wording. Whether yours does depends on the insurer and the terms, so check it against the provision before you rely on it.
Who pays for statutory accident insurance?
Employers do. Section 150 paragraph 1 SGB VII makes the business owner liable for the contributions covering the people who work in that business. Employees are insured under section 2 paragraph 1 number 1 SGB VII without paying into the scheme themselves.
Does motor liability cover apply to the car or to the driver?
Section 1 PflVG places the duty on the keeper of the vehicle, and it applies to vehicles whose regular location is in Germany. The obligation follows the vehicle and its keeper rather than any individual licence holder, which is why a car cannot be registered without proof of cover.
Can I compare German insurance in English?
Some of it. The guides listed on this page explain the German rules in English. The comparison calculators themselves are run by our partners and are presented in German, so you may need to switch language when you move from reading to requesting quotes.
Sources
Every legal statement on this page is taken from the statute itself, as published by the German Federal Ministry of Justice at gesetze-im-internet.de: section 193 VVG, section 20 SGB XI, section 1 PflVG, and sections 2 and 150 SGB VII.
Last updated: 16 August 2026. Written by the checkeverything.de Redaktion. This page explains statutory rules and is not individual legal or financial advice.