Whether through carelessness, an accident, or forgetfulness: if you cause damage, you are legally required to take responsibility for it. This applies even when it happened quickly and without any bad intent.

The injured party has a legal right to appropriate financial compensation. This includes the costs of repair or replacement of damaged items, as well as consequential costs such as loss of use.

If people are injured, medical expenses and loss of earnings may arise. Often, the injured person is also entitled to compensation for pain and suffering, and in the case of lasting health damage even to a lifelong pension.

You are liable with all your assets
Not every case of personal liability is as harmless as a broken window from a football or a red wine stain on a neighbour's carpet. The damage can be so high that it puts your economic livelihood at risk.

As the person who caused the damage, you are liable with all your assets: property and land, bank balances, wages and salary. In serious cases, even a future inheritance can be accessed.

Liability insurance protects you and your family from potentially devastating compensation claims. The insurer first checks whether you are obliged to pay compensation and, if so, in what amount. If the claim is justified, the insurer pays the compensation, i.e. the financial settlement.

By the way: private liability also protects you as a property owner against damage caused by your house, as long as you live in it yourself. Spouses and children are, of course, also covered. In addition, private liability insurance also applies during temporary stays abroad.

Defence against unjustified claims
If necessary, the insurer defends you against unjustified compensation claims. If this leads to a legal dispute with the person making the claim, your liability insurer will conduct the proceedings and bear the costs. In this way, liability insurance also provides a kind of legal protection for unfounded liability claims. Fines are not insured.

However, private liability does not pay for damage that people insured together under one policy cause to each other. Also excluded are intentionally caused damage, fines and administrative penalties, purely contractual obligations such as repayment of loans, or damage arising from the use of motor vehicles. For that, there is motor vehicle liability insurance, which every vehicle owner must take out.

Liability insurance primarily protects the policyholder: you are the contractual partner with all rights and obligations. Family members of the policyholder, spouse and children, are also protected by private liability insurance.

Even if you are not married, the insurance cover can be extended to your partner. For this, the partner's name must be included in the policy.

Seamless protection
Liability cover can even extend to domestic and garden help as well as babysitters. If, for example, a neighbour suffers damage due to negligence by your babysitter during their work, your liability insurance usually pays.

If the policyholder dies, liability cover for relatives continues until the next premium due date. If the surviving partner pays the next premium, they automatically become the contractual partner, and the cover continues without interruption.

Insurance costs money, but going without private liability insurance is a major risk. Accidents and mishaps can neither be predicted nor completely avoided.

If you don't want to be left paying compensation yourself in such cases, you need strong liability cover. A private liability policy for you and your family with the standard scope of benefits is available for an annual premium of under one hundred euros.

The personal liability risk is often underestimated, and a moment of inattention can be enough to cause major damage. Serious accidents can happen quickly: who hasn't crossed the street in a hurry despite a red light to catch the bus. If an accident happens as a result, liability insurance covers the damage.

Personal injury is also not uncommon. If you collide with another cyclist and injure them, you may have to pay out of pocket if you do not have liability insurance.

Children often cause damage
Damage caused by children is particularly common, because children cannot yet assess the consequences of their actions as well as adults. Careless playing with a lighter can burn down an entire apartment building, and the building insurer may then seek recourse from the parents of the child who caused the fire.

But the damage doesn't have to be that big. When playing football in the street, many a ball ends up not in the goal but in the shop window next door.

Which liability cover do I need?
The comprehensive protection of private liability insurance is usually sufficient for the changing situations of everyday life. By the way, you are also insured as a cyclist, skater, and while practising typical leisure sports. 

However, certain cases must be insured separately. For cars, motorbikes, mopeds, etc., motor vehicle liability insurance is required by law. If you own a sailing or motor boat, you need boat liability insurance. Owners of horses, dogs and other larger animals take out special animal owner's liability insurance.

Special liability for landlords and builders
If you own a multi-family house, rent out a single-family home, or own an undeveloped plot of land, you need separate house and landowner's liability insurance.

For smaller building projects up to an estimated amount of typically 50,000 euros, damage arising in connection with construction work is covered by the builder's private liability. For larger projects, taking out a dedicated builder's liability insurance policy is required.