If you rent out an apartment, there are a number of insurances that are highly recommended to secure your assets. Depending on the use of the apartment, these recommendations differ:
The structural shell of your apartment including walls, roof, ceilings, doors/windows and first layer flooring, but also fixtures and fittings such as the heating systems, built-in bathtub, toilet etc. is covered through the building insurance and can cover a variety of risks such as water damages, fire, storm etc. This insurance cannot be taken out by you as the owner but is taken out through the Hausverwaltung for the entire building.
Liability for property owners
Haus- und Grundbesitzerhaftpflicht (HUG)
The liability insurance for property owners covers you in your function and your duties as an owner of property, i.e. apartments and buildings. This insurance primarily covers the damages caused to third parties, meaning costs for damaged property of others, costs that arise from injuries of others and resulting financial damages. It also supports you should there be a claim against you: The insurance then proves whether the claim is justified – if it's not, the insurance will defend you, if it is it will pay for you.
In addition to the liability damages, this insurance includes a "Bauherrenhaftpflicht" and covers liability risks resulting from renovation work (up to a coverage sum of 200.000 €). The coverage also extends to subcontractors that are employed such as administration, cleaning services, etc.
Claims & damages mostly arise from maintenance deficiencies that cause damage to neighbouring apartments or the tenant.
Costs: Around 50 €/per year for one apartment & a coverage sum of 5 Mio EUR. The costs are tax deductible as operating costs.
Content Insurance
Inhaltsversicherung
Content insurances cover the furniture and contents provided by a landlord against a varying number of risk, with all plans covering the following basic risks: Fire, water from pipe breakage, burglary and storm & hail. Based on your needs, this insurance can be extended through the following add-ons:
Our experience has shown that the benefits of adding a glass insurance outweighs the small additional costs and we therefore strongly recommend to include a glass insurance. Other add-ons need to be taken into consideration for every individual situation.
Costs: Costs are mostly dependent on the coverage sum, i.e. how much the things are worth, and the area the insured contents are in. To give you an idea, a content insurance in mid-Berlin for a coverage sum of 20.000 € costs around 150 € / year.
Legal expenses for landlord
Vermieter-Rechtsschutzversicherung
Going to a lawyer in Germany is expensive - the average lawyer hours costs around 200 €. A legal expenses insurance pays for the costs that can arise from a legal dispute as a landlord such as lawyer fees and court costs, mediation proceedings, expert's fees and costs of legal advice on the phone.
Incidents that are covered range from non-payment or irregular rental payments, evictions and unexecuted cosmetic repairs to disputes concerning operating costs and rent reduction.
Costs: We can offer this insurance through our strong partner Deurag, one of the leading legal expenses carriers in Germany, with special conditions:
Short-term rentals less than a year can be insured at much higher rates. Sublets cannot be insured!
What cannot be insured?