Home contents insurance in Germany (Hausratversicherung) explained

What counts as contents?

Contents (Hausrat) are the movable things in your household – furniture, clothes, electronics and supplies. According to the consumer advice centres (Verbraucherzentrale), valuables such as cash and jewellery are usually only covered up to 20 per cent of the sum insured. A fitted kitchen you paid for as a tenant may count. Three types of cover are often confused:

• Hausratversicherung: your own movable belongings.
• Wohngebäudeversicherung (buildings insurance): the building itself, usually insured by the owner.
• Privathaftpflicht (personal liability): damage you cause to others.

What is usually covered?

Basic cover usually includes:

• Fire, lightning and explosion, including smoke and soot damage.
• Escaping water (Leitungswasser), such as a burst pipe.
• Burglary, robbery and vandalism after a break-in.
• Storm of at least force 8, and hail.

Optional add-ons

Simple theft (without a break-in) and flooding are usually excluded. Possible add-ons:

• Bicycle theft: without it, bikes are usually only covered after a burglary (e.g. from a locked cellar); with it, also outdoors if locked.
• Natural hazards (Elementarschäden): flooding, sewage backflow, heavy rain or earthquakes.
• Glass breakage: generally dispensable, according to the Verbraucherzentrale.

New value and underinsurance

Contents insurance usually pays the new value (Neuwert): the cost of buying equivalent items new, as defined in the GDV insurance association's model conditions.

If your sum insured is below that value, you are underinsured (Unterversicherung) and only receive a proportion. The Verbraucherzentrale's example: contents worth 100,000 euros insured for 50,000 – a 10,000-euro loss is paid at 5,000.

A waiver of underinsurance (Unterversicherungsverzicht) avoids this if the sum insured reaches a fixed amount per square metre and your living space is stated correctly. The Verbraucherzentrale names 650 euros per square metre as usual, as does Stiftung Warentest (2026).

Moving house

Within Germany, cover normally moves with you and applies to both homes during the move. At the old address it usually ends no later than two months after the move begins (Verbraucherzentrale); the GDV model conditions leave the period open, so check your policy.

• Notify your insurer by the start of the move and give the new floor area.
• Bigger flat? Adjust the sum insured, or under the model conditions a waiver of underinsurance lapses two months after the move begins.
• If the premium rises at the new address, the model conditions allow you to cancel within one month.
• Keeping both flats or moving abroad? Cover does not simply transfer.

Your obligations

Breaching your obligations (Obliegenheiten) can reduce or cancel your payout. Typical ones:

• Lock doors and windows when you leave.
• Heat your home in cold weather, or turn off and drain the water pipes.
• Report damage without delay – and burglary, robbery or vandalism to the police too.
• Give the police and insurer a list of stolen items (Stehlgutliste) with descriptions and new values.

Cancelling

Many policies run for a year, renew automatically and commonly require three months' notice before the term ends – check your contract. A claim or premium increase may give you a special right to cancel (Sonderkündigungsrecht); giving up your household entirely normally ends the policy.

This article is general information, not individual advice.