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Individual public liability insurance for your company

  • customized commercial insurance
  • get a non-binding quote in 9 minutes
  • purchase and manage 100 % online
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Which damages are covered?

  • Personal injury (e.g. compensation for pain and suffering)
  • Property damage (e.g. repair)
  • Consequential property damage (e.g. loss of earnings & profits)
  • Environmental damage (e.g. disposal costs)
  • if required: damages caused by your products
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How much does this policy cost?

The business liability insurance is available

from 8.90 € / monthly

Would you like to know how much this insurance costs for you or your business? With just a few questions, we can calculate a tailored quote.
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Covered in 9 minutes*

Step 1 – Answer a few questions about your business

Step 2 – Get a product recommendation and personalized quote

Step 3 – Purchase your coverage immediately and manage 100 % online

*Depending on elected insurance product, desired start-date of policy and our insurance partners

Public liability insurance - important for every company

Injury to persons and damage to property can never be completely ruled out in a work environment - and can quickly cost several hundred thousand euros. Our individual public liability insurance ensures that you and your company are prepared for all possible eventualities.

insureQ: your tailor-made public liability insurance

Commercial liability insurance is one of the top priorities when it comes to the most important commercial insurances. Regardless of whether you are an entrepreneur, start-up founder or freelancer - uninsured personal injury or property damage can quickly threaten your existence. Public liability insurance ensures that you are covered for such cases and protects the company's assets from claims for damages.

Individual public liability - full protection as you need it

The risks and possible claims are unique to each industry, and there are plenty of comparisons between different providers of public liability insurance - also known as public liability insurance. That's why we go one step further: You give us the most important key data about your company and your activity - and we immediately tell you which commercial liability insurance is best suited for you.

With the help of our insureQ algorithm, we put together the cover that protects you against the risks of your industry, without any unnecessary extras. You can conveniently take out your liability insurance completely online - if you wish, our insurance experts are also available for a personal consultation at any time.

With insureQ, you don't need any prior knowledge: You get the best possible protection in just a few minutes and, with our flexible conditions, we'll make sure that you only pay for the parts of your public liability insurance that are actually relevant to you.

Tailor-made public liability insurance from insureQ - your advantages: 

  • public liability insurance for companies, start-ups and the self-employed

  • individual protection - tailored exactly to your industry, plans and risks

  • 100 % digital: take out your public liability insurance in just a few minutes

  • immediate cost calculation thanks to insureQ algorithm

  • Personal consultation with our experts on request

  • Convenient online processing of contract adjustments & claims notifications

  • ARAG, Hiscox and R+V as insurance carriers and experienced partners

insureQ stands for a fast, convenient insurance option that works the way you want it to. That's why we offer you all important commercial insurances from a single source. We advise you online and, if you wish, also personally on the phone.

Public liability insurance: everything relevant at a glance

There are always uncertainties surrounding the topic of public liability insurance - for example, whether it is actually a mandatory insurance and how it differs from professional liability insurance. In order to find the right public liability insurance at insureQ, you do not need to have any prior knowledge; however, we would like to give you an overview of the most important aspects of your insurance.

What is public liability insurance?

No matter how carefully and prudently you work in your business, damage or injury can always happen. The problem: As an entrepreneur, you are liable for all damages that you and your employees cause to other people or things in the course of their work, without limitation and with all the assets of the company. The same applies to damages caused by your company's products or services. Depending on the situation, uninsured claims for damages can mean insolvency, especially for smaller companies and young enterprises (e.g. start-ups).

As in private life, there is therefore also a liability insurance for companies and self-employed persons that is liable for such claims for damages (personal injury and property damage) and helps you to ward off unjustified claims.

Who needs public liability insurance?

There are good reasons why public liability is often the first insurance policy recommended in the area of commercial insurance: It is elementary in order to protect you and your public from the financial consequences of a wide variety of property damage and personal injury. Regardless of whether you are an entrepreneur, founder, self-employed or freelancer - public liability is one of the core elements of your commercial insurance cover.

In comparison, a construction public naturally involves a much higher risk of damage than an office business. Nevertheless, there are potential risks in every industry against which the company should be comprehensively insured.

Is public liability insurance really mandatory?

In principle, public liability is not legally obligatory. The impression is often created by ambiguities in the term and by the fact that virtually all entrepreneurs and self-employed persons in Germany take out such insurance.

However, there are a few exceptions. Among others, the following occupational groups are obliged to take out and be able to prove that they have commercial liability insurance:

  • security industry (e.g. bouncers, security)

  • operators of shooting ranges/shooting ranges

  • operators of airports with ground handling services

  • waste disposal companies (e.g. storage of waste)

  • hunters

  • testing engineers (e.g. in the field of structural engineering)

  • carnies

At the same time, there is a kind of unofficial obligation in some sectors: Many clients only agree to work with you if your company has public liability insurance with sufficient coverage. This practice is widespread, among other things, for craft activities.

Professional and public liability insurance: What is the difference?

Even though the two insurance models are often referred to together, the respective coverage is very different. Knowing the differences is therefore elementary in order to protect yourself and your public in the best possible way. While public liability covers personal injury and property damage (as well as consequential damage to assets), professional liability (also known as pecuniary loss liability) provides protection against financial loss.

Risks & damages: What does public liability insurance cover?

In principle, public liability is intended to cover all claims for damages (personal injury and property damage) that are made by third parties against you and your company. In most cases, the covered claims can be classified into one of the following "damage categories":

  • personal injury (e.g. treatment costs, compensation for pain and suffering)

  • property damage (e.g. repair, replacement)

  • consequential damage to assets (e.g. loss of earnings and profits due to personal injury/damage to property)

  • environmental damage (e.g. removal costs)

Claims from these categories form the "core" of public liability coverage. Depending on the industry and activity, it can always make sense to extend this protection with additional elements. Such extensions include, among others:

  • processing damage & activity damage: public liability also covers damage to things or materials that were damaged or destroyed during transport, assembly or similar steps. An example: A roofer drops tiles and damages parts of the façade in the process.[textflow break].

  • product liability: public liability also covers personal injury and property damage caused by defective goods or products.

In addition, a so-called passive legal expenses insurance is also integrated into the commercial liability insurance. This means that claims for damages are examined and - if they are unjustified - defended at insurance cost. However, legal disputes that originate from your company are not covered by the public liability insurance.

Private liability damage, genuine financial loss and damage to company inventory are also not covered. The latter two are covered within the scope of pecuniary loss liability or public contents insurance. The aspect of gross negligence (e.g. loss of keys or theft through unattended storage) is often regulated differently.

Corporate liability: How does supplementary liability work?

The so-called supplementary liability period refers to the period during which the insurance cover of the corporate liability remains in force, even if the insurance contract has already expired. If, for example, damage occurs in the construction industry due to an error in the calculation of the structural analysis, this will continue to be covered by the company liability insurance for the duration of the supplementary liability period.

What cover do I need for my public liability? 

Which damages are actually realistic in your industry and which risks need to be covered by your Public liability insurance is, of course, very individual. At insureQ, you can simply enter the most important key data about your Public and immediately get the protection that best suits you and your company.

Where and for whom does public liability insurance apply?

Public liability insurance is designed to protect you and your employees at all work-related locations. In addition to the place of public itself, this also includes places of work at customers' premises and public places.

The following types of employees are usually covered by public liability as standard:

  • entrepreneurs, self-employed & freelancers

  • permanent employees (full and part-time)

  • temporary workers & mini-jobbers

  • working students & interns

  • family employees

Special cases can arise with subcontractors, temporary workers and cleaning staff. Depending on the provider, these are not firmly integrated into the protection, but must be supplemented additionally.

Whether the cover provided by public liability also applies abroad can also vary greatly. In principle, the policies are often designed in such a way that they also cover public activities in other EU countries. However, if your company does a lot of public abroad (outside Europe), you should make sure that any additional modules you may need are included in your insurance policy.

What amount of cover do I need for my public liability?

Public liability insurance is one of the last things you should save on: claims for damages in the case of personal injury can quickly reach the 7-digit range. In order to protect even smaller companies and self-employed persons against all eventualities, an unofficial standard of an insurance or coverage sum of 3 million euros has become established within the insurance industry. Depending on the industry and risks, it can of course make sense to have this sum increased in order to be covered for the actual "worst case".

What does public liability insurance cost?

Every industry brings with it very different risks - especially for public liability, the costs are therefore difficult to generalise. In addition to the sum insured, the type of company, the number of employees to be insured and the annual turnover play a central role in determining the amount of the premiums. In addition, of course, the industry itself is also in focus - some occupational groups (e.g. crafts) have a higher risk of occupational claims.

Instead of giving you numerical examples that ultimately have nothing to do with the reality of your company, we would rather take the direct route: At insureQ, you can simply enter the key data of your company and your activity online and, with our immediate price calculation, have an individual offer put together that is perfectly tailored to your company and the risks.

Reduce costs: Does a deductible make sense?

A deductible can help to reduce the premium of the public liability insurance by paying for damages up to a certain amount. Damages exceeding this amount are still covered by the public liability insurance.

Whether the deductible actually makes sense can again be very industry-specific. If smaller damages are part of everyday work, it is often the right step to forego an excess and rather accept the higher premium. If property damage and personal injury are rather rare (e.g. in offices), the cost saving on the premium is often worth more. With your personalised offer, we always make sure to keep your deductible as low as possible.

    List of contents

  • Public liability insurance - important for every company
  • insureQ: your tailor-made public liability insurance
  • Public liability insurance: everything relevant at a glance
  • What is public liability insurance?
  • Risks & damages: What does public liability insurance cover?
  • What does public liability insurance cost?