What Hausratversicherung Actually Covers in Germany

Keep €3,000 in cash in a drawer at home and a standard Hausratversicherung policy might only pay out €1,000 of it after a burglary — even though the same policy would happily replace a €4,000 sofa in full. That gap between what people assume "home contents insurance" means and what the Versicherungsbedingungen (policy terms) actually say is where most disputes and disappointed claimants come from. A standard policy covers four specific perils, pays a defined set of optional add-ons if you buy them, and caps a surprising number of everyday items — cash, jewellery, bicycles — at a fraction of your total coverage sum. This is a peril-by-peril, add-on-by-add-on, and sub-limit-by-sub-limit breakdown of what is actually in the policy, not a general "should you get one" decision (where your contents cover ends and the building's own policy begins is a separate question, covered in Wohngebäude vs. Hausrat, explained).

The four perils covered by default

Every standard Hausratversicherung policy in Germany, regardless of insurer, is built around the same four insured perils. This is the baseline the industry writes into its Musterbedingungen (model policy wording), and it's what you're paying for even on the cheapest tariff:

Peril	Covered by default?	Notes
Feuer (fire, lightning strike, explosion)	Yes	Includes direct lightning strikes, explosion, and follow-on smoke/soot damage; aircraft impact is also bundled in under most Feuer wording
Leitungswasser (water damage)	Yes	Burst or leaking pipes, failed washing-machine and dishwasher hoses, frost damage to plumbing; the cause has to be a pipe or fixed installation, not a spilled bucket
Einbruchdiebstahl + Vandalismus (burglary + vandalism)	Yes	Requires forced entry — a broken lock, a pried-open window; vandalism is covered only if it happens during or immediately after a break-in attempt
Sturm/Hagel (storm + hail)	Yes	Usually only from wind force 8 upward; hail damage to contents (e.g. a shattered skylight ruining furniture below) is included
Elementarschäden (flood, backwater, landslide)	No — optional	Not part of the base four; must be added separately, and increasingly relevant given more frequent heavy-rain events
Einfacher Diebstahl (theft without forced entry)	No	A phone stolen from an unlocked bag, or something simply going missing, is not "Einbruchdiebstahl" and isn't covered under the base policy

The distinction between Einbruchdiebstahl and einfacher Diebstahl trips people up constantly: the insurer needs evidence that force was used to get in — a snapped lock, a jimmied window frame, a broken door. If nothing was forced, standard Hausratversicherung treats it as ordinary theft and typically won't pay, which is why leaving a door unlocked "just for five minutes" can turn an otherwise straightforward burglary claim into a denied one.

Neuwert vs. Zeitwert: what "covered" actually pays out

Standard Hausratversicherung policies in Germany settle claims at Neuwert — the cost of buying an equivalent new item today, not what your five-year-old sofa or laptop was actually worth the moment before it was damaged. That's a meaningfully better deal than Zeitwert (depreciated current value), which is what many other insurance lines default to. In practice this means a burglary that takes a three-year-old TV gets you the price of a comparable new TV, not a used one discounted for wear.

The catch is that Neuwert settlement only works cleanly if your coverage sum (Versicherungssumme) actually reflects what you own. If you insure for less than the real replacement value of your belongings, the insurer is entitled to reduce every payout proportionally — insure for half your actual contents value and a full claim pays out at roughly half, regardless of Neuwert. The standard way insurers avoid disputing this line by line is a fixed formula, usually around €650 per square metre of living space, which is generally what qualifies a policy for an Unterversicherungsverzicht — a clause where the insurer agrees not to apply that proportional cut at all.

The add-ons that aren't in the base policy

Several protections that people assume are automatically part of "home insurance" are actually optional riders you have to select and usually pay extra for:

• Elementarschäden — flooding, Rückstau (sewer backwater), Erdrutsch (landslide), Erdbeben, and Schneedruck. This is the single biggest gap in a base policy and the one most likely to matter given how much more frequent heavy-rain flooding has become in parts of Germany.
• Grobe Fahrlässigkeit — cover even when you contributed to the damage through carelessness, such as leaving the stove on or forgetting a candle. Over 90% of standard market tariffs exclude or heavily limit this by default; adding it back is usually a small premium increase.
• Überspannungsschäden — damage to electronics from power surges (not caused by a direct lightning strike, which is already covered under Feuer). Worth considering if you own expensive electronics.
• Glasbruch — breakage of fixed glass such as ceramic hobs, shower screens, or ceiling glass, which the base perils don't reach unless the damage came from one of the four covered causes.
• Fahrradklausel (bicycle-away-from-home clause) — the base policy only ever covers a bicycle stolen from inside the insured home (a locked cellar, garage, or the flat itself); a bike locked outside a café or at a train station is not covered at all unless you add this clause.

Außenversicherung: cover away from home

Hausratversicherung isn't limited to what's physically inside your four walls. Außenversicherung extends the same perils to belongings that are only temporarily outside the home — a suitcase on holiday, a laptop at a hotel, items in a hospital room. The standard scope is three months per trip as a baseline, though many insurers now offer six or even twelve months before something stops counting as "temporary." Compensation under Außenversicherung is usually capped at 10% to 20% of your total Versicherungssumme, and cover generally applies worldwide, not just within Germany. It's worth checking this figure specifically if you travel a lot or spend extended stretches abroad, since it's one of the more variable terms between insurers.

The sub-limits that surprise people

This is where a lot of the disappointment in real claims comes from: several categories of belongings are capped well below your total coverage sum, even though the items themselves sit inside the four core perils.

Sub-limit	Typical cap	What it applies to
Wertsachen (jewellery, art, furs, precious metals, valuable documents)	Roughly 20% of the Versicherungssumme on standard tariffs; some premium tariffs raise this to 30–50% or even remove the cap	Applies per claim, not per item
Bargeld (cash) kept at home, outside a safe	Roughly €1,000–€5,000 depending on tariff tier (one major insurer's tiers run €1,000 / €2,000 / €2,000 / €5,000 across its Basis, Smart, Komfort, and Premium levels)	A separate, harder cap sitting inside the broader Wertsachen category
Bargeld kept in a bank safety-deposit box (Bankschließfach)	Can run much higher — up to roughly €20,000 on some higher tariffs	Storage location changes the applicable limit significantly
Fahrraddiebstahl (bicycle theft from inside the home)	Often just 1–2% of the Versicherungssumme; a €50,000 coverage sum can mean a maximum payout of only €500–€1,000 for a stolen bike	Usually also requires the bike to have been secured with its own separate lock, and some policies exclude theft between roughly 22:00 and 06:00 unless a night clause is bought back

What Hausratversicherung does not cover at all

Beyond the exclusions already covered above (einfacher Diebstahl, Elementarschäden without the add-on, grobe Fahrlässigkeit without the add-on), a few categories sit outside Hausratversicherung entirely, no matter which tariff or insurer you choose:

• The building itself. Walls, roof, fixed wiring, and permanently built-in installations are the Wohngebäudeversicherung's job, not Hausrat's — the full mechanics of that split are covered in Wohngebäude vs. Hausrat, explained.
• Damage you cause to someone else. If you flood a neighbour's flat or your dog bites a visitor, that's Privathaftpflicht territory, not Hausrat — Hausratversicherung only ever pays for damage to your own belongings. See what Haftpflicht actually covers for the full boundary between the two.
• Belongings in a separately let room. If part of your home is rented out to someone else as their own tenancy (a sublet room, for example), items belonging to that occupant generally fall outside your own policy.
• Ordinary wear and tear. A washing machine that dies of old age, carpet that fades, or a sofa that simply wears out is not a Hausrat claim — the base perils require a specific triggering event (fire, water, break-in, storm), not gradual deterioration.

Where this fits with the rest of your insurance setup

Hausratversicherung is one line item people in Germany typically sort out alongside Privathaftpflicht and health insurance in their first few months — the full first-month checklist, including how these pieces relate to each other, is covered in insurances nobody explains when you arrive in Germany. Understanding exactly which perils, add-ons, and sub-limits apply to your own policy before a claim happens is the difference between a smooth payout and an unpleasant surprise reading the Versicherungsbedingungen for the first time mid-claim.

Frequently asked questions

Does Hausratversicherung cover theft if nothing was broken to get in?

No. Standard policies only cover Einbruchdiebstahl (burglary with forced entry) — a broken lock or pried-open window. Ordinary theft without evidence of forced entry, sometimes called einfacher Diebstahl, is excluded from the base policy.

Is flood damage covered by a standard Hausratversicherung policy?

No, not by default. Elementarschäden — flooding, sewer backwater, and landslide — is an optional add-on that has to be selected and usually paid for separately. A base policy covers storm and hail but not flooding from heavy rain or a river.

How much of my cash at home is actually insured?

It depends on the tariff, but cash kept at home outside a safe is typically capped somewhere between roughly €1,000 and €5,000, sitting inside a broader Wertsachen limit that's usually around 20% of your total coverage sum. Cash stored in a bank safety-deposit box can carry a much higher separate limit.

Will my policy pay to replace a bike stolen from outside my home?

Not under the base policy. Standard Hausratversicherung only covers a bicycle stolen from inside the insured home — a locked cellar, garage, or the flat itself — and even then usually only up to 1–2% of your coverage sum. Theft from outside the home needs a separate Fahrradklausel.

What does "grobe Fahrlässigkeit" mean, and is it covered?

It means gross negligence — damage you contributed to through carelessness, such as forgetting a candle burning or leaving a window open during a storm. More than 90% of standard market tariffs exclude or sharply limit payouts in these cases unless you specifically add cover for it.

This article is for general information only and does not constitute financial, insurance, or legal advice. Coverage terms, exclusions, and sub-limits vary by insurer and by individual policy — the figures above are illustrative examples drawn from Verbraucherzentrale, Finanztip, and individual insurers' published tariff terms, current as of mid-2026, and are not a personalized recommendation. Always check your own Versicherungsbedingungen for the exact figures that apply to your policy, and compare current Hausratversicherung options via a licensed intermediary such as Tarifcheck before making a decision. Alle Angaben ohne Gewähr.