Hi - I'm required to have Haftpflicht insurance for my new apartment. Does anyone have any information or recommendations?
Also - I don't understand the terms Deckungs-summe and Selbst-beteiligung.
Thanks!
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Liability insurance for when renting an apartment
Advice about "Haftpflichtversicherung"
Here is shed-loads of information to answer your questions including recommendations and info on how it works.
Hi lizziep: this is an old contribution of mine that might be helpful... you'll find plenty more if you check for either Haftpflichtversicherung or third party liability insurance here at Toytown.
Cheerio
Cheerio
QUOTE
post May 26 2008, 8:33 am
Post #9
Starnberg
The "Private Haftpflichtversicherung" or third party liability insurance is so important because without it you can loose everything you own and more (i.e. what you will earn in the future) and thus is paramount protection for your income and property. While a "Hausrat"-Versicherung (contents of your apartment/house etc just protects some of the things you own (and might cherish), you could financially survive if your flat burned down or someone broke in and stole everything of value because you would still have your saving and your income to come around again.
The third party liability insurance, however, protects you also if by accident or neglegence you cause injury or even death to a person and obviously this can cost you loads more of money. Just imagine you crossing the sidewalk with your head in the sky (musing again about the bad service attitude of the Germans whenst coming out of a shop, for instance) and you don't see the bicyclist coming at full speed who needs to swerve around you and crashes in the Bentley of some celebrity parked right there... the bicyclist has to stay in hospital for several month and since his one leg remains lame/paralyzed, he looses his ability to perform his job as a bus-driver. Suddenly you face claims from the bentley-owner, the health insurance of the bicylist for the long hospital stay and costly surgeries and of course from the bicyclist for a monthly pension until the end of his live for loss of his ability to work... This is why such an insurance is so important.
One thing you should look for in your own insurance: it should have a "Forderungsausfall"-clause. This would protect you yourself if you should be the vicitim of such an accident and the other side has neither such an insurance nor sufficient funds to pay you claims. In this case your own insurance will pay out to you instead...
One more piece of advice: don't go for the least expensive insurance, but for the one with the best coverage for your money and the best trackrecord for settling claims. If you don't want to go through an independent broker, check the FINANZTEST on that...
Cheerio
Post #9
Starnberg
The "Private Haftpflichtversicherung" or third party liability insurance is so important because without it you can loose everything you own and more (i.e. what you will earn in the future) and thus is paramount protection for your income and property. While a "Hausrat"-Versicherung (contents of your apartment/house etc just protects some of the things you own (and might cherish), you could financially survive if your flat burned down or someone broke in and stole everything of value because you would still have your saving and your income to come around again.
The third party liability insurance, however, protects you also if by accident or neglegence you cause injury or even death to a person and obviously this can cost you loads more of money. Just imagine you crossing the sidewalk with your head in the sky (musing again about the bad service attitude of the Germans whenst coming out of a shop, for instance) and you don't see the bicyclist coming at full speed who needs to swerve around you and crashes in the Bentley of some celebrity parked right there... the bicyclist has to stay in hospital for several month and since his one leg remains lame/paralyzed, he looses his ability to perform his job as a bus-driver. Suddenly you face claims from the bentley-owner, the health insurance of the bicylist for the long hospital stay and costly surgeries and of course from the bicyclist for a monthly pension until the end of his live for loss of his ability to work... This is why such an insurance is so important.
One thing you should look for in your own insurance: it should have a "Forderungsausfall"-clause. This would protect you yourself if you should be the vicitim of such an accident and the other side has neither such an insurance nor sufficient funds to pay you claims. In this case your own insurance will pay out to you instead...
One more piece of advice: don't go for the least expensive insurance, but for the one with the best coverage for your money and the best trackrecord for settling claims. If you don't want to go through an independent broker, check the FINANZTEST on that...
Cheerio
Thanks for the info - I read through most of it and have a good idea of what I need now. The only thing I'm still not sure of is which companies have a good reputation - does anyone have any favorites?
I don't know him personally, but Starshollow has been posting extremely helpful info on all things insurance-related for years on TT. He's an independent broker, so can shop around the various insurance companies and get you the best deal. I would definitely suggest checking him out.
C R & Cie
It's a rare thing to consistently get free, valuable and *actually* accurate professional advice on a forum such as this, as regularly as Starshollow provides it.
EDIT: Disclaimer: I am an independent woman who doesn't know this guy from jack, other than he is always helpful and seems like a right solid bloke.
C R & Cie
It's a rare thing to consistently get free, valuable and *actually* accurate professional advice on a forum such as this, as regularly as Starshollow provides it.
EDIT: Disclaimer: I am an independent woman who doesn't know this guy from jack, other than he is always helpful and seems like a right solid bloke.
QUOTE (leeza @ Jun 27 2008, 12:28 am) 
I am an independent woman who doesn't know this guy from jack, other than he is always helpful and seems like a right solid bloke.
I'm glad to see Pas is teaching you proper English!
...
leeza: tks for you kind words. Will you still be considered to be an independent woman if I buy you a drink sometime at one of the Munich Toytown events?
but to be more serious: while some sound professional ethics is very important for financial advisors per se (but rather rare here in Germany, I must admit), it certainly helps that I myself was an Expat for 2 1/2 years in the US and was lucky enough to have some locals (like my landlord John Stavely whom I would like to propose for some kind of noble laureat for being a most kind and considereate huamn being) who took my be the hand and led me through the strange (for me) system of insurance and banking and other stuff in the US. My contribution are one hand hand certainly also marketing of my services, which is only fair, I guess. But they are also an attempt to repay good deeds received earlier in my life. simple as that...
Cheerio
but to be more serious: while some sound professional ethics is very important for financial advisors per se (but rather rare here in Germany, I must admit), it certainly helps that I myself was an Expat for 2 1/2 years in the US and was lucky enough to have some locals (like my landlord John Stavely whom I would like to propose for some kind of noble laureat for being a most kind and considereate huamn being) who took my be the hand and led me through the strange (for me) system of insurance and banking and other stuff in the US. My contribution are one hand hand certainly also marketing of my services, which is only fair, I guess. But they are also an attempt to repay good deeds received earlier in my life. simple as that...
Cheerio
Slightly off-topic, I know, but the Haftpflicht topic is also important for dog owners.You need a separate one for your dog.Why am I writing this?Spoke today to someone I´ve just met whose dog bit a man in his garden.This dog owner doesn´t have a Haftpflicht for his dog (though he should because it´s compulsory here in hamburg).Now he´s being hit with a bill for 2000 euros (cos the bitten one is off work and is self-employed)for loss of earnings and has expected medical bills of (so far) 100,000 euros,(several operations expected) which he´s going to sue him for.So get canine liability insurance and, if possible, with "Forderungsausfall", which means your insurance will pay if someone´s dog does something to you and they don´t have the insurance.
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