Insurance required for a business

[cacilia_1 80]

I am doing a project and need information about what kind of insurance is needed when one has a business in Germany. What kind of paperwork are they required to keep regarding worker's compensation. I have read that they have OSH logs for incidents? Just any information that anyone has about having a business, not a freelance in Germany. This is for a project so I don't really want to contact an attorney and get billed. I am not starting a business in Germany or anywhere right now. I am just interested and have spent a lot of time on the Internet but can't find a website that just has that information and has it clearly. Ex: In the U.S a business has to have Worker's Comp, they can offer health care although it is not obligatory right now. They keep required OSHA logs for the Occupation Safety blah blah for each year.

 

I would appreciate any help I could get here and I hope I put the question in the right category. I can read german so a link to a government website would be ok.

 

Another question is: What exactly in Ausfallversicherung? Someone tried to tell me it was like an umbrella insurance but it looks to me like it is in case a company has money problems. Anyone have any ideas?

 

Thank you. Any help is appreciated and jokes are ok too.

[YorkshireLad6 7,152]

Do you mean what a business must have, should have or is recommended to have?

It would be very difficult to give a detailed or complete answer as it will depend on local laws (German state), type of business and size of business (number of employees)

[natathegreat 0]

oh i have a question regarding insurance too! do u know what kind of insurance i have to obtain for running a café?

 

sorry for interrupting...

[YorkshireLad6 7,152]

My initial response would be that if you don't know what insurance you need, then you should not be running a café in the first place, but I'll stab at:

 

 

• Liability insurance (Betriebshaftpflicht) in case you drop a heavy plate on someone's foot, poison them or pour fat down a drain (Umweltschutz)
• Contents Insurance (in case it burns down, is burgled or flooded)
• Business interruption insurance (Betriebsschließung) in case you are shut down by the authorities for poisoning a customer
• Electrical insurance to cover electrical catastrophes to expensive equipment
• Glass insurance if there is a lot of glass in your café
• Legal Insurance in case an angry customer sues you for poisoning them

 

Ideally, talk to a specialist, but don't be over-sold. While some of the above are recommended, they may not be necessary or they may be too expensive to consider.

[john g. 37,776]

Excellent post, YorkshireLad6! Just to add to the possible list: Betriebsunterbrechung ( business interruption part 2) for loss of earnings if the place is damaged and business cannot go on normally.

[redskiwood 0]

On a side note - can someone tell me what Haftpflicht is? Thanks!

[YorkshireLad6 7,152]

In order to assist your reading ability (it's in the post above) - it's liability insurance. If you do something stupid and damage property or hurt someone, then this insurance pays the bills.

[john g. 37,776]

Haftpflicht is THE most important insurance you can ever have here ( alongside health insurance). It is liability insurance: you damage someone´s health or property accidently/through negligence and German law says: you messed up? You pay! It is the FIRST question a German asks if there´s been an accident or if your landlord finds out your bath tub has been damaged!

 

Some landlords demand it before they let you become a tenant.

 

Other classic examples are: you are on a bike and bash into someone´s BMW...it´s a little scratch maybe but the anger is palpable! He takes the car to the garage and suddenly it´s a 4,000 euro bill!

 

You jaywalk because you´re daydreaming...car swerves to avoid you and runs over a little old lady..she dies. etc etc.

GET IT!

[YorkshireLad6 7,152]

There are a few other areas where it can be used, but many people don't even think about it. For example:

 

 

• Visiting someone's home, after a couple of beers you stagger into their precious Ming vase or more likely trip/fall against their TV and smash it
• On leaving your apartment your landlord claims the parquet floor is scratched, or the shower/bath is chipped, needs repairing and you will lose part of your Kaution as a result.
• Your kids lob a ball over the fence and though a pane of glass in the neighbours house
• Helping someone move house you drop their PC on the floor and damage it
• You accidentally tip a cup of coffee over a colleague's laptop
• Playing by the pool on vacation you knock a nearby table and tip someone's mobile (which was laying on the table) into the water

 

All these instances are potential claims on liability in insurance, and all are real situations I've experienced as either culprit, victim or witness (not the Ming vase)

[john g. 37,776]

I´ve mostly been the culprit, YL6!!

Mind you, a German client of mine got drunk at a party and went to the toilet and bashed his head on the toilet seat! Yep, the claim went in! And got paid.

 

Warning: I don´t recommmend putting in claims for trivial stuff..30 euros etc. You can get thrown out for excessive use as a " bad " insuree and will find it difficult or at least more expensive to get another liability insurance. Keep it for the expensive stuff...

 

By the way, about 10 years ago or so, another German client got thrown out of his legal insurance for excessive use...his last claim was for FIVE euros ( can´t remember the details any more but it amused me at the time )!!

[natathegreat 0]

yes that's the main things i wanna be covered. but i'm not really sure if it works that way. my experience is that the agent propose a package what i wanna to cover in the space. does it work like that too in germany?

 

thanks a lot. i know a lot of new words today, haha

[YorkshireLad6 7,152]

 

I´ve mostly been the culprit, YL6!!

 

I take it back - it was a Ming vase, and I just sent you the bill.

[john g. 37,776]

Paid it, Yorkshire! I won´t do it again!

 

By the way, next time get one " made in China"! Everything else is!

[YorkshireLad6 7,152]

My Ming Vase was indeed made in China. Presumably between 1368 and 1644.