Starting a family: rethinking your cover

Above all, a child changes one thing: there is now someone whose living costs depend on your income. Property cover, on the other hand, changes less than many people expect.

Children are usually already covered

Under family and partner policies for personal liability insurance (Privathaftpflicht), children are generally included without the premium going up. With a standard family policy, the child does not need a contract of their own – but a call to the insurer to confirm the inclusion is worthwhile. If you currently have a single policy, you should switch to a family policy. That is a request to change your contract, not a new policy, and it usually costs little.

Children without tortious capacity: the gap nobody expects

Under the German Civil Code (BGB), children under seven lack legal capacity for tortious liability. Under § 828(2) BGB, children under ten are also not liable for damage in an accident involving a motor vehicle, a railway or a suspension railway, unless they acted intentionally. This does not cover every incident in road traffic, only accidents involving these vehicles. In these cases the children are not liable – and because liability insurance only steps in where liability exists, it generally does not pay. One exception is supervisory liability under § 832 BGB: if the parents breached their duty of supervision, they are liable themselves, and their personal liability insurance can pay for that. How much supervision is needed depends on the child’s age and the situation. This affects not you but the injured party: the neighbour with the scratched car. Many policies therefore offer an optional inclusion for “damage caused by children without tortious capacity”, usually with its own maximum sum. Whether you need it is a question of keeping the peace with the neighbours, not of financial survival.

• Under 7: generally no tortious capacity
• Under 10: no liability for accidents involving motor vehicles or railways, except where intentional (§ 828(2) BGB)
• Parents are liable if they breach their duty of supervision (§ 832 BGB)
• No liability, no payout from liability insurance
• The inclusion is optional and often capped

The real issue lies elsewhere

The most important question when starting a family is not about property cover but about income: what happens if the person whose income the child lives on loses that income – through illness, accident or death? This question cannot be answered in six clicks. It depends on health details, income and family circumstances, and belongs in a personal consultation. That is exactly why our needs check points to “advice” at this stage rather than producing an automatic assessment.