Protection

The ETF4Kids 360° concept: building and protecting from one mould

Two concepts, one principle: first cover what threatens the family’s existence — then the rest grows safely.

Insure what would threaten your livelihood first — then the rest
Four pages with sourced figures instead of sales arguments
Advice, documents and claims support in English

45 minutes · free · no obligation · in English

In short

Which insurance does a family in Germany really need?

Four — and they come in an order. The principle is simple: first what would genuinely hurt you financially, last what is merely comfortable.

1. Personal liability (Privathaftpflicht) — for every household, no exception. Anyone who harms another person is liable without limit, with all present and future assets; there is no statutory ceiling. With small children one particular clause decides whether the policy pays in the most likely case at all.

2. Household contents (Hausrat) — as soon as replacing a full set of furnishings would hurt. The decisive figure is the sum insured: €650 per square metre of living space is the recommendation.

3. Buildings insurance (Wohngebäude) — owners only, but there it protects the largest asset you hold. Natural-hazard cover is a separate component that only 57 percent of residential buildings have.

4. Supplementary health cover for children — not a threat to your livelihood, but the only one of the four where the timing decides whether it pays.

Two concepts

For the child. For the parents. Designed together.

Single contracts overlap, leave gaps and cost twice. The two concepts interlock — and below we explain every building block on its own.

Kids concept

Everything for the child: the savings plan as the foundation, plus health cover, kids disability and accident protection — coordinated. To the kids concept

Family concept

Everything for the parents: disability, liability, health and survivor protection — because everything hangs on the parents’ income. To the family concept

Try it yourself

Which of the four do you need — and in which order?

On the left the questions that decide urgency. On the right you switch between the four policies.

What makes something urgent

The ticks change with the policy you pick on the right.

Could the loss threaten your livelihood? Amounts a family cannot absorb on its own.
Does it apply to tenants? Or only to people who own property?
Are children a risk factor of their own? Does anything change because children live in the household?
Does timing matter? Is there a window that closes?

Personal liability Household contents Buildings insurance Supplementary health for children

Personal liability

For everyone. No exception.

3 of 4 met

The only one we recommend without asking a single question first.

Could the loss threaten your livelihood?: Anyone who harms another person is liable under § 823 of the German Civil Code — without limit, with all present and future assets. There is no statutory ceiling.
Does it apply to tenants?: Yes, regardless of renting or owning.
Are children a risk factor of their own?: Very much so: before their seventh birthday a child is not liable — and without a specific clause, no policy pays either.
Does timing matter?: No, it can be taken out at any time. Only the loss does not wait.

Legal basis: §§ 823, 828, 832 German Civil Code (BGB).

Household contents

For everyone with their own furnishings

1 of 4 met

Worth having as soon as replacing a full set of furnishings would hurt financially.

Could the loss threaten your livelihood?: Losing everything is expensive but, for most people, not ruinous — that is what separates it from liability cover.
Does it apply to tenants?: Yes — it insures your things, not the building.
Are children a risk factor of their own?: Indirectly: with children the contents grow, and the sum insured often does not grow with them.
Does timing matter?: No, it can be taken out and adjusted at any time.

Recommended sum insured: €650 per m² of living space (GDV).

Buildings insurance

Owners only

1 of 4 met

Irrelevant for tenants. For owners it protects the largest single asset they hold.

Could the loss threaten your livelihood?: A destroyed house with a running mortgage is the textbook case of a threat to your livelihood.
Does it apply to tenants?: No. For apartments the owners’ association takes it out and the cost runs through the service charge.
Are children a risk factor of their own?: No, it attaches to the building, not to the family.
Does timing matter?: Partly, for natural-hazard cover: after a flood event it can become harder or more expensive in risk zones.

57 % of residential buildings have natural-hazard cover; 99 % are insurable (GDV, end of 2024).

Supplementary health for children

Useful — with a narrow window

3 of 4 met

Not a threat to your livelihood, but the only one of the four where timing decides whether it pays at all.

Could the loss threaten your livelihood?: No. Braces cost money, but they do not ruin a family. That is why it comes last in the order.
Does it apply to tenants?: Yes, it does not depend on how you live.
Are children a risk factor of their own?: It exists specifically for children.
Does timing matter?: Yes, and that is the point: once an orthodontist has graded the teeth — usually at eight or nine — a new policy will not pay for that treatment.

KIG grading: Verbraucherzentrale (German consumer advice centres).

The order follows from the first row: insure what would genuinely hurt first, then the rest. Reverse the order and you end up with a private hospital room and no liability cover.

In detail

The four pages, each with something to try yourself

Every page carries an interactive module that makes the key point tangible — instead of asserting it.

Personal liability insurance

The gap for children under seven, the sum insured, and the four clauses that separate good tariffs from cheap ones. With an interactive liability check — and the option to take out cover yourself, in English.

Try the liability check

Household contents insurance

The one figure that decides everything when you claim — and what happens when it is too low. With a calculator based on the German insurance association’s recommendation.

Check your sum insured

Buildings insurance

What the basic cover includes and where it stops. The comparison shows which ticks disappear without natural-hazard cover.

Compare the cover

Supplementary health for children

Why statutory insurance pays nothing at all for mild misalignments — and why timing decides whether a policy pays at all.

See the KIG grades

How we work

Why we talk about insurance when we are known for children’s savings

Because a savings plan is the wrong first product

Saving for your child while having no liability cover means building on a foundation that a single claim can tear away. That is why the clarity call always starts with protection — even when the outcome is that there is nothing to do.

Because we are brokers, not agents

ETF4Kids holds the licence under § 34d of the German Trade Regulation Act as an insurance broker, supervised by the Chamber of Commerce (IHK) Region Stuttgart. As brokers we are legally obliged to advise in our clients’ interest, not a provider’s. We have no products of our own.

Because the German system is not self-explanatory

Around 85 percent of the families we work with are international. Which cover is compulsory, which is customary and which is simply sold well is not obvious from the outside — and the terms are rarely available in English. That is the gap we work in.

Common questions about family protection

In which order should I take out insurance?

By severity of loss, not by price. First everything that could threaten your livelihood: personal liability always, buildings insurance if you own property, and income protection if you work. Then household contents. Comfort and supplementary components last.

Which insurance is compulsory in Germany?

For private households, very little. Health insurance is compulsory, motor liability is compulsory if you own a car. Personal liability is not legally required — which surprises many people, given that it is the one we recommend most insistently.

Do you advise in English?

Yes. Meetings, documents and follow-up questions in English are standard here, not an exception. For personal liability there is also an English-language portal where you can compare and apply yourself, without a call.

Will you advise me even if I take out nothing?

Yes. We look at existing policies and say whether switching is worth it. Often the answer is no — existing contracts sometimes carry clauses you cannot get today. The call is free either way.

You are known for children’s savings plans — why insurance?

Because one does not hold without the other. A savings plan over 18 years assumes that nothing in those 18 years throws the family off course financially. Protection is the condition under which wealth-building works at all.

Context

This page is general information and does not replace advice tailored to your situation. What a specific tariff actually covers is set out in its terms and conditions — the differences between two offers carrying the same name are considerable. Figures and rates quoted are market values as of the stated date and are not a commitment.

ETF4Kids is a licensed insurance broker under § 34d of the German Trade Regulation Act, supervised by the Chamber of Commerce (IHK) Region Stuttgart. As a broker we are legally obliged to advise in our clients’ interest. We are neither legal nor tax advisers; where a question belongs there, we say so.

Let us sort out what you already have

In the clarity call we go through your existing policies and sort out what is missing, what is duplicated and what you can safely leave as it is. 45 minutes, free, in English, with nothing to sign.

Book your free clarity call