April 17, 2026
Insurance for Your First Apartment: What You Actually Need
Moving into your own apartment for the first time doesn't legally require any insurance. Still, contents and liability coverage is one of the questions worth settling before move-in, since a single claim can get expensive fast.
Personal liability insurance: not mandatory, but recommended
Personal liability insurance (Privathaftpflichtversicherung) isn't a legal requirement for tenants. Lease clauses that try to make it mandatory are unenforceable under current case law, so a landlord can't legally require one. Even so, the Verbraucherzentrale still recommends coverage of at least €500,000 for damage to rented rooms and buildings, since damage to fixed fittings like floors, walls, or built-in kitchens can quickly add up to serious sums.
Without liability insurance, you're personally on the hook for damage you cause, for example a water leak when moving out, or damage to a neighbor's property during a party.
Contents insurance: depends on what you own
Whether contents insurance (Hausratversicherung) makes sense depends, according to Verbraucherzentrale, on the value of what you own. It covers damage from fire, lightning strikes, explosion, water damage (such as burst pipes), burglary, vandalism following a break-in, and storms from wind force 8 upward plus hail. Natural hazards like heavy rain or flooding require separate natural-hazard coverage (Elementarschadenversicherung), which isn't automatically included.
As a rule of thumb for adequate coverage, Verbraucherzentrale cites around €650 per square meter of living space. For a 40-square-meter first apartment, that's roughly €26,000 in coverage to fully insure your belongings in the event of a claim.
What landlords can actually require
A landlord can't validly require contents or liability insurance in the lease. They can, however, hold you financially responsible for damage that occurs during your tenancy, regardless of whether you're insured. If you move in without coverage, you carry that risk entirely on your own.
A practical order of steps for first-time renters
Check whether you're already covered under a parent's personal liability policy (common for students and trainees, usually until the end of your first qualification).
If not, take out your own personal liability policy with at least €500,000 in coverage for damage to rented property.
Roughly estimate the value of your belongings and compare it against the €650-per-square-meter rule of thumb to decide whether contents insurance is worth it.
Our first apartment cost guide covers the other one-time costs, like the deposit, that come due around the same time as this decision.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need liability insurance as a tenant?
No, it isn't legally required. Lease clauses that try to make it mandatory are unenforceable.
How much coverage should a tenant's liability policy have?
Verbraucherzentrale recommends at least €500,000 for damage to rented rooms and buildings.
What damage does contents insurance cover?
Typically fire, lightning, explosion, water damage, burglary, vandalism following a break-in, and storm and hail. Natural hazards like flooding usually aren't automatically included.
How much contents insurance coverage should I get?
As a rule of thumb, Verbraucherzentrale cites around €650 per square meter of living space. See our Warmmiete calculator for how to size up your overall monthly budget alongside a decision like this.
