• Home
  • Insurances

  • Legal Insurance in Germany: Cover, Costs, English Providers

Transparency

What legal insurance pays for, and who sells it in English

Being in the right and getting your rights are two different things: whoever contests a dismissal, a withheld deposit or a fine in Germany first pays a lawyer and, in court, the fees of the court and possibly of the other side. Legal insurance carries those costs in the modules you have insured, after a waiting period and once the insurer has confirmed cover. The guide explains the modules for private life, work, traffic and housing, the waiting periods and exclusions, the model terms behind every German policy, and what Feather and Getsafe, the two providers selling in English, publish about plans, deductibles and limits.
Written by
Janine El-Saghir
Reviewed by
Erkan Boga
Edited by
Sadie Voss

Advertising notice: provider links in this overview are affiliate links — we receive a commission from the provider for sign-ups made through them.

The four policies our product database lists for Germany, with the monthly starting price on each card. Feather and Getsafe run their applications and claims in English; ARAG and KS/AUXILIA sell in German.

Legal insurance in Germany: at a glance
  • What it does: legal insurance (Rechtsschutzversicherung) pays your lawyer, the court and, if you lose, the other side’s costs in the areas of law you have insured, up to the sum in your policy and after a waiting period.
  • How it is built: as modules for private life, work, traffic and housing; the industry model terms (ARB 2021) set a three-month waiting period for most modules, with exceptions.
  • Who sells it in English: Feather (a licensed insurance agent, policies underwritten by ROLAND Rechtsschutz) and Getsafe (a licensed intermediary working with Allianz, ROLAND, ARAG and DEURAG). ARAG and KS/AUXILIA appear in the comparison as German insurers.
  • What no policy covers: disputes that started before the policy or in the waiting period, immigration and visa matters at Feather, main-occupation self-employment, and defending a claim that someone brings against you (that is what liability insurance is for).
  • Cost: Getsafe starts at €15.12 a month for its modular policy; Feather publishes no base price on its product page, only the partner add-on at about €10 (provider websites, as of 24 September 2026).

Being in the right and getting your rights are two different things in Germany. Whoever wants to contest a dismissal, a withheld deposit or a fine first has to pay a lawyer and, if it goes to court, the court fees, and if the case is lost, the other side’s lawyer as well. Legal insurance carries those costs in the areas of law you have insured. Just under half of all households in Germany hold such a policy, according to the German Insurance Association’s evaluation of the 2023 household survey of the Federal Statistical Office (as of 30 March 2026).

What Is Legal Insurance in Germany
Photo: iStock.com/AmnajKhetsamtip

Lawyers’ and court fees in Germany follow statutory scales (RVG and GKG) that rise with the amount in dispute and with every further instance, so even a modest contract dispute costs a four-figure sum once it reaches court. Getsafe’s own example puts a simple case at about €500 in lawyer’s fees. Legal insurance pays these costs after it has confirmed cover for the case, and most policies add a telephone consultation with a lawyer that does not count as a claim.

Legal insurance in Germany is based on a modular structure. Insurers offer policies for different areas of law. Common legal insurance types are policies for private law, traffic law, professional law, and housing/real estate law. Court costs and lawyers’ fees are covered up to the sum insured, agreed in the contract. With the contract, you also require legal assistance provided by the insurance company.

These areas of law can be insured by legal insurance in Germany:

  • Private law
  • Traffic law
  • Employment/profession law
  • Housing/real estate law
  • Tax and administrative law, social law (as part of private law policy)
  • Criminal law (as part of private lay policy)

Legal insurances offer combined policies that cover several areas of law — for example private, professional, and traffic. Such a combined policy is always worthwhile if there are risks in all the covered areas. Otherwise, individual policies for relevant areas of law are the better and cheaper solution.

The combination of private law, professional law, and traffic law is the most frequently requested solution.

In their statistics, legal insurance companies list the most frequent claim categories:

  • Private Contracts: Sales contracts, travel contracts (private law), rental contracts (real estate and tenancy law)
  • Traffic: fines, driving license revocation, hit-and-run and dangerous bodily injury in road traffic
  • Compensation for damages/compensation for pain and suffering: for example, after accidents (private law or traffic law), animal bites or medical malpractice
  • Professional claims: Warning letters, dismissal, disputed references
  • Real estate and housing: Neighborhood disputes, utility bills, rent increases

In some cases, the specific claims must be insured under different policies — private protection policies do not cover rental, professional, or traffic topics.

The policies can be taken out for singles or for families/households. Singles can usually expect slightly cheaper rates compared to family policies.

Insurers structure their family tariffs differently. There are single tariffs and offers for a family/a household. If you choose a family insurance policy, the policy also covers unmarried adult children who no longer live at home and absolve their initial professional training or study.

If you decide on a family tariff, you should check exactly which group of people is insured before taking out the policy.

  • Legal fees
  • Court costs
  • Costs for experts and witnesses
  • For cases abroad: additional costs such as translation and travel to a foreign court, within the foreign-cover section of the policy
  • If necessary, an interest-free loan for criminal bail
  • The opponent’s costs if the court orders you to pay them

Legal insurance in Germany should meet the following minimum requirements:

Sufficient coverage

The sum insured is the ceiling per case, and payments to co-insured family members count towards the same ceiling. The industry model terms name no minimum; what providers write differs: Getsafe states unlimited cover for cases in Germany, Feather covers cases outside Germany up to €250,000 (Basic) or €500,000 (Advanced) (provider websites, as of 24 September 2026).

International scope

Legal insurance covers cases in Germany first; cover abroad is a separate part of the policy with its own, lower limits and time limits for stays abroad. If you travel or work across borders, compare the worldwide limit and the length of stay the policy allows before you sign.

Family and inheritance law

A private law policy should include a clause on legal advice cover in family and inheritance law. The costs of court proceedings in this area of law are principally not covered.

Bail bonds

Under the model terms the insurer advances a criminal bail abroad as an interest-free loan up to the amount agreed in the policy; the amount is worth checking if you travel a lot.

Mediation

A good tariff in Germany also covers costs for out-of-court mediation up to contractually agreed maximum amounts. Many disputes are resolved before reaching court. Mediation can help both parties find a solution more quickly and avoid lengthy legal proceedings. For expats, English-speaking legal support offered by some insurers can be an additional advantage.

Other criteria for choosing a legal insurance

  • Short waiting periods: the industry model terms set a waiting period of three months for most modules and exempt, among others, claims for damages, criminal and administrative-offence matters, victim protection and consultations in family and inheritance law. Providers deviate from this in both directions: Feather’s Basic plan waits six months for contract, employment, administrative and housing matters and one year for family and inheritance law, while its Advanced plan waits three months or not at all; Getsafe describes its waiting period only as short. A dispute whose cause lies before the end of the waiting period is never covered.
  • How far back cover reaches: the model terms decide by the first breach of the law, which may lie years before the dispute. Look for the clause that ignores breaches more than one year before the policy started; without it, an old cause can void a new claim.
  • What happens when the insurer says no: an insurer may refuse cover for lack of prospects of success or because the case is wilful. You can then demand an expert procedure under § 128 of the Insurance Contract Act, usually a lawyer’s binding assessment; the insurer bears its cost if the assessment goes against it, and in the casting-vote variant the insurer bears it in any case.
  • Free access to lawyer hotline of the company: Most insurers provide assistance in legal cases also by phone. A good tariff offers also new customers free access to these lawyer hotlines and does not rate such consulting as a claim.

Insurance cover confirmation — for every insurance case

Before you start a legal claim, you need a confirmation of cover from your insurer for every insurance case. You must therefore inform your insurer in advance and can only take legal action once you have received confirmation that the costs will be covered.

In more complicated cases, it may make sense to commission your lawyer to clarify the cost assumption with the insurance company, as he can better explain the prospects of success of a claim.

If the reimbursement of costs is refused by the insurer, an objection can be lodged. The final decision is then made by an arbitration report, a casting vote, or the involvement of an ombudsman as an independent arbitrator.

Private legal insurance, traffic legal insurance, professional legal insurance and home rental legal insurance are the relevant areas of legal insurance. What your legal insurance covers depends on the risks insured in the policy.

This insurance covers a broad spectrum of private legal cases. A policy for private law is usually combined with other components such as professional, traffic, and home rental insurance.

Covered by private legal insurance are these areas of law:

Contract law

Contracts under private law are often the cause of legal disputes. These can be sales contracts, service contracts, travel, or insurance contracts. Contract law also includes warranty claims for products or services.

Claims for damages

Legal protection insurance only covers claims for damages against third parties resulting from statutory liability provisions. This includes claims for damages or compensation for pain and suffering in the event of personal injury, property damage and monetary loss. However, legal insurance does not cover claims for damages against the insured person.

Tax and administrative law, social law

Tax and administrative legal insurance covers claims before a German administrative court or tax court.

In the case of legal issues relating to tax office, legal insurance in Germany reimburses the costs of court proceedings, but does not cover the costs of tax advice or legal representation in appeal proceedings. In administrative and social law disputes, the costs of appeal proceedings are reimbursed.

Legal advice covers in family and inheritance law

Legal advice insurance in family and inheritance law only covers legal support in disputes relating to maintenance, custody, and adoption as well as inheritance disputes. The reimbursement of court costs is excluded.

For good cover in this area, you should choose a tariff that not only covers the costs of legal advice in such disputes, but also other costs — such as for the preparation of documents by your lawyer. Furthermore, out-of-court mediation should be included.

Criminal legal insurance

Criminal legal protection insurance applies to misdemeanors and criminal offenses committed through negligence — also except for traffic offenses, which fall under traffic legal insurance. It does not cover intentional crimes. If an intentional act is assumed, legal insurance only pays out after an acquittal or court confirmation of negligence.

Some insurers offer an additional module for extended criminal legal protection, which also applies to accusations of intentional offenses. In the event of a guilty verdict, any costs already reimbursed must be paid back to the legal insurances.

Traffic cases are not covered by private legal insurance but require a traffic legal protection. A good traffic policy must cover all legal areas relevant to traffic law:

  • Contract law: lawyer’s fees, court costs and expert witness fees for your claims for damages or compensation for pain and suffering
  • Criminal law: costs for legal cases in the event of claims for hit-and-run accidents, negligent bodily injury in an accident or insulting other road users
  • Contract and property law: legal cases when buying a new or used vehicle
  • Tax law: protection in disputes with the tax office relating to vehicle tax (except for representation by a lawyer regarding the tax authorities)
  • Administrative law: legal expenses for disputes with authorities, for example due to driving license revocation or disputable penalties and fines

A legal insurance for private law does not cover employment issues. Therefore, employees should take out professional legal insurance, which covers all legal cases related to employment for example, disputes about salary and vacation entitlements, references, warnings, and dismissals.

In the first instance of a labour court case each side pays its own lawyer even if it wins (§ 12a of the Labour Court Act); the court fee is waived if the case ends in a settlement without a contested hearing. That is why employment cover matters: the insurer pays your lawyer, which nobody else will reimburse.

Self-employed individuals and freelancers require different professional protection than employees.

Housing cover is usually sold as a module alongside private cover; a few insurers also sell it on its own.

Rates for this legal insurance cover all landlord disputes — for example, about rent increases, service charge invoices, termination of tenancy agreements or eviction proceedings.

Homeowners and landlords need home legal protection tariffs according to their needs.

The policies cover only legal costs for law areas and such cases, which are explicitly insured. Conflicts that existed before the start of the legal insurance contract you will have to pay from your own pocket — however there are exceptions, when such older cases become legally relevant only during the term of the contract.

In addition, most modules carry a waiting period, three months under the model terms and up to a year for some areas at some providers; claims for damages, criminal and administrative-offence matters and victim protection are usually exempt.

Principally non-insurable cases are:

  • Defending claims for damages that others bring against you: that is the job of liability insurance, unless the claim rests on a breach of contract
  • Disputes concerning gambling and betting contracts or speculative investments
  • Intentional crimes
  • Disputes between people who are jointly insured under a family contract
  • Court proceedings in family and inheritance law — only a lawyer’s advice is covered there
  • Building and construction projects, and disputes about speculative investments

The conditions and therefore also the costs of policies differ between the individual providers. You should therefore compare different offers or seek advice from an independent insurance expert before taking out a policy.

In principle, the premium amount depends on your age, your place of residency, the included areas of law, the conditions of the tariff and the amount of excess/deductible.

Two prices are published by the English-language providers: Getsafe’s modular policy starts at €15.12 a month, and Feather adds a partner for about €10 a month on top of a base price it does not publish on the product page (provider websites, as of 24 September 2026). The cards in the comparison above show the current starting prices of all four policies. A deductible of €150 to €300 per case is common and lowers the premium; Feather’s is fixed at €150 for claims you submit through your account before hiring a lawyer and €300 if you hire one without pre-approval, and the first in-person consultation up to €250 is free of it.

Whether the premium is worth it depends on how likely a dispute is in the modules you insure: a tenant in a large city, an employee in probation or a commuter faces different risks from a retiree who owns their flat. One contested dismissal or one eviction case costs more than several years of premiums; a policy you never use costs its premium.

For most expats the deciding criterion is not the premium but the language: which provider sells, explains and settles claims in English. Two do. Feather and Getsafe are both licensed intermediaries, not insurers; the risk carrier is a German legal insurer named in the policy. Both sell online in a few minutes, and the underlying policy terms are in German.

Feather is the brand of Popsure Deutschland GmbH, a Berlin-based insurance agent licensed under § 34d of the German Trade Regulation Act. Its legal insurance is underwritten by ROLAND Rechtsschutz, which decides claims; Feather runs the English application, account and support and will contact ROLAND on your behalf if you ask.

Two plans are sold, Basic and Advanced, covering private, employment, traffic and housing matters. Cases outside Germany are covered up to €250,000 (Basic) or €500,000 (Advanced). The plans differ mainly in waiting periods and in the extras: Basic waits six months for contract, employment, administrative and housing disputes and one year for family and inheritance law; Advanced waits three months for employment, administrative and housing matters, nothing for private contracts, and one year for family and inheritance law. Traffic, criminal and social-law matters have no waiting period in either plan. Advanced also covers disputes from a secondary self-employment up to €22,000 of income a year, inheritance disputes up to €5,000 per case and building disputes up to €5,000.

Not covered in either plan: immigration, visa and residence-permit matters, preventive contract reviews, and self-employment as a main occupation. A spouse or partner living at your address can be added for about €10 a month; children under 18 and children without permanent employment are included.

For policies bought since 18 December 2024 the deductible is fixed: €150 if you submit the claim through your Feather account before hiring a lawyer, €300 if you hire a lawyer without pre-approval; the first in-person consultation up to €250 carries no deductible. Feather publishes no base price on its product page; the card below shows the price from our product database.

Advertising notice: provider links in this overview are affiliate links — we receive a commission from the provider for sign-ups made through them.

Getsafe Digital GmbH in Heidelberg sells and manages the policy as a licensed intermediary; the legal insurers behind it are Allianz, ROLAND, ARAG and DEURAG, and the one named in your documents is your contractual partner. Getsafe gave up its own insurer licence in October 2025, which changed the name on some policy documents but not the app or the English service.

The policy is modular: private, work, housing and traffic cover are combined to fit the customer, after a free 15-minute consultation that Getsafe offers before you buy. Cover is unlimited for cases in Germany; for cases abroad, limits may apply. Getsafe describes the waiting period only as short and explains the exact period per module during the consultation; disputes that started earlier are excluded. Claims and consultations are handled in the app.

The policy starts at €15.12 a month; the price depends on the modules you choose and is quoted individually. Getsafe’s own examples of case costs, such as about €2,000 for a dismissal without notice or €1,200 for a withheld deposit, show the order of magnitude a single dispute can reach (provider website, as of 24 September 2026).

Advertising notice: provider links in this overview are affiliate links — we receive a commission from the provider for sign-ups made through them.

You can apply for legal insurance either through an insurance broker or directly with an insurance company. An online application is almost always possible.

Before concluding the contract, you will have to answer questions about claims relevant to legal insurance in the past five years. You must answer these questions truthfully — if not, the company may later refuse to pay.

Conclusion — is legal insurance worth it?

Whether it makes sense for you to purchase legal insurance depends on your private life. Before you decide on a policy, you should clarify for yourself in which areas you can expect a legal dispute and how likely it is that such a dispute will occur. The next step is to determine which components your legal insurance should contain.

Legal insurance enables you to fight for your rights without financial restrictions. However, it is only worthwhile for legal areas in which you expect relevant risks.

Frequently asked Questions

As an alternative to legal insurance, you can take advantage of various forms of legal advice that focus on specific areas of law. For example, tenants’ associations or automobile clubs also offer their members free professional advice on legal topics. Fee-based advice from a lawyer is also affordable. For more comprehensive cover in legal matters, however, you will need legal insurance.

Most legal insurances allow a free choice of lawyer. However, if you contractually accept that you will be represented in a legal case by a partner lawyer of your insurance company, this usually results in premium advantages.

The notice periods for your legal insurance are part of your insurance contract. Cancellation must be made in writing; some legal insurance providers also allow cancellation by e-mail.

There is an extraordinary right of termination if the insurance company increases the premiums without extending the scope of the policy.

Yes, legal insurance providers are entitled to special termination if you wish to be reimbursed for two or more legal issues per year.

A regular termination by the insurer can be done at the end of the contact term.

After termination by the insurance company, you may have difficulties concluding a legal insurance contract with another company. You should therefore ask the previous insurer to withdraw the termination so that you can initiate a regular termination yourself.

Sources and legal basis (as of 24 September 2026)

Statutes (Federal Ministry of Justice, gesetze-im-internet.de): § 127 VVG (free choice of lawyer), § 128 VVG (expert procedure after a refusal of cover), § 129 VVG (semi-mandatory rules), § 12a ArbGG (costs in the first instance of labour court proceedings).

Industry model terms and statistics: GDV general conditions for legal insurance (ARB 2021), June 2025 edition; GDV Insurance Flash 2026/01, insurance cover in Germany (evaluation of the 2023 household survey of the Federal Statistical Office, editorial deadline 30 March 2026).

Providers (read on 24 September 2026 unless stated): Feather, legal insurance; Feather help centre: differences between the Basic and Advanced plans (11 June 2026), waiting periods (11 June 2026), deductibles (6 August 2026), the roles of Feather and ROLAND Rechtsschutz (9 June 2026); Getsafe, legal protection insurance; Feather, licensing information 2026.

Supervisory notices (Federal Financial Supervisory Authority, BaFin): transfer of the Getsafe Insurance AG portfolio to andsafe AG, effective 10 November 2025; withdrawal of the Getsafe Insurance AG licence, order of 29 October 2025.

Court costs in Europe: European e-Justice Portal, costs of proceedings in Germany.

Prices and card details in the comparison come from our own product database and are refreshed automatically; the text states the providers’ starting prices as published on the date given.

Share
About the authors
Janine El-Saghir Janine El Saghir is an editor at How-to-Germany.com, where she specializes in the practical aspects of daily life and integration for expatriates. With years of...
Erkan Boga Erkan Boga is the founder and CEO of qmedia GmbH, the publishing house behind How-to-Germany.com. He established the platform with the clear vision of creating... Read more
Sadie Voss Content Lead & Editor Sadie Voss is the Lead Editor for How-to-Germany.com. As an expat who carved her own way into Berlin from the United States, Sadie is deeply... Read more