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The one to have, and the ones you can skip
Germany has a reputation for being over-insured and it is partly deserved, so it is worth separating the cover that matters from the cover that is sold to you. die Privathaftpflicht is the one. It is not legally required, but German law makes you liable for damage you cause without limit, and that liability is not capped by what you can pay — it can follow you for years. The classic examples are small and expensive: a spilled drink on someone's laptop, a bicycle hitting a parked car, water escaping into the flat below. It costs a few euros a month for cover in the millions, which is why the premium difference between five and ten million is, as the adviser says, negligible. Take the higher one. Two things to check in the policy. Whether it covers Mietsachschäden, damage to the flat you rent, because a scratched parquet floor is exactly the kind of claim a tenant makes. And whether it includes Gefälligkeitsschäden, damage done while helping someone as a favour — carrying a friend's furniture, for instance, which is what lesson 73 had Jonas doing. What is genuinely compulsory is narrower: health insurance, which lesson 69 covered; motor third-party cover if you own a vehicle; and for some professions, specific indemnity. Everything else is optional, and several popular products are poor value for most people. Hausratversicherung, contents cover, is worth it if replacing everything would hurt. Berufsunfähigkeitsversicherung, cover against being unable to work, is the one financial advisers argue is most underrated and it is expensive. Rechtsschutz, legal expenses cover, is a matter of temperament. One practical note on buying. An insurance contract is a contract, so lesson 72's rules apply: a fourteen-day right of withdrawal on a distance sale, and a notice period to get out of it later. And der Makler, the broker, is paid by commission — which is not a reason to avoid one, but is a reason to ask Wovon leben Sie? before taking the recommendation as neutral.