DA Direkt Home Insurance: Understand and Optimize Comprehensive Protection for Your Home
20 Apr 2025
5
Minutes
Katrin Straub
CEO at nextsure
Water damage ruins your new kitchen, a burglary leaves empty rooms – the financial nightmare. A comprehensive home insurance policy, like DA Direkt Hausratversicherung, covers these costs. Learn how to optimise your protection.
The topic in brief and concise terms
Home contents insurance protects your personal belongings against damage caused by fire, tap water, storms, hail, burglary, and other hazards, with reimbursement of the replacement value.
Ensure a correct insurance amount and a waiver of underinsurance to avoid financial disadvantages in case of damage.
Check whether gross negligence is covered in your policy and regularly adjust your insurance coverage to reflect changes in your life circumstances.
Understanding the Basics of Household Insurance: What is Covered?
A home contents insurance policy protects all your movable possessions within your four walls. This includes furnishings like furniture and carpets, everyday items like electronic devices and clothing, as well as consumables like groceries. The insurance typically covers damage caused by fire, water, storms of force seven or eight, hail, burglary, robbery, and vandalism following a break-in. Damage from overvoltage due to lightning strikes is also often included. Valuables like cash and jewellery are frequently covered up to a certain limit, such as thirty percent of the insured sum. The DA Direkt home contents insurance offers various tariff options here. This protection is essential, as statistically a burglary occurs in Germany every 150 seconds. Knowing these basics helps to better assess your own needs.
Scope of services in detail: Replacement at new value and additional cost coverages
In the event of a loss, a good home contents insurance policy reimburses the replacement value of damaged or stolen items. This means you receive the amount necessary to purchase equivalent new items. In addition to the pure material damage, other costs can be covered, such as hotel expenses if the flat is temporarily uninhabitable after a loss—often up to two promille of the insurance sum per day. Clean-up and repair costs, such as for a broken door following a burglary, are also usually covered. Many policies reimburse the replacement value up to the agreed insurance sum. It is important to know the exact terms and compensation limits of your policy to avoid being underinsured in the event of an emergency. The home contents insurance from nextsure could be an option here. Therefore, a careful review of the insurance sum is a crucial step.
Determine the correct insurance amount and avoid underinsurance
Accurate determination of the sum insured is crucial to avoid underinsurance. If the sum insured is less than the actual value of the household contents, the insurer may reduce the benefits proportionally in the event of a claim. For example, if the household contents are valued at €50,000, but the sum insured is only €25,000, only half, or €5,000, would be reimbursed in the event of a €10,000 claim. Many insurers offer a flat-rate calculation method, often €650 per square metre of living space, to prevent underinsurance. A waiver of underinsurance in the contract is highly recommended. This means the insurer waives the examination of possible underinsurance and provides coverage up to the agreed sum. This greatly simplifies the process. Regularly check whether your sum insured is still up to date, especially after major purchases. The question, what household insurance includes, is closely linked to the correct sum. This ensures that your protection is always sufficient.
Underinsurance Waiver: An Important Component for Full Protection
The waiver of underinsurance is a clause in the insurance contract that can save you a lot of hassle in the event of a claim. If this waiver is agreed upon, the insurance does not check whether the actual value of your household contents exceeds the insured sum. You will then receive compensation for the loss up to the agreed insured sum, without having to fear any deductions. This offers significant advantages: no financial loss due to proportionate deductions and faster, more straightforward claims processing. A prerequisite is often that the insured sum is calculated based on the square metre flat rate (e.g. 650 euros/sqm) and that the living area is correctly indicated. Some insurers include the waiver of underinsurance as standard if a minimum insured sum per square metre is chosen. It is worth paying attention to this point when taking out a household insurance policy, which can be tax deductible. Thus, the question of the correct insured sum is less critical in detail.
Gross negligence: When does the insurance still pay out?
Gross negligence occurs when the required care in traffic is violated in a particularly severe manner. Examples of this include an unattended burning candle or a tilted window on the ground floor during a long absence. Not every household insurance policy provides full coverage for damages caused by gross negligence. However, many modern tariffs, often found with DA Direkt household insurance, include the so-called 'waiver of gross negligence objection'. This means the insurer does not reduce the compensation or only up to a certain amount, even if the damage was caused by gross negligence. It is highly recommended to choose a tariff that provides coverage even in cases of gross negligence. When concluding a contract, check whether and up to what amount gross negligence is included. This is an important aspect to avoid being left with high costs in the event of an incident, especially when it comes to the difference between building and household insurance. Knowing current case law can be helpful in this respect.
Expert Depth: Current rulings and relevant paragraphs (VVG)
In insurance law, there are constantly new rulings that can be relevant for policyholders. For example, the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) has ruled that policyholders must be granted evidential relief when proving a burglary, as the exact sequence of events often cannot be reconstructed. Courts may assess a slightly open ground floor window differently; the Higher Regional Court of Braunschweig did not necessarily view it as gross negligence (File No. 2 U 221/92), while other judgments may be stricter. The Insurance Contract Act (VVG) forms the legal framework. Important sections include §§ 23-27 VVG regarding increased risk or § 40 VVG regarding the right to terminate in case of premium increases. Our expert tip: Familiarise yourself with your rights and obligations under the VVG, especially § 28 VVG regarding the breach of a contractual duty. If there is any uncertainty regarding gross negligence in household insurance, legal advice is advisable. Contract terms should always be carefully reviewed.
Here are some important aspects regulated by the VVG:
Disclosure obligations of the policyholder before concluding the contract (§ 19 VVG).
Consequences of an increased risk during the term of the contract (§§ 23 ff. VVG).
Obligations in the event of a claim, such as immediate reporting of damage (§ 30 VVG).
Regulations on premium payment and consequences of payment default.
Termination rights for both contracting parties (§ 11 VVG).
These legal framework conditions are crucial for the relationship between insurer and insured.
Additional Modules: Tailored Protection as Needed
The basic coverage of a household insurance policy already covers many risks, but often an individual extension is advisable. A frequently chosen additional component is the bicycle insurance, which covers theft even outside your own four walls, often around the clock and worldwide. For households with many glass surfaces, a separate glass insurance for household goods or residential buildings can be sensible, which also includes ceramic hobs or conservatories, for example. Another important component is protection against natural hazards such as flooding, backwater, earthquakes or avalanches, which are not contained as standard. Assess your individual needs and expand your protection selectively. The DA Direkt household insurance often offers flexible options for this. Protection against key loss through household insurance can also be a useful addition. In this way, you create a truly tailored insurance cover.
Typical optional additional services include:
Bicycle theft outside the insured location.
Glass breakage for furniture and building glazing.
Insurance against natural hazards (e.g. flooding, heavy rain).
Protection for valuables beyond standard limits.
Coverage of luggage.
Protection against simple theft (not burglary).
These extensions allow for adaptation to specific life circumstances and risks.
Claim: Correct behaviour secures your rights
Optimize your protection: Regular review and adjustment
More useful links
The German Insurance Association (GDV) provides statistics on the development of claims in household insurance.
Further information on lightning damage in household insurance can be found at the German Insurance Association (GDV).
A comprehensive overview of household insurance is offered by the Wikipedia article on this subject.
The German Weather Service (DWD) provides information about CATRaRE, a system for evaluating and reporting disaster risks.
The Association for the Promotion of German Fire Protection (vfdb) provides information and statistics on fire protection.
FAQ
What exactly is covered in the DA Direkt home insurance?
The DA Direkt home contents insurance protects all your household contents, meaning all movable items in your flat or house, against risks such as fire, water damage, storm/hail, and burglary. This includes furniture, electrical appliances, clothing, and valuables up to certain limits.
What does new for old mean in household insurance?
Replacement cost means that in the event of a claim, you will be reimbursed the amount you need to replace the items with equivalent new ones.
What is an underinsurance waiver and why is it important?
With a waiver of underinsurance, the insurer will not check whether your household items were underinsured in the event of a claim. You will then receive full compensation up to the agreed sum insured, preventing any financial deductions.
Does the DA Direkt home contents insurance also cover gross negligence?
Many policies of DA Direkt home contents insurance include coverage for gross negligence, at least up to a certain damage amount or even unlimited. It is important to check this in the terms and conditions.
What additional benefits are useful in DA Direkt's home contents insurance?
Valuable additional services can include bicycle insurance, glass insurance, or protection against elemental damage (such as flooding), depending on your individual needs and risks.
How should I behave correctly in the event of a claim?
Immediately report the damage to your insurance company, document everything (photos, list), file a police report in case of theft, and avoid altering the damage site until the insurer has given approval.
