Summary: When requesting an insurance plan, you might have encountered the terms insured sum or coverage sum. Depending on the plan, you may have even had the option to select the type of insured sum you’d like to have, such as life insurance or insurance for your home’s belongings. We’ll discuss different types of insured sums in this post, along with how to determine whether you’re over or underinsured.
An insured sum is the amount of coverage you have in any given insurance plan. Depending on which type of insurance you have, this is either a one-time sum (like a life insurance payout) or an annual sum (like a liability or household contents insurance plan).
This means that if you were to need to submit several liability insurance claims throughout the year that totaled more than your insured sum, you wouldn’t receive reimbursement for the amount over your insured sum. If this happens, it means that you’re underinsured and that you need additional coverage to fill in the gap.
Insured sum for health insurance
If you’re insured under public health insurance, you’ll only really need to watch out for medications and health aids when it comes to your insured sum. Depending on your doctor and why you were prescribed these medications or health aids, you’ll have more or less coverage. These are called Zusatzbeiträge, and we cover them in another article on public health insurance.
For private health insurance, the insured sum is set in a few more areas since you receive additional coverage not included in public health insurance for things like chiropractors, dental, and vision, among other things. These are set insured sums that are generally only able to be increased when switching from basic to premium coverage. To get a full list, you can contact us if you’re insured with our private health insurance, or you can contact your regular private health insurance provider for more information. Just know that these amounts change on an annual basis depending on several factors like inflation and the increase in the cost of procedures.
Since expat insurance is used for the interim period between arriving in Germany and determining whether to stay, or until you can obtain public or private health insurance, it has some insured sum limitations. For instance, the annual maximum for dental pain management is €1,000 (basic and premium), the maximum annual maximum for visual aids is €200 (premium), the maximum annual maximum for general dental check-ups and cleanings is €200 (premium), the maximum annual maximum for cancer screenings is €300 (premium), and the maximum monthly maximum for health-related apps is €5.
Insured sum for dental insurance
There are also different insured sums for dental insurance. If you have Feather’s dental insurance, you’ll be able to get an unlimited amount of cleanings per year (as long as the Steigerungsfaktor (severity factor) is 3.5 or less), but otherwise, you’ll need to watch out for other limitations.
Basic dental insurance
If you’re on our basic plan, there are limitations for the first few years of coverage before you have an unlimited insured sum.
| High-quality fillings | First year: €150 First two years: €300 After the third year: Unlimited |
| Root-canals | First year: €150 First two years: €300 After the third year: Unlimited |
| Mouthguards | First year: €150 First two years: €300 After the third year: Unlimited |
| Pain treatments (partially covered under public health insurance) | First year: €150 First two years: €300 After the third year: Unlimited |
Advanced dental insurance
The same is true for our advanced dental insurance coverage, but you have more coverage in general, so there are additional factors to take into account when making an appointment for certain treatments.
| Replacing teeth | Coverage of 90% with the following limitations: During the first year: €1,500 During the first two years: €3,000 During the first three years: €4,500 During the first four years: €6,000 After the fourth year: Unlimited |
| Teeth whitening | €200 every two years |
| Pain treatments | Unlimited |
| Mouthguards | Unlimited |
| Root canals | Unlimited |
| High-quality fillings | Unlimited |
| Cleanings | Unlimited |
Insured sum for liability insurance
Because of how many different things liability insurance covers, there is a general insured sum that is in your contract and differs for each individual who applies along with other smaller restrictions for specific situations:
Theft
- If the person is not known:
(must be an intentional criminal act filed with the police)
- Physical harm
(does not include mental health treatment) - €50,000
Liability related legal insurance
(Please see policy documents for exclusions)
- €150,000
Some self-employed/freelance activities
(See the full list of professions on the policy documents)
- €15,000 annually
Unintentional negligence
€20,000
Household contents insurance
Because your belongings are covered, and you can set the amount of their value, it means you’ll be able to choose the insured sum yourself. However, some things are restricted outside of the insured sum just like all other insurances.
| Basic | Extended | |
| Valuables inside of a safe | 20% | 30% |
| Damage from smoke and soot | x | 20% of the insured sum up to €10,000 |
| Theft from water and motorsports vehicles | x | €5,000 |
| Trick theft (through deception) | x | €5,000 |
| Rain, snow, hail through the window | x | €5,000 with a €500 co-pay |
| Items outside | 25% for 3 months max | 40% for 12 months max |
| Moving expenses | x | €5,000 |
| Additional coverage to upgrade items during an insured event to eco-friendly alternatives | x | €500 per appliance |
| Frozen goods damaged during an insured event | x | Until insured sum |
This is only a portion of what’s in the contract, too. That’s why you can see the full version of this coverage table on the quote screen of our household contents insurance.
Insured sum for life insurance
If you have financial dependents (a partner, children, family members, a business partner, or even a mortgage lender), then you’ll need to get a life insurance plan to support them in case something were to happen. While it isn’t the greatest thought, you would be providing them with financial security that would allow them to adjust to the new situation by going through a retraining program or by changing their lifestyle by moving to a smaller apartment, etc.
The life insurance sum is decided by you and can be raised on a yearly basis to accommodate additional dependents. If you’re thinking of getting an insured sum of more than €400,000, you’ll need to get a health check-up before your application is accepted.
Insured sum for occupational disability insurance
If you are no longer able to work in your particular field, occupational disability insurance will help you maintain your standard of living. Students and spouses who stay at home are also included in this. Since around 25% of all people may eventually have an occupational handicap, which will either prevent them from working in their area for a little period of time or permanently (consider having a stroke with a good chance of recovery vs. a big stroke), this is a problem.
The amount you believe you would require to maintain yourself in the event of an occupational incapacity is then your insured sum. In order to prevent being underinsured, it is crucial to include any dependents.