Tenant Legal Protection Insurance in Germany [2025 Guide]

Key takeaways

• Tenant legal protection insurance covers the costs of legal disputes related to the rental property you live in.
• Tenant legal insurance has a waiting period of 3 months. It doesn’t cover the disputes that arise during the waiting period.
• Legal insurance costs between 176 € and 330 € per annum.
• Tenants’ associations offer all the out-of-court services at a very low membership fee. Hence, taking a tenants’ association membership is advisable.

This is how you do it

• If you are unhappy with your landlord or the neighbors, get a legal protection insurance policy as soon as possible.
• You should consider getting employment legal insurance to support you in such situations. In our comparison and test, we found the legal insurance plans of Arag*, KS-Auxilia*, and WVG the best.
• Get a tenants’ association membership for immediate support without a waiting period.
• Get support from a lawyer. We have partnered with several English-speaking lawyers who can support you with different legal situations. Some of the lawyers even offer free initial consultation. You can book a call with the lawyers here.

Table of Contents

What is tenant legal protection insurance (Mietrechtsschutz)?

Tenant legal protection insurance is a type of legal insurance in Germany (Rechtsschutzversicherung). It covers the legal costs incurred during a legal dispute.

The legal dispute must be related to the rental property you live in. It can be with your landlord, neighbor, municipal authorities, etc.

NOTE: Legal protection insurance for tenants can only be taken out in conjunction with the private legal protection module.

Is tenant legal insurance worth it in Germany?

Yes, tenant legal insurance is worth it. Not only does it cover your legal expenses, but it also offers legal advice for free.

Hiring a lawyer is not cheap in Germany. The minimum initial consultation fee of a lawyer is 190 € plus VAT.

If the dispute goes to court, the legal costs could be thousands of euros. Moreover, you must pay the opponent’s legal fees if you lose.

Legal insurance covers the legal costs even if you lose. Hence, having legal insurance is highly recommended.

Here are some statistics

• As of 2022, 23.4 million legal protection insurance contracts exist in Germany [1]. So, around 25% of the German population has a legal insurance policy.
• There are 850k advice cases with the tenants’ associations (Mieterverein in German).

Often, expats don’t hire a lawyer because they lack legal insurance, and lawyers might be more expensive than the dispute amount.

However, here are a few things you should know.

• If you are right and win the case, your landlord pays the lawyers and court fees. In other words, you get back the lawyer fees after winning the case.
• A single letter from the lawyer is usually enough to get things done.

Best tenant legal insurance in Germany

In our comparison and test, we found that KS-Auxilia*—Jurprivat, Arag*—Aktiv-Premium, and WGV—Optimal PBV are the best legal insurance plans.

Unfortunately, no legal insurance provider in Germany offers services in English. Insurance agents like Feather* and Getsafe* offer basic English support. However, when you need legal advice, you must contact the insurance company, which only offers advice in German.

Feather and Getsafe sell Roland’s legal insurance plans.

NOTE: Top rating agencies in Germany rated Arag—Aktiv-Premium, WGV—Optimal PBV, and KS / Auxilia—Jurprivat as the best legal insurance plans in Germany (as of Jan 2025).

What does tenancy legal insurance cover in Germany?

Here are some practical examples where tenant legal insurance can help.

• The landlord increased the rent.
• The utility bill contains amounts that you don’t understand.
• The landlord terminates the rental agreement suddenly.
• The rental property has defects like mold, broken heating, etc. So, you want a rent reduction till it’s fixed.
• The landlord is not returning the security deposit.
• Dispute with municipal authorities over garbage disposal.

Here are the legal costs legal protection insurance covers.

• Tenancy law advice: in person and on the phone.
• Free document checks like rental agreements, utility bills, etc.
• Mediation, if agreed
• Lawyer’s fee
• Court costs such as witness fees, bailiff costs, and costs for experts and appraisers
• Costs for arbitration or conciliation proceedings (up to the first instance)
• Costs of the other party, if necessary.

You must pay the deductible if your contract has one. And the insurance provider will cover the rest.

You must get a written confirmation of coverage from your insurance company before hiring a lawyer. The letter confirms that the insurance company will cover the costs of the legal dispute.

What is not insured under tenant legal protection insurance?

• Disputes arose before the tenant’s legal insurance was concluded is not covered.
• Disputes during the waiting period are not covered. Tenancy legal insurance usually has a 3-month waiting period.
• Legal insurance companies may refuse to pay if the chances of winning the case are slim. The insurer can even refuse to pay if they think you are filing a case out of personal vendetta.

So, to avoid any conflicts with the insurer regarding coverage, always get a written confirmation of coverage before hiring a lawyer.

How much does tenancy legal insurance cost in Germany?

You can get tenancy legal insurance as part of the private legal insurance only. The cost of the tenant legal protection insurance depends on

• Number of people insured – single, couple, or family.
• Your occupation
• Whether you have or had a legal insurance policy.

Here is the cost of tenant legal insurance in different scenarios.

	Single	Couples or Families with kids
Employee (€ per annum)	250 € to 500 €	265 € to 580 €
Self-employed (€ per annum)	265 € to 520 €	265 € to 600 €
Student (€ per annum)	265 € to 500 €	265 € to 580 €

You can choose a higher deductible to lower your insurance premium. A deductible is the amount you must pay out of your pocket, and the insurer will cover the rest.

There is a 3-month waiting period. During this period, the insurer will not cover the costs of disputes that arise.

However, some insurance providers offer coverage without a waiting period. You can get such legal insurance policies for the tenant law only. You don’t need to take the private legal protection component.

However, such tenant legal insurance tariffs are expensive (300 € to 650 € per annum), and you have to agree to a three-year term.

What should a good tenant legal insurance cover?

A good legal insurance for tenancy law should cover the following.

• Consultation with a lawyer on the telephone should not be relevant to contract termination.
• Lawyers’ and court fees
• Cover the mediation costs
• If you have a second home, that should also be insured.
• Subsequent event theory (cause before the start of insurance).

In addition, the tariff in the area of ​​private law should meet certain criteria. We have explained it in detail in the legal protection insurance guide.

Subsequent event theory (Folgeereignistheorie) 

Legal protection insurance generally offers protection for future conflicts. However, the occurrence and cause of damage can occur at different times. 

It may occur that the damage happened after you took the insurance. But the cause for the damage happened before you took the insurance.

In this case, legal insurance companies don’t cover the costs. However, if your legal insurance contract has a “subsequent event theory” clause, your insurer will also cover such disputes. 

For example: You got injured in a train accident. You had the legal insurance when the accident occurred. However, the cause of the accident is identified as a production error.

The production error occurred before you took the legal insurance. In this case, the legal costs are covered if your contract has a “subsequent event theory” clause. 

Thus, ensure your legal protection insurance policy has a “subsequent event theory” clause.

Tenant Protection Association (Mieterverein)

There are several tenants’ associations in Germany. Tenant associations offer all the out-of-services that legal insurance provides at a very low cost.

You can become a member of any local tenants’ association. And get immediate support with your problem. 

Here are the benefits of a tenants’ association.

• No waiting period. Some tenants’s associations in Berlin have a three-month waiting period.
• Low cost between 80€ and 150€ per annum.
• All out-of-court services for free. For example, send a letter on your behalf, get legal advice on the phone, etc.
• You can connect with other members and exchange information.
• The tenants’ association also offers several member-only products like discounted legal insurance, monthly magazines, etc. 

References

• https://www.deurag.de/vertriebspartner/digital-content/folgeereignistheorie/
• https://www.devk.de/produkte/rechtsschutz/wohnungsrechtsschutz/mietrechtsschutz.jsp
• https://www.check24.de/rechtsschutzversicherung/mietrechtsschutz/
• https://www.verivox.de/rechtsschutzversicherung/mietrechtsschutz/
• https://www.finanztip.de/rechtsschutzversicherung/mietrechtsschutz/