Mary Allen
As soon as your cat takes care of claims for damages, you are automatically responsible for liability in Germany. In a court of law, the only thing that matters is whether your pet is actually proven to be guilty. Even if you did not directly cause the misconduct of your animal friend and the breed is usually rather harmless, in an emergency, you will be left with no insurance at the expense. As a rule, however, even private liability is sufficient to protect you and your house cat from this risk. Better insurance contracts may be worth their weight in gold in rental homes and legal protection for numerous breeds.
Liability of the Cat Owner for All Damage Caused
If your cat causes harm, you as the owner are always liable for it. This applies regardless of whether you were there yourself and have direct responsibility for the behavior. In this way, your pet can ensure that unexpected demands come your way at any time on outings. The legislator not only stipulates the liability of the owner in the event of property damage. Health and physical damage also often lead to unpleasant bills that the owner of an animal receives. Any compensation for pain and suffering is sometimes even in the five-digit range.
Insofar as a hangover causes serious injuries and a person became incapacitated for a certain period of time, the person affected may also request compensation for the lost earnings. In an emergency, you might expect demands that far exceed your financial possibilities.
Private Liability Insurance Usually Pays for the Cat
With insurance, damage caused by your pet no longer has to cause you sleepless nights. It is generally unusual and also rather unnecessary to conclude a single contract for your four-legged friend. Because small and relatively harmless animals are almost without exception covered by private liability insurance. Nevertheless, you should of course take a detailed look at the conditions for the corresponding tariffs of insurance companies in order to be well prepared for claims for damages.
If you live with your cat in your own apartment, average insurance coverage is usually sufficient. All realistic risks for the owner are usually adequately covered with general liability. As long as rental damage and the associated liability are excluded in your four walls, at most an excellent household insurance would pay the bills for necessary repairs after a kitten’s misconduct.
Although you are generally liable for your pet, in practice it is extremely difficult for an injured party to prove the guilt of your house cat. Courts are in no way inclined to order a holder to pay damages on the basis of presumption. That is why it is also in the interest of liability insurers to offer you passive legal protection. You avoid processing complications by informing society about allegations early on. It doesn’t matter whether you think your cat is innocent. Thanks to the included legal protection, an insurer may even go to court for you. Regardless of the outcome of such a procedure, you usually do not bear any costs with excellent liability tariffs.
Special Liability for Cat Owners in the Event of Damage to the Rented Apartment
If you have only rented your apartment, it is worth taking a closer look at the contract details. Because when moving out of an apartment there is often a dispute between landlords and cat owners, in which you may not be able to fully rely on your private insurance. In contrast to scratches on the furniture you have brought with you, a homeowner will, for example, be more reluctant to see permanent marks on the rented parquet floor.
In addition, over the course of a few years, it is quite possible that your cat will significantly deteriorate the condition of sanitary facilities and built-in kitchens. These are rented items that are not even included in the basic tariff of many liability insurances. If your former landlord asks you to lay a new floor or replace the bathroom and kitchen equipment as part of a move because of scratches, you are often left with the costs for this reason. Invoice amounts in the four-digit range are then not uncommon.
But there are certain providers with very good liability contracts who provide excellent cover for you as a cat owner in a rented apartment. As long as you don’t own everything, you benefit from taking a very close look at tariffs with rental damage benefits. For some insurance companies, it plays an important role whether the negligent action of the owner in the rented apartment has led to the damage. Sometimes the liability does not pay because you are partly responsible for your cat’s misconduct.
Negligence exists, for example, if you give your animal friend access to an endangered area. In this case, insurance will often not cover scratches in a rented room with a particularly sensitive floor. If in doubt, it is advisable to ask experts about when a liability tariff for rental damage really protects a cat owner from cost traps.
Optimal Liability Insurance for Cats
Even if it depends on the breed whether the respective pet is outside and whether its character could cause difficulties, private liability insurance is actually always worthwhile. For example, even the most lovable kitten can quickly scratch the paintwork of a car while playing. In the case of relatively large or aggressive males, it is of course more advisable to take out liability insurance with an exceptionally high sum insured.
So that you are well-prepared from a legal point of view with your private liability for any unwanted adventure of your cat, you should attach particular importance to the amount of insurance when taking out insurance, as well as to restrictions in the case of negligent behavior and the scope of legal protection. If you live with your pet in a rented apartment, the benefits in the event of rental damage are at least as important. Only with a compact insurance package that covers all potential damages in the everyday life of your house cat and in your personal environment can you, as the owner, rule out financial liability problems.