Personal Insurance (Personenversicherung)
Personal insurance is the overarching insurance category that covers risks directly attached to the person of the insured, particularly life, health, and earning capacity.
Concept
Personal insurance is one of the two fundamental categories of the insurance industry and encompasses all insurance lines whose benefits are directly tied to a biometric event affecting the person of the insured – particularly death, survival to a certain point in time, illness, accident, disability, or the need for long-term care.
Distinction from Non-Life Insurance
Personal insurance is contrasted with non-life insurance (property and liability insurance), which relates to covering specific financial losses to property or arising from liability claims. A key conceptual difference is that, unlike non-life insurance, personal insurance generally also permits fixed-sum insurance, under which the benefit is paid out at a previously agreed amount regardless of proof of a specific economic loss.
Main Lines
Central lines within personal insurance include life insurance (death and survival benefit protection as well as retirement provision), health insurance (covering treatment costs and loss of income due to illness), accident insurance (covering the consequences of an accident regardless of third-party fault), and long-term care insurance (covering the risk of needing long-term care).