Under German law, a person is considered incapable of committing a crime if they can’t be held responsible for any damage they have caused. This includes children up to the age of seven, in road traffic even up to the age of ten. Adults can also be classified as criminally incapable if they have a mental illness (e.g. dementia) or are unconscious. This does not apply if, for example, alcohol and drugs have led to this condition.
If, for example, your toddler causes damage, you are not liable for it as long as you were paying attention and did not breach your duty of supervision.
In some cases you might still want to pay for the damage even if you aren’t liable so as not to jeopardise the relationship, e.g. when your child causes damage at a friend's house. If your liability insurance does not cover damage caused by children who are incapable of committing a crime, you may have to dig deep into your own pocket.
Therefore, make sure that your liability insurance includes children and adults who are incapable of committing a crime.
Good news: Getsafe Liability insurance even covers damage caused by children or adults who are criminally incapable. However, the sum insured differs depending on your tariff: in the Comfort tariff it is 50,000 euros, while in the Premium tariff it is 50 million euros.