3rd party insurance (Haftpflicht-Versicherung) and the 3rd party bicycle Vignette insurance, are really necessary though.
If your home electronics and furniture are more than a few years old you don't need insurance. They will never pay out the new value, and you always have to pay the first SFr 200 or similar, it really isn't worth it.
I never had it on a rental until I came here.
What kind of insurance would I need to have if I was breaking into my neighbor's apartment and I cut myself on the broken glass?
If it's a deep cut and requires stitches, would it be covered by my employer's accident insurance, my health insurance, or by my neighbor's liability insurance?
Just curious.
My kind of guy!
I don't believe in most insurances - I "self insure" - but here in Switzerland I've had to do differently.
I've got the private liability imsurance as everyone in this country expects you to have it and hence would sue me if I did anything wrong, even if not my fault. Catch 22. I *think* it's also compulsory for me to get it in my apartment tenancy agreement.
I have house insurance, despite not owning much of value, because this is compulsory in my tenancy agreement. I believe, unlike the UK, I'm responsible if someone breaks in and damages stuff not belonging to me (such as the door!). Seems crazy but my landlord was insistent. Or maybe I just drop something and smash the sink/bath. At Swiss prices I'd not want to pay for the repairs myself.
Agreed, self-insurance does make sense in many cases. A friend of mine put a certain amount in a bank account every month for health (eg if he wanted to go private) and house insurance- and he was adamant that he got a much better 'return' that way. But not for liability insurance that can go into 1000000000.
Two quick questions:
1. When moving out of a rented apartment, if the landlord finds "problems", can you have them fixed on haftpflicht? E.g. scratched stove, wall needing repainting etc; provided of course none of these was written down as preexisting damage when I moved in. If haftpflicht indeed covers there, does one have to pay upfront and then later get the money from the insurer or does the insurer pay directly?
2. When moving to another apartment, can the insurance be moved? Or need I do another one from scratch?
What do you mean with "house insurance"? Hausrat? This insurance won't cover any damage on third party property. Only stuff that is your own is covered. It is possible but very unusual that your landlord forces you to have a special glass break insurance and you have to assume liability if somebody else (burglar, footballing kids) breaks one of your windows.
If it is not from usual use or wear it is covered. Yellow stained walls from smoking - not covered. Wine stain on carpet - covered. Now a classic: Watering a plant and a always spilling some water on the carpet until its moldy and green - Not covered. Kids doodling once on the wall - covered. Kids always doodling on the wall - not covered. Discoloration were frames hanged on the wall - not covered. Smashed sink - covered. Some unknown bloke smashing your toilet bowl during wild party - not covered. You smashing the bowl - covered.
Yes, just talk with your insurance company.
Yep
Is in my contract. So as you say, it's all about glass (and porcelain, I assume).
Comparis.ch states ....
But it seems my landlord is passing that on to me as a requirement. I guess I could just insure the "glass" stuff and not the contents but once I'm getting the insurance the price differential is small.
Freelance, non-tied insurance broker who's a member of EF and has proven to be very helpful for many members, me included:
http://www.englishforum.ch/members/610-jenny.html
She's English, so won't automatically sell you a load of Chicken Licken 'the sky is falling, the sky is falling!' Swiss paranoia insurance, but will get you appropriate cover for the best price if you decide to go down that route.
Just a quick question:
The other day, I wanted to discard a bed, which I didn't use anymore. It's a heavy clunker and therefore, I couldn't bother with dragging it downstairs as I live on the 2nd floor. I tossed it over the balcony on to the lawn. When I went to collect the bed, I noticed the people living on the main floor smoking on the balcony. My question now, what if the leg of the bed came loose and somehow decapitated all 3 of them. Would my liability insurance have covered everything?
Causing accidental death by acting negligently .. might be a criminal thingy. Rechtsschutz is what you need.
Ah....and that's the 200/year thingy?
Can't recall how much but a few posts back I did post a Comparis link for rates and providers. Watch out for the exceptions / gotchas.
You're not allowed to kill any neighbours after 10pm because of the noise it makes. No insurance will protect you against that.
Decapitate all three of them; not a problem. Just give me a call. I'll come over and help.
Leave one alive? Well, then it starts to get complicated.
Thanks, I knew that I could count on you....but please, no funny business with the corpses.
Isn't there a thread somewhere where you can post pictures of the things folks cook and bake in Switzerland?
This is a great point, and really answers the question of the thread... this idea + calculating the total value of my belongings will let me decide what insurance I need myself.
I am one of those with no insurance whatsoever... my taking from the forum is that personal liability and home insurance are, apparently, a must in this country!