This document from 2010 does not mention such a federal court ruling.
http://www.rwi.uzh.ch/lehreforschung...ont/Fall-2.pdf
Here a inquiry from a member of the parliament from 2012:
http://www.parlament.ch/d/suche/seit...ch_id=20121071
(The federals councils answer mention that some adaptions where made after the Waldmann paper was published)
And finally the paper by Prof. Dr. Bernhard Waldmann from 2007
Expats continue to be royally screwed by Swiss auto Insurance companies!! Thank god it's not the same with health insurance.
Wayne passed his test 5 years ago, since then he has written off 3 cars and been banned from driving twice.
Should their premiums be the same?
The answer is clearly NO. An insurance premium is calculated based on many factors - locations, age, sex, etc. For example if suddenly a lot of people in your area make claims your premium will go up. Or a lot of people the same age or sex, your premium will go up.
The same will happen with "nationality" - a Swiss national may be a historically lower risk than someone from the Former Democratic Republic of Bongo Bongoland.
Quote for same car for a US citizen = ~2.4KCHF pa (B/C permit)
USA = Former Democratic Republic of Bongo Bongoland. ??
Lets say there are 100 of "you" and each year 1 of you makes a claim of 150,000chf (for an accident + medical + etc). The premium will be 160k + 40% costs + 10% profit = 240k /100 people = 2,400chf.
The premium is a reflection of risk - the higher the premium the higher the risk to the insurer.
Generalization (pooling everyone into a general foreign-national bucket) is simply unfair for the careful and responsible drivers.
The problem with small buckets. Outliers will have a huge influence.
I contacted all three of those companies, and Zurich were the first to respond telling me that they won't cover someone with a Carte de Légitimation - I guess their rules have changed since Pacman tried it.
Winterthur (AXA) called me back to say that there was no problem. I have since been to their local office in Geneva (Vernier) where a very helpful representative guided me through the whole process of buying and registering a car in excellent English, and I'm yet to sign on the dotted line but will most likely go with them.
Allianz have an online tool for getting a quote that doesn't accept the Carte, but they have another online form to have a quote emailed to you which has an 'other' option in the resident permit box. I contacted them to have it explicitly said that this means the Carte is ok, but I haven't heard so much as an automated 'thanks for your message'.
A local rep from Winterthur (AXA) then phoned me and said this was no problem at all. I ended up going with them and I was able to visit the rep's office where he explained everything to me in clear English and I left a satisfied customer.
As for Allianz, I am yet to receive so much as a 'thank you for your query, we'll be in touch' type message. However it is worth noting that while their form for requesting a quote online only accepts C, B or L in the residence permit box, another form for having a quote sent by email has an 'other' option. Perhaps someone else will have better luck with them in future.
Anyway,
I have a good experience with Allianz (as for the initial contact with them, no claims so far so no experience here). They offered us the cheapest full comprehensive insurance for our 58k worth Toyota. We were quoted 1200 chf a year that including my nationality (Polish). They also have online-only service Allianz24 which is even cheaper but then you will not get an advisor (suit yourself, I prefer to have an english speaking representative in french speaking part of CH). They offer road assistance by default and you can have 500 CHF excess on your collision cover.
I doubt it. Lob hasn’t been active on the forum since 2008.
Opening up an old thread for this:
I’ve been with Zurich for car insurance for many years now and have occasionally had to use their services. I get an employee discount as my partner worked there until retirement.
My Model Y received a shunt in the tailgate last winter. My fault for over-estimating my speed reversing skills while parking. I have been driving around hoping someone would rear end my and I could claim off their insurance as I have a CHF1000 excess.
Yesterday I bit the bullet and called the Zurich. They said as I had not had a claim for 2 years rhe excess is reduced to CHF500 and as I am using a Zurich approved body shop a further CHF200 is deducted.
Oh and I get a free loaner too while the work is done…