Hi everyone,

I know that a lot of you already know me via the insurance part of this forum, but I'd like to clarify a little what I do.
One of the main reasons is that I see a lot of the same type of questions being asked in this section or people who have signed up for a company without maybe fully understanding what they're covered for, cancellation delays, what a deductible is etc. The FAQs page is pretty good : http://www.englishforum.ch/insurance/2198-health-insurance-faqs.html

otherwise you can always contact me if you require further help or if you have further questions.

What I tend to do is show people prices and cover from what I esteem to be the 2 or 3 best companies for your area and if/when you decide on what you'd like, I sort out all the paperwork for you. Pretty simple really! This goes for each of the sections here :

1. Health Insurance

I work as an independent insurance advisor which means I look for the best deal for you and your families needs. I can't say that one company is better than another, it's just adapted to your needs or not!


2. Personal Liability / Contents Insurance

This is not compulsory in Switzerland but seems to be more and more popular especially as some landlords want to see your policy before renting you a flat etc.

3. Loss of Earnings

I bumped into a friend of mine the other day for whom I sorted out health insurance. He explained to me that his employer did not cover them for loss of earnings (due to illness / accident).

Most of the bigger companies over here will have some kind of insurance. In general, they seem to take out a policy which covers you 80% of your gross wage if you are on sick leave.

However, if you're company does NOT have this type of cover, by law they have to pay you 100% of your wage for a limited time only. (During the first year of service = 3 weeks wages only!) See the "Echelle Bernoise" for more info :

Echelle bernoise
durant la 1re année (plus de 3 mois)
durant la 2e année
durant les 3e et 4e années
de la 5e à la 9e année
de la 10e à la 14e année
de la 15e à la 19e année
de la 20e à la 25e année

3 semaines
1 mois
2 mois
3 mois
4 mois
5 mois
6 mois

So it may or may not be interesting for you to sort out something in case of loss of earnings depending on how long you've been with your employer and if they have this type of insurance or not.

N.B. The health insurance companies offer this type of cover but although your health insurance company may be perfect for you for the health insurance, it may not be the best for loss of earnings! Best to get a quote.

4. Protection Juridique

Another thing which is becoming more and more popular over here.

This goes hand-in-hand with the personal responsibility insurance.

Personal responsibility covers others if you cause them damage however does not cover you. A juridical protection covers everything from having a run-in with your doctor, landlord, employer, neighbours etc.

Again, a lot of health insurance companies offer this cover but it may only cover doctors or health related issues.

Personally, I advice going with a company who are neutral i.e. who only deal in this type of insurance. Why? Well, if you're law protection is with your health insurance company, what happens the day you have a problem with them? Are they going to pay their own lawyers to defend you against themselves.... ? probably not!

5. 3rd piller / Life Insurance

A very talked about subject in Switzerland !

3rd pillar insurance is not compulsory but we think that in 10 years time it will be. If anyone has any questions about this, I suggest starting a new subject…. It’s huge.

3rd pillar / life insurance is a huge subject and people take it out for many reasons. Again, important to get the cover you really do need.

A father with 3 children and a wife who is not working who has bought a house for his family would need a decent capital should something happen to him to cover the mortgage etc. however, a single person looking to put money aside with a decent return for their retirement would need a different type….

The advantages are well described (and in English!) on the Winterthur page : http://www.winterthur-leben.ch/en/home/private/priv_produkte/prod_lv-fondsgebunden.htm

I work with different companies, some are better for savings/capital on maturity, others are better for risk insurance.

6. Car Insurance

Pretty much the same as with other insurances, I can do you a quote! Voilà!

7. Buying a property in Switzerland


You may be interested in buying a property over here in Switzerland. Those who may have already looked into this will know that in 99% of cases, you need a 20% deposit. (No 100% mortgages over here!) i.e. for a 1’000’000.- house, you’ll need 200’000.-

The 20% deposit can be cash, a life insurance policy, LPP or any number of things. Very important to get good advice here on what and what not to do. I can help show you whether or not you meet the criteria for the banks as well as actually finding the property, putting you in touch with the owners etc.

8. Loans


Can help sort out a loan as I have contacts with several of the Swiss banks.

9. Swisscaution


When you rent a property in Switzerland, you are often asked for a 3-month deposit. This money has to be put in a bank account and left untouched for the duration of your stay in the property.

With Swisscaution, you pay an annual fee (first year is 231.- ) and they guarantee this money for you. After the first year, you pay a percentage of your guarantee.

The advantage of doing this is that your money does not remain blocked in a bank account and you can use it to work for you elsewhere. Investments etc.

10. Investments.


I work with English speaking independent financial advisors who can advise you on a number of issues such as pension planning, international tax planning, investment planning and management etc.

Always worth looking into if you’re interested in planning for the future.

****

There you have it!

That’s about everything that keeps me busy on a daily basis! All the above services are free to customers. My aim is to reach as many ex-pats as possible and help them on all the above issues which can be important, expensive and frustrating without the right help or information.

My number is in my signature or you can always pm me!

See you soon,

Jenny
J

Just how hard did you bump into this friend? Were you driving at the time?

I know that's a really lame joke, but it's been a long day...

So you are an insurance salesman, are you?

Actually, a friend of mine told me about you, never quite gotten around to looking you up, since I already had health insurance that I'm happy with by that point. He was happy with your help, though!

However, I may be interested in those last few points, like the 3rd pillar information and Swisscaution. I've made a note of your post and will get back to you sometime. ;-)

Lance

So how much is it to become a customer?

Yes, but luckily for him, he has good accident cover :P

It's free

Never heard of commission or finders fees? The insurance companies pay the agent or rep. To the customer, it is free (allowing for the fact that such costs are included in the premium calculations by the companies).

at the risk of sounding v dim... do you mean that anyone paying a premium is also paying this cost? So there is no cost difference in using or not using the services of someone like Jenny? (Jenny, I could be PM'ing you v soon!)

Go for it, I use someone like this. They fix you up with the best deals (usually) - and make it all very easy and convenient. They get paid by the companies that they set you up with.

Both my health insurance and car insurance are through this kind of arrangement. It was one of the best things I ever did or myself.

I don't know if it's the same as the UK but about 10 years ago I went to see an Independant financial advisor to see where I could put £5000 that was burning a hole in my pocket. He said I could let him take the commission from the investment company and pay him nothing, or pay for his time, about 2 hours - £150 i think - and I would get the commission.

The Commission was £750! So from day one I was £600 up on the deal. Nice

I have just used Comparis to search for household contents & private liability insurance, and got some really good premiums coming through - just over £120 for the year which is a bargain. BUT I then requested a quote from AXA Winterhur, and from my extremely limited German the "sample contract" they sent me suggested a duration of 5 years!

Surely this can't be right? Is this type of insurance not renewable yearly like the UK? Have they quoted this cheap price as a carrot - the stick being you're tied in for 5 years? Does anyone have experience of them and have I misunderstood?

Feeling very confused.

Yep. And the buggers do the same with car insurance so beware (says he stuck in a 4 year car insurance contract )

Are all of the companies like this - or just those bar-stewards at AXA? I'd rather pay more than become another victim!

Who offers 1 yr contracts?

All the companies I deal with (including Axa/Winterthur) offer 1 year deals.
I think most do to be fair.

The problem is that even with the programs I have, the offer comes out with a 3 yr length by default.
One click of the mouse however, and it's back to one year

So, yes, it is possible.

Make sure you know what you're signing up for too!
Some will look twice as expensive but maybe they have twice as much cover.

Normally you can negotiate it down to 3 or even 1 year. But you need to bring it up, otherwise you get the default 5 years.

They all do - but you need to tell them that's what you want.

I've just looked at the "online complete" option and you can tick the 1 jahre box. Although this doesn't seem to change the premium, so I'm guessing they will just jack the price up from this online quote to what actually comes through the door?

Nothing personal, but I will never ever trust people like you again.

My bad experience with a "free" investment advisor made me spend some time on the net researching.

Horrible business... I'd rather give money to British American Tobacco and the N.R.A. than take free advice from an "INDEPENDENT" advisor again.



As the very wise saying goes "You get what you pay for." Or as the German's/Swiss say "Was nichts kostet, ist nichts wert!"

No offence taken

So, if I ever give you advice, I'll have to send you a bill then? Is that what you're saying?

That's fine by me