We are considering bringing a car over from the U.S. that would not be driven in the winter. It's a long story ... we already own this car and really like it, but it's not practical in the snow and the driver (ahem, not me) can switch to public transportation.

Please, no lectures on the practicality of this plan. I would just like to know whether there is a very basic insurance that will cover it, say, if the garage roof caves in or if someone steals it in the dark of night. We have that kind of insurance available here and it is very cheap. I have looked on comparis.ch and seen that the most basic insurance discussed is Haftpflicht. Is there anything below that, as in "not being driven"?

If you rent a space in an underground car park, about 110 chf per month, the car is probably quite safe. Then send the number plates back, at which point, insurance and road tax is suspended automatically, until you collect the plates again. It probably costs about 20 chf each time you collect the plates, but it is not a huge amount. I think I was offered off road insurance as an option, but didn't bother. Money can't replace a loved car can it? You might be interested in day plates. You can hire plates and insurance just for the day, from about 50 chf, insurance and tax all in. The only problem I see with bringing a special car over, is if you have to take it back again to the US. Could get very expensive.

P42 give good advice. I didn't even know that you could get day plates. But I know you can have two cars on one plate and one insurance policy. So if you have a winter & summer car you just switch the plates between the two cars.

& as was said you can hand in your plates for some months & suspend tax & insurance.

Now where can you get underground car park spaces for only 110chf/month??

A car fanatic acquaintance goes on Homegate and searches for garage spaces, ordering by price. He sent me this the other day:

http://www.homegate.ch/mieten/103448...ault&l=default

Prices start from 75chf/month in Aargau.

I have six motorcycles, but only two are registered/insured year round.

It's really flexible here, BUT no plates, no insurance, so if you want it insured when the plates are off, you will need separate insurance for damage/theft.

Tom

I pay CH 105 per month

So far, none of the proposals have offered what the original poster is looking for: limited insurance when the car is 'off the road'. Personally, I would never own a car without having some insurance -- it's one of my most expensive assets, and I'd be crazy to leave it sitting there and hoping nothing happened to it.

I insure my car with two insurers: AXA provide my primary Swiss liability insurance, and USAA provide my supplementary cover for theft, fire, and collision (as they aren't authorised to provide primary liability in Switzerland). In theory, if I take the car off the road, I could stop my liability insurance but continue my theft / fire coverage (also suspending my collision coverage). I've done this in the past, and the premiums are very low -- under $100 per year.

Not sure if USAA is an option for the original poster (depends on eligibility for coverage) but I'm certain that other local insurers could provide similar coverage.

If I were you, I'd give a call to one of the big Swiss insurers who speak English (Zurich / AXA / etc), describe the situation, and ask what coverage they propose. If the car is old enough, you might also consider an 'oldtimer' policy -- they're generally cheap but limit the number of miles you can drive each year.

If there's one thing I've learned about the Swiss, it's that they're risk-averse. You can insure just about any risk here. Call an insurance company and I'm sure they'll sort you out.

Thank you for all of the GREAT replies. Winter and summer cars using the same plates ... now that is brilliant. Car insurance rates quoted on Comparis seem quite reasonable, so taking the 3rd car might be an option. We'd definitely sell it in CH when going back to the U.S.