I found a note in one of my many letters about insurance tonight that there are revisions that come into effect 01.01.2006 to do with all the various insurance laws.

The letter only mentioned one aspect - that if you terminate a policy early (for example the sale of your car) then you no longer have to pay the insurance to the end of the policy. Wow - what an innovation! So you mean now I don't have to pay insurance on something that isn't insured? Doesn't that go without saying? I guess not, and I suppose everyone prior to this change had to continue to fork out insurance for cars they no longer owned.

Anyway, my point is that since we are all massively overinsured, and constantly fretting about the various dates in advance that we have remember in order to free ourselves from various insurance contracts, these changes could be interesting.

Does anyone know what the other changes are, and how these might affect us? Is there a consumer website somewhere, or a government dept website that explains to people how their rights are affected? I've never heard anything about this, and I thought I kept reasonably well current with what's going on. I visited comparis.ch but couldn't find anything there either.

Any help appreciated.

Mark

Hi there

not sure what you mean by the 'new' law.

I sold my car in june last year, and promptly received a refund for approx 50% of the annual premium I had paid at the beginning of the year...

In this case the company decided to refund you ut of the goodness of their hearts (which after all, is only fair). But they have only been compelled to do so since 01.01.2006!

Mark

ahhh... I see what you mean....

for what it's worth, I was (am) with Winterthur. They are not the cheapest, but certainly have been nice so far. I also had a claim for a smashed window (on the second car) and they were very quick about it

Dino

Interestingly enough I used to be with Winterthur, then I discovered that they were quite expensive and shopped around. There's a story in another thread about this:

Insurance and insurance companies

Mark

I am not so sure that this is new. I have sold two cars before and always got my insurance back. It has also always been the case that you can terminate a car insurance policy if they raise the premium, provided you do it before the end of the calendar year.

This is exactly what happened to me this year. I have a mild-mannered Subaru Forester. No accidents, never claimed. Then suddenly my premium (Teil-Kasko) went up by 17%!!! I went into the Winterthur office and they shrugged their shoulders. Anyway, now I have full cover with Zuritel for about the same as my old Winterthur part-cover premium. Pays to shop around.

What I found was many insurance reps try to inflict you with multi-year contracts. A Zurich rep sent me a 5 year contract, without even mentioning it. Naturally I just put it in the recycle. Zuritel on the other hand were good, they sent me just a 1-year off the bat.

This *is* new, it is now a requirement to give you back your money for unused insurance. If you got it back before it was because the insurance company were being nice. I know this is new because my insurance company wrote to me and explained this part of the law, and the changes etc. It came into effect 01.01.2006.

By the way - your story is the same as mine - was with Winterthur, they hiked up the price, I used it as an excuse to cancel and went with Zuritel...

Mark

I was never very impressed with Winterthur. Firstly:

• There local office here was like stepping back in time 20 years...I think they even had manual typewriters lying around.
• The guy ordered the wrong format plates for my car. I expected the long ones but he ordered the ugly square rearplate that does not suit this vehicle.
• And just the way they reacted when I questioned the price rise was extremely lethargic. In fact, the guy behind the counter asked me if I was a "Doppelbürger" (dual citizen). I said not yet, and he basically inferred I should hurry up and apply if I was to see any benefit!!!

I have hear

Hmmm, sounds like most place here :-)

Seriously, it seems to me that many businesses here are mired 25 years or more in the past.

The general consumer experience reminds me of what it was like when I was a kid - poor opening hours, restricted range of goods, constant squabbles with retailers, long waits etc. etc.

There are exceptions of course, not every business is that bad, but the average business here wouldn't last 3 months in the UK. It'd be eaten alive by competitors.


Gav

I am nearly convinced that insurance companies here now target foreigners for price rises, even if they are not necessarily a greater risk. I believe they figure that the majority will simply pay the extra without question.

Its not necessarily a swiss thing, a big insurance company in Oz once did the same thing.

Nearly convinced? It's a fact, and nobody seems to be ashamed of it. Since foreigners have no choice, and no political representation what choice do they have but to accept it and pay? And since liability insurance is legally required - there's even less choice.

Simply log on to comparis.ch and watch your premiums change when you enter nationality. It's not merely the fact that you are foreign that does it - but different companies discriminate against different nationalities in different ways.

You say that a big insurance company in oz did this? Which one? I would have thought this would be illegal and that there'd be a fuss about it. ANother thing to consider - after 2 years Australia issues a passport, so anyone who is "foreign" (for want of a better word) stops being foreign. The same cannot be said for the many people who were born here, with parents born here, who still are considered foreign - they must simply pay more for their car insurance.

Let's not forget that nationality is merely an accident of birth...

How do I react to this? I carry the absolute minimum car insurance required by law with the cheapest company I could find!

Mark

Ever been shopping on Tottenham Court Road?

Just an update, since July 1st 2007 the law in Australia has changed. It's still possible until 2010 to apply based on the 2 year rule if resident in Australia before 30 June 2007. Otherwise it's now 4 years.
http://www.citizenship.gov.au/applyi...eligible.htm#c

What I hate about Switzerland, are all the agreements you have to sign, and you never get out of. I am stuck with all sorts of small contracts because I forgot to cancel on the 1st of August, and I did not dress in white socks, black shoes, and shorts while siting the alphabet.

i agree with william tell. sometimes all the agreements scare me, im so unsure and forgetful about dates. i wish there was some sort of service company in switzerland who would take care of all these dates, contract exits, even your bills for you, and you would just pay them once a month. like a secretary/personal assistant service.

try getting married ... an expensive solution, but it works for me ...

didn't work for me!when it comes to admin stuff, he's worse than I am! now, that's really bad!!

Hi Mark

The new law requires Insurance Companies for better Information. Although ist has already always been stated what is insured etc. Details I must look up.

An other, nice thing is that by selling the car, the insurance will cancell. On the other hand though will the insurance also be cancelled by death (change of owner) or by companies insolvency. The customer protection against greedy insurance goes so far, that the have no no coverage per instance......

Rachel

I read most of the thread, and can offer you a quick clarification:
Yes, before last year, you could have get your money back in case you cancel, but not during the 1st year of the contract. And now, you can.