Hello
I made the mistake, when I first arrived here, to try to get things in order as quickly as possible. I think I jumped the gun on my housing insurance (never had any such thing back home) and went with comparis.ch's cheapest option, Winterthur AG.

For the two of us, with basic furnishings in a 2.5, my online quote was 220. When I called to sign up, I was given a quote of 300, with the explanation that "things" change.

I don't think we are high risk as we don't really own anything of value, but for a few sticks from Ikea.

Anyway, when we got the bill, it seemed a lot higher, almost 400 plus 120 for, I think personal liability insurance.

I have called them numerous times to understand why the bill was so high. The second time, I was yelled at by the guy handling our case, unheard of in my many years of dealing with services on the phone (no, I was not being a jerk!!!). He said I could go elsewhere and I got the distinct impression it was a mysogyny thing. My husband has been dealing with them since.

We haven't paid our bill because the electronic payment wouldn't accept the amount, stating that it was the wrong one. Our name was spelled wrongly (this was fixed) and everytime we have contacted them, I get a mouthful of stuff that I just don't understand.

I don't know the law here and I don't know their internal policies. I opted to cancel the policy, as I had read somewhere here that you can do so with three months notice. The man today said I can't do that until April 2008!!! I had gotten the insurance in December 2006 for one year, so I don't know why it has jumped to a year and three months?!?!?

So, my question is, should I just give in and try to pay the amounts on the bill, (and try to circumnavigate the epayment error somehow) or is there a why to fight this so I can get away from Winterthur before next April? Am I being swindled or is the amount they quoted me and the policy timeframe they quoted me the norm?

These guys really give me the creeps!


Thanks so much.

Leyla

Hi,

Actually the winterthur is a reputable insurance company, many years back they took over Neuenburger Ins. Co.

What you really need to know is what cover you have got.

I suspect you have got' hausrat' cover and 'gebaude' and this is what you have to watch.

Hausrat, is contents, ie. everything in the house including in most cases, theft from your car.

Gebaude, is building cover.

However, 400 + is really not too bad my bill is 540. and all I have is rubbish.

There is taxes, 5% Stempelabgabe.

Plus it depends on how much you have made the value for insurance purposes.
Eg. 100.000 or 200.000Frs.

And regarding contracts,you sign from anything from 1 to 5 years and if your not carefull they roll over automatically, so you must watch out.

The best would be next time you phone, don't ask, tell them, you want one of there local agents to come round to the house, to explain and show you what your insurance is.

Believe me, they will come, you have only to ask, the only drawback to this is, they'll try their hardest to sell you insurance, and they do call in the evening.

All the best

I think I'm paying just around 300, personal liability included. It's Allianz Suisse, my car is also insured there and pretty much everything else that people insure.
The best thing is the agent gives it a personal touch, he is always available on the phone, his mobile # is on his business card and knows his clients personally. He speaks english too and is really easy to "discuss stuff" with.

I really recommend them because they treat customers personally.

PM me and I give you his phone number / e-mail.


Greg

It is really nice to hear words lika that.

Cheers,

Arek Kasprowski

I will be given a temporary housing from the company and one of their agents told me that I will have to subscribe an insurance plan. I refused saying that as this is not compulsory, it's up to me whether to subscribe an insurance plan or not. To be honest I found it very stupid. All those useless insurances make me sick, they are plenty of exceptions and when you need them they always find a way to walk you around.

Anyway, she replied that it's up to me and whether there would be any problems I will pay (what an incredible news). She also added, with an additional email, that I will not be able to rent without an housing insurance.

At this point I really cannot believe such thing. Is this real? Do I really have to spend additional money on top of the rent (which is enough expensive) for housing insurance?

How much is this? I've read in this thread people talk around 300CHF, but I'm wondering if this is yearly or monthly. In case of the second option I would point a gun to my mouth...



Fabio

It is in your personal interest to have such insurances. I have taken the legal insurance along with liability and house content. You never know what could happen to the property you are renting. The total is about 540CHF from Alliance.
Like Greg530, the insurance guy came to our house and explain everything in detail. PM me if you need his details.

Thanks greenhill, but are we talking about monthly or yearly sums? My company wants to put me in touch with an agent from Zurich Insurance. I can tell them to go ahead and make a quote. If you'd like to you can also PM me the details of the agent at Alliance so that I will have something to compare.


P.S.: is it true that without such insurance I will be unable to rent an apartment?

Thanks,
Fabio

The amount is yearly. 540CHF/annum or 45CHF/month.

In some new appartments, the renting agency could force you to have atleast liability insurance.

Either you or her has got the wrong end of the stick here. Housing insurance is a compulsory part of any loan a bank will give and therefore solely the responsibility of the renter. Contents insurance is entirely up to you whether you want to pay the rate or not but I would say you will be broke if there is a fire and it is your fault - think about the value of your clothes rather than ikea "sticks".

What you will often need, though, before signing a rental agreement is personal liability cover (Haftpflichtversicherung). It is rare that they check but I did have to provide this once. The cost is around the SFr. 100 and covers you for multiple millions of damage you might cause.

IIRC this insurance will also cover you if someone has an accident in your house & injures themselves. Given it is so cheap & the potential benefits it is well worth having.

I have had Winterthur for 5 years, and they finally dumped me in December.

If you claim, within one month of the claim either you or the insurance company can cancel the insurance. In my case, I got cancelled because I dared to get robbed and also claimed (against a seperate policy) for damage against my Camera when dropped.

My overall impression is that the sales agents are extremely nice, and promise you all kind of things, but when it comes to claims, it's altogtehr different.

All our policies are now with Zurich, as we got offered a reasonable discount for having Car, Water, Liability and house insurance.

I´d definitely say consider legal insurance with your house insurance. We have been here a year and got free and excellent legal advice over an employement issue by turning to our insurance company.

Regards

Annie

I thought owners only need to worry about building insurance? Why on earth insure the building if you are renting? Ok, I checked this and Comparis explains it well. Building insurance is for the house owners, household insurance is optional for renters, and private liability insurance for renters is in many cases compulsary, and certainly advisable because of damage claims when you move out.

Wintherthur was bought out by AXA almost 12 months ago (for info) but they are still functioning under the name Wintherthur for some things.

Companies often link in the RC (personal liability) bit to the contents insurance. More and more landlords are asking for it and won't rent you their property if you don't have one (though in theory it's not compulsory!).

For those who may not know, I also do RC Ménage for people. If you let me know what you need, I can get a quote done within the day and faxed to you.

In fact, I do every kind of insurance with the same principle. Work with different companies to get the best deal for each individuals needs.

Hope this helps!

Jenny