Hi, On looking at properties to rent, I keep noticing the advertisements for deposit free rental, where you pay a yearly premium and they put down the deposit for you.
Has any one used one of these companies, I am thinking it could be an option for us, to enable us to move sooner, from what I understand, you can opt out at any time by paying the deposit yourself, though you lose the premium you paid. but for me it seems a good idea to use only for a short term and repay the deposit within the first year, unless there is a catch , any feedback appreciated.
thanks

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Buchs
www.celticembrace.ch
Irish and British Food, Drinks and Gifts

We have a product that does this in conjunction with HEV. I have clients on here that have asked me for such a Zurich bond. It works well to free up cash flow if one needs such but the landlord must be in agreement.

Our version is 60CHF plus 4% of the deposit amount.

If you are looking on Immoscout then you might be seeing links to the new offer that is part of the "Zurich to go" product line that was just launched, we just formed a partnership with them.

Thanks for that, didnt realise the landlord had to be agreed to, is it normally acceptable ?
so If my deposit was 3000 you would charge about 180 a year ?
I was thinking it was a good idea also if just changing apartment and you dont want to wait till the contract is up ( would lose other apt) so paying double rent for 2 moths is strain but doable but not along with second deposit. if you get me

It is quite a simple policy but yes the landlord has to agree to the Bond known as a "Certificate of Security Deposit Guarantee" Usually they do unless they are a little bit dodgy. I have never had an issue with any client in my devision, I think landlords trust it as it is underwritten by us. We do this on commercial and business properties also where the risk is higher all the time.

180 on 3k is right if the policy applicant possesses a liability insurance, if not then a basic one can be written into the contract at an extra CHF50... (110 plus 4%)

They are useful in a double rent situation for sure.

I have English versions of the forms, overviews and conditions as pdfs I can mail you if you want to have a look. If you want to drop me a line at david.gledhill@zurich.ch I can get them across to you and answer anything you want to know.

Cheers,
David

Well I don't consider myself a "dodgy" landlord but I am not willng to accept deposit insurance because when the tenant moves out and there is damage, I will have another party to deal with. At the end of the day, if a tenant has caused damage and agrees, if the deposit is jointly held at the bank the repair cost comes out of the deposit and the tenant deals with their own insurance company. If the damage isn't covered, it is not the landlord's problem.

Many landlords feel this way after having dealt with one of the deposit insurance programs. These plans like to see what is covered by insurance first.

If your plan works differently, I would be interested in having more information.

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We used SwissCaution, but our landlord did say in advance we could use this option. We actually had the money saved for the deposit, but to open the account my husband and I had to go to the bank together with the cash between 9 and 5 Monday to Friday. As we work in different cities, this wasn't possible within the time frame. With SwissCaution we applied online and got the paperwork in 24 hours.

Thanks, I can see your point too mrs Doolittle , I was looking at it more as a short term solution , in that we would cancel the insurance company within 6 mths and put down the deposit ourselves which I understand is possible

As a short term option, it is a good idea, especially if you have a deposit already tied up. Having to come up with another deposit of up to 3 months rent can be a strain.

In the first year you pay an initiation fee, and the deposit. If you want to cancel this and switch to a deposit held at a bank, keep in mind that the deposit insurance works on a calendar basis. If you don't cancel it to the end of December, it will roll over and you will be liable for the annual premium with no refund for early cancellation.

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Thanks for the explanations and feed back, great to get from all 3 sides , insurer, user and landlord
Mrs Doolittle thanks for tip on 31 dec will note that.
I think it may suit our situation and we can replace the deposit once ours is free and can handle the double rent if needed.
David do email the info or direct me to ur website and I can read some more.
Shop@celticembrace.com

Hello Mrs D,long time, hope you are well

To reply to your point I understand that a landlord may not wish to have a third party to deal with and it is a Jein answer of 6 and 2 3s.

If there is a claim with liability cover usually the landlord ends up dealing with the insurance company and not the client (depending on severity and dispute). Alternatively the company just pays the landlord and the client pays them the deductible.

In the case of an unresolved more complex issue if there are separate companies for both the deposit and the liability it would of course involve another party, however if the claim has been settled the landlord has no need to keep the deposit and, to an upstanding example, it becomes a moot point.

Obviously with a deposit insurance it is preferable to have the liability issued by the same company in which case it is a single entity dealing with all the issues. From our side: We know some of the liability covers out there are not as comprehensive or wide ranging as ours which is why there are some exceptions in our terms and also why we offer the product combined with liability. If a client already holds one of our liability products this is not an issue.

I think re deposit insurance opposition from the landlord camp it falls into three categories:

1. Landlords may like what they know.The deposit model is so historical and deeply entwined in the Swiss DNA as much as using cash.

2. A lot of parties simply do not know about or have not fully investigated the other options.

3. Unfortunately there are iffy landlords out there (not in your case I wish to reiterate to all!) just as there are tenants and these do not like "power" being taken from them; it stops them trying the usual tricks.

As the security deposit products receive more advertising, are easy to obtain and tenants better informed (a fact I can assure will happen before year end) I believe the norm may change and they might become as common place as the liabilities being written into the contracts. After all, it is not just for the tenants protection. The deposit is a strange entity that does not give the landlord as much protection as they may think. On the surface it seems it is on their side, but being held in a bank both parties have to agree for it's release. If there is a dispute and neither party will budge it sits there. After one year a forced release can be ordered and any dispute must go to mediation and after this time and in such a case over 80% of rulings favour the tenant!

For cash flow and ease the deposit insurance is a great product but won't suit everyone, after all there are also savvy fluid tenants that are in no rush to get a deposit back; the account offers a good rate of investment ...

Pdf info mailed, please check your spam folder as the attachments can flag as junk.

Best,
David

Speaking from experience, (many handovers) rarely does it work that way. Some insurance companies ask for the handover report. A lot of damage is never covered 100% so a landlord cannot rely on the insurance company to cover the costs. The landlord can communicate with the insurance company by providing quotes and if needed, proof of the age of an item.

If the deposit is large and the tenant is staying long term, deposit insurance gets expensive.

Given the detailed information you have supplied, which is very much appreciated, I suppose I should have a more open mind regarding our current rental property. If a suitable tenant was found, it seems foolish to refuse them because they prefer deposit insurance.

The fact is, there are tenants who have vacated a house with zero damage.

Unfortunately I have seen too many properties where this has not been the case.
A house is meant to be lived in, it is meant to be a home, but it needs to be taken care of and treated as if it were your own.

The biggest challenge is with brand new properties, or those that have been totally renovated.

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i had a friend who used the swisscaution, worked fine, no problems.