I need some help with understanding this 3rd party private liability insurance if you rent a place. From what I can gather from posts here, the insurance helps you out if you leave your rental house and want all of your deposit back??

I mean, if you clean properly and the house only suffered normal wear and tear, do landlords still claim part of the deposit? And it that what the insurance covers? And if that is the case, can I sign up without trouble even if we already lived in our flat for a year? Or would they want to drop by and inspect the state of the house?

Thanks for any tips, as I have great trouble understanding such an insurance, in my home country, this does not cover normal damage to houses at all.

You could contact Jenny from this forum. She's in Swiss Romande.

you want house insurance to cover any "accidental" damage to your place whilst you're renting.

I think you'll find they have little or no right to do an "inspection" during your tenancy unless they think you're maliciously and willfully damaging the apartment.

You can insure from now if you want.

Hi,
This is my first post on the website, although I have read many other threads and found the information here extremely helpful for many different issues.

My question is somewhat related to the 3rd party insurance for renters. Does the SwissCaution basically do the same thing up to the value of the insurance taken out or is it really only for the rental bond insurance, i.e. non-payment of rent?

Where can I take out this 3rd party insurance? The concept is a bit strange to me, as I rent out a property back home, and had to take out 'Landlord's Insurance' to cover possible damage done by tenants to my property. I'd appreciate if anyone has a link to websites where I could get a quote for the insurance or recommend a company/broker. I live in Aargau canton.

Thanks in advance.

it's purely a bond. Insurance is something you need as renter as you'll be the one paying for things when you move out.

3rd party liability insurance covers you against a myriad of things that you might do that damage the property of others. Your rented accomodation is one of them.

This however is completely separate from the deposit you have paid. This money instead is used for small damages and for non payment of rent. In other words if you have managed to put holes in the wall and forgotten to tippex them then you are left needing to pay SFr 200 for a specialist to come in and "mend" the damage. It is not worth activating your insurance as you need to pay the first 200 francs, and as you deliberately caused the damage the insurance is anyway not valid.
Sign up whenever you like for such insurance policies. Note they don't cover your property at all...

Hi guys,
I have checked in different insurance websites, but I didn't find something related to the kitchen of the landlord.
If for example I'm cooking and I spoil the kitchen, is it covered by 3rd party liability insurance?
The household/furniture insurance covers only your things against theft, fire, not if you break something of someone else.

Any experience on that?

I am looking for a similar issue as well.

The place where I was staying earlier (it was a sub-renting), didn't have nay major damages, but the landlady is not giving back half my deposit - 700 CHF citing things that result from regular use such as 'products for cleaning', 'shower curtains', etc.

I am applying for my third party liability insurance, but i don't know how to answer questions that the insurance company is asking me such as 'how did you cause this damage'

Please provide your advice and experiences!

Hello all, I'm not sure if this thread is still open or not, but I am very new (moved here on the 1st March 2015) and I am trying to understand what the liability insurance covers and how much I should cover myself for (once of the questions in the form for getting a quote is how much you want to be insured up to, 3,000, 20,000??)

If moving into a place that has normal 'wear and tear' from previous tenant, am I liable for this? Surely this will all be noted when doing the takeover with the landlord and tenant present?

Many thanks, any advice appreciated.

I have dropped Jenny a message too so fingers crossed I can share my experience on here too once I sort my insurance out.

I also think I have some kind of insurance via my employer but I need to understand what that covers, I think its just for emergency healthcare (if I were unlucky enough to be in an accident).

No, the previous tenant should be liable for any normal wear and tear that need reparation during their tenancy and it should be agreed by all parties at the handover what comes into that category. You'll get a document listing anything that is broken/needs fixing which the landlord/agency will need to deal with assuming you want them fixed. Example: when we moved into our rental house there were a couple of radiators that were broken, but we decided not to have them repaired as they were in rooms that we weren't using for anything other than storage mostly so didn't need heating.

If you work more than 8 hours a week your employer provides accident insurance - different from personal liability - which covers you for any accident at work or occurring travelling to/from work. Example again: my other half went to get in the car to go to work one icy morning and slipped and fell down the last few steps of our staircase. His work accident insurance covered the costs of dealing with the resulting broken ankle. It doesn't mean you don't need health insurance of your own to cover other things, but when you arrange your insurance with a company/insurance broker you tell them you have accident cover from your workplace and your premiums will be reduced by a few francs each month compared to someone who doesn't work and has to include the accident cover in their general health policy. Example 3: I pay 8 francs more per month than the OH because I don't work so have to add accident cover to my health insurance policy.

Very helpful reply so thank you!

My two Rappen: I'd estimate your renter liability insurance based on the size of the property, how "fancy" it is, and how "hard" you might be on it. We have about 100 sq m. It's a newer build, so it has more modern/upscale appliances and flooring. We don't have kids or pets, so our wear-and-tear is pretty minimal. However we realize if we break one of the appliances it could cost several thousand to replace including labor. Also our wood floors are very soft and seem prone to scratching and dents.

Your employer is responsible for accident insurance. Some employers also cover your health insurance, but that's more the exception than the norm.

If you're the outdoorsy type, you may also want to consider joining Rega.

It's also worth looking into personal liability insurance outside the home - for example if you crash into a car while bicycling and damage the car, or if you break something in another person's house. Not that you'd ever do that, of course.

HTH

Thank you so much - very helpful, but I have one more question.

Im on the Price cocmparison site for insurance www.comparis.ch and I found a section for household and private liability insurance. Will this cover things like if (for example) the kitchen cabinet broke or the cabinet door in the hallway, or the fridge etc???

Just thinking of worst case scenarios here to make sure I am protected against all scenarios.

regards
Seren

makes sense, i guess i have no idea what landlords here will 'charge' for particular things. You hear stories of lanlords charging a ridiculous amount for a small things. I just want to be able to sleep at night knowing I can use the property not worrying that every step I take will cost me!

Stress head

Again, it will depend to a certain extent on what is broken and how. Another example from when we were renting: the fridge in the house was quite old and eventually the door seal didn't work properly any more so the agency sent a repair man out to see if it could be fixed. Unfortunately not so the agency arranged for a new fridge to be installed which came under the landlord's insurance, not ours because we didn't do anything to break it other than normal use.

Obvously if you smash into a cabinet door then that's your responsibility and would need to be fixed under your personal liability insurance. If it falls off due to worn out parts then that's the landlord's/agency's responsibility to fix.