Yeah the problem is I don't want it and this is not really democratic :> I don't like to subsidise bunch of slackers in their marble offices :/ The worst thing is this: I would not be allowed to vote on it as I'm not a Swiss national but the law has to apply to me. It's infuriating and nowhere else this kind of "DEMOCRACY" is practised in Europe :/

I have cooled off now...

Not entirely sure we want you here either......

Don't worry, came here after my wife and will happily depart when she's finished here. alas, it will take several years... :/

What is democracy for you then, the law was voted by the people of the canton that it affects, how much more democratic can you get ?

Vote each year maybe ?

You as a foreigner have chosen to live here, so, like EVERYBODY else Swiss or foreign, you need to live by the rules that are in place.

Not sure if you know an old BBC sitcom called "Dad's Army", but Captain Mainwaring always say a particular phrase to Private Pike, it escapes me at present but sums up this situation perfectly.....

Yes, I will live by the rules but don't deny me of right to voice my discontent. It's unjust no matter whether it was voted or not. It's enough to sway majority of fools to make the other half of wise to live by the foolish law. Period and let's finish the topic already.

Edit:

I kindly ask a moderator of this board to move all post from 12 onwards to the complain corner or remove them entirely whatsoever. It has quickly escalated to off topic proportions.

What is insurance if it is not solidarity. Your poxy premium you pay certainly won't pay for the damages you suffer. Take anything, health insurance, car insurance, whatever.

Your premium goes into a pool with everybody else's and the insurance company hopes that the payouts in total are less than the premiums received.

As for you requesting posts be removed, who exactly do you think you are ?

I doubt you will be missed.

In post #13 I gave you a very long explanation as to which insurance covers what. In following posts, you got clarifications from other posters as to what this means for your situation as a renter: insuring your household items. Quite on topic, I think. Threads derail often on EF, and if mods were to split every thread into multiple pieces they'd probably not sleep at night. Perhaps a mod will understand what you would like and split the thread, though.

As for "unjust", "foolish" and "subsidizing slackers", what one feels is unjust or foolish others feel is just or useful- and vice versa. You will never, no matter where you move to, find a place where EVERYTHING is the way you want it. If there were no agreement upon a certain set of pros and cons to issues in a community, we'd be at war constantly with people saying "But I..." and wouldn't get anywhere. Just look at the EF with its many thousand members: it would be mayhem if posters and mods didn't help keep it organized.

The state run fire insurance in the canton of Vaud (ECA) is obligatory, both for the buildings (in case you are an owner) and for belongings. Financially, it's a pretty good deal as the premiums are low. The commercial insurances will exclude fire insurance from policies in the canton of Vaud because of the state run scheme (and reduce premiums accordingly). The ECA also finances fire protection.
Is it good? Well up to everyone to decide, but it was approved democratically and most Vaudois are happy with the scheme, so if you choose to live here, that's the way it is. One of the main advantages of being in Switzerland is the right to choose where to live, to vote on issues such as compulsory fire insurance.
Finally, I believe a few other cantons have their own cantonal fire insurance systems.

Indeed, but we still voted against obligatory health insurance 20 years ago.

Tom

??????? and there i was thinking health insurance was obligatory here, on a federal level too.

It is, since '96.

But we (me, wife, most people I know) voted against it.

Tom

While there may be an element of solidarity (e.g. health insurance), insurance fundamentally has nothing to do with solidarity - it is based on risk-adjusted premiums (or should be, perhaps rather).

The organisation handling/providing the insurance causes significant costs, hence all insured combined will never get 100% of what they paid.

Of course not, but they work on the principal that not everybody who pays makes a claim.

For example i pay health insurance of about Chf 3k/year, i had a complex operation couple years back that cost around Chf 75k. My car insurance costs Chf 2.2k, the car new book price was in excess of Chf 200k.