I hope this question is as silly as I think it is. Today I received a letter from Zurich insurance saying that my policies expired (abgelaufen sind) and call them to renew those.


I have car and household insurance with them, and I thought at least car insurance is automatically renewed. I paid last September for the annual car insurance fee, just like every year.

Does car insurance actually expire? Isn't it that as long as you have license plates, you are insured and obliged to pay? And anyway if you lose your insurance, it will not be with a non-registered letter from a third-party agent. No? I read here that police actually comes to collect your plates in that case.

And haven't claimed anything on that insurance since I took it.

Thanks a lot. I hope for an ok sleep tonight until I call them tomorrow morning.

Car insurance usually is automatically renewed for 5 years. Then your insurance company should nail you down for another 5.

Changing cars is one way to get out of that contract...

Maybe call them on the number thats on your policy papers. Are you sure the letter is from the actual insurance company?

Is not even 5 years yet; it will be in October.

So it is that? I can still drive my car?

It's their choice of words that scares/annoys me :-|

It's from an agent, not Zürich insurance proper.

I have to wait until morning to call them. Just wanted to have a better sleep

The insurance companies like to tie you in for a fixed number of years stated on the policy. It is not automatically renewed after this time which gives you a chance to shop around and see if you can get a better deal. Get a quote from your present company so you know what to compare.
I have always deleted the fixed term stated in the policy and put down one year as I wanted to stay flexible. It has never lead to the insurance company refusing me.

If it's an agent, my advice is DON'T CALL. Call your actual insurance provider - your local agent if you have one, or call a number on the official website instead of what's in the letter. Then verify your status.

I know, I'm a skeptic. This sounds to me like an agent trying to drum up business and charge you money to change providers when you still have a policy in force.

Thanks. As I said, it's the wording that scares me. Here is the relevant part:

Bei der Durchsicht Ihres Portefeuilles stellten wir fest, dass die Policen abgelaufen sind dann jeweils um ein weiteres Jahr verlängert haben oder demnächst ablaufen werden.

Are they even allowed to "expire" my insurance when I haven't made any claim?

Yes, but I wouldn't worry. What is strange is that they haven't sent a replacement policy for you to sign. You can use the comparison sites like comparis to get a range of quotes.

How's your German?

Not very amazing Hopefully somewhere between B1 and B2, realistically closer to B1

...so why don't you simply phone them up and ask them ?

No, unless you hand in the plates.

Tom

Unfortunately this is in german but it explains the situation really well.

http://www.comparis.ch/autoversicher...erung-wechseln

A policy automatically renews after the expiry date unless either party cancels it. This the insurance company may do,though usually they want to keep your custom, so offer you a renewal. A cancellation must come in the time specified in the contract, usually between one and three months before the contract expires. It sounds like you have had an automatic renewal, which is for one year and now the company wants you to sign a new contract

I called Zurich and then them. It was, like you guys mentioned, an attempt to "renew" my contracts which are still valid. I am honestly still annoyed by their wordin. It's the second/third time I am left with bad feelings regarding an insurance agent in Switzerland; it doesn't help really.

Thanks, everyone.

Cancel and go elsewhere then

There’s no obligation to go via an insurance agent, you can just take out insurance directly with the insurance company.
Agents are there to up sell products and make more money for themselves.