First apartment together: checklist for moving in together

Budget templates for couples help with cost planning. It’s a good idea to optimize your expenses in advance. Make sure you agree on how rent and household costs should be split.

Tip: open a joint bank account for expenses such as food, radio and TV fees and electricity. With providers like Zak, Neon or Yuh, you don’t pay any fees for the account.

Consider the rental agreement

Once you find your dream apartment, couples need to consider the rental agreement. There are two options. Both have pros and cons.

• Joint rental agreement: the couple is jointly liable for the rent. If you want to terminate the apartment contract, all persons listed in the rental agreement must sign the notice. Exception: if there is a partial termination clause in the lease, individual terminations are allowed.

• Division into main tenant and subtenant: if a party signs the rental agreement alone, they are liable for the rent and any damage. Subtenants only have an obligation towards the main tenant. The main tenant may terminate the subtenant’s contract at any time in accordance with the sublease agreement.

Split the rental deposit

You can pay the rental deposit alone or together. Do you wish to pay the rental deposit together? Split the rental deposit into two separate rental deposit accounts, each held in one of your names. In the event of separation, each person has control over their own share of the rental deposit.

Tip: if you don’t have enough money for the rental deposit, rental deposit insurance is an alternative.

2. Moving in together: how can we save money?

Moving: do it yourself or hire a moving company?

Most people in Switzerland handle their move themselves. This saves costs, but takes a lot of time and can be stressful. The final cleaning is particularly time-consuming. Considering the time and effort involved, a professional moving company might not cost much more than doing it all yourself. You can find out how much a move could cost using the Comparis moving cost calculator.

Would you like to know more about the topic of moving? Comparis explains the key points to bear in mind for each stage of your move. Take advantage of our comprehensive moving checklist.

Adjust your home contents and liability insurance

If two or more people live under one roof, only one joint home contents and liability insurance policy is necessary. You can cancel the second liability insurance policy, even usually by extraordinary termination.

Adjust the sum insured under the existing contract to reflect the value of your shared household goods. This way, there is no risk of underinsurance or overinsurance in the event of a claim. Make a list of the value of your home contents and who owns what.

By the way: in the case of legal expenses insurance, there is also the possibility of being included in your partner’s contract.

Take out multi-person policies for car insurance

Driving someone else’s car without appropriate insurance can end up being costly. This also goes for your partner’s car. Register as a second driver with your car insurance provider.

Reduce the cost of commuting

Do you both commute to work by public transport? A second-class GA Duo travelcard saves you 580 francs per person compared to the regular GA card. If you only need a subscription within a particular canton, it is often more worthwhile to get a subscription from that canton’s transport association.

You can let another person use your subscription with transferable subscriptions. If you can divide up the commuting days efficiently, you could save a lot of money. This is possible, for example, with the Zürcher Verkehrsverbund (ZVV) or the Tarifverbund Nordwestschweiz (TNW).