Personal liability insurance

Did you accidentally sit on your neighbour’s glasses? Or lose the key to your rented apartment? Personal liability insurance covers the cost of common property damage or personal injury caused unintentionally.

Some damage may only be minor. However, as soon as people are involved, the cost of damage increases rapidly. Imagine you are riding your bike and don't notice a pedestrian when you make a turn. He is severely injured in the impact. In this case, personal liability insurance will cover the costs arising from the accident.

Taking out personal liability insurance is generally recommendable for everybody since it covers a large amount of money in the event of a claim, while the premium is relatively cheap. It covers the insured persons if damage is caused to other persons or third-party property. It also rejects unjustified claims on behalf of the policyholder (functioning as legal protection), for example if the damage occurs due to force majeure.

Cover

Most insurance companies offer policies for individuals and families. The individual policy only covers the person mentioned in the contract. The family insurance can include two or more persons who share a household.

Excess/deductible in personal liability insurance

The deductible under personal liability insurance is usually 200 francs, but with some insurance companies it may be reduced, excluded or increased on request. There is often a separate regulation applying to deductibles for tenancy claims and claims under the supplemental coverage for driving third-party vehicles.

Cover for pet owners

Personal liability insurance additionally covers the policyholder in their capacity as pet owner (e.g. dogs, cats, guinea pigs, hamsters, etc.) provided that the pets are not used for business purposes. There is no special liability insurance for dogs in this sense. The insurance covers damage caused by the owner's pet or animals in the temporary care of the insured. Commercially used pets, farm animals, hounds and exotic pets are usually not covered. It may be advisable to also take out accident and health insurance for pets – especially for cats and dogs.

Cover for cyclists

Since the bicycle vignette sticker was abolished in 2012, liability claimscaused to third parties by cyclists are covered under personal liability insurance. This cover usually also applies to electronic bikes provided that these do not exceed the speed limit of 25 km/h.