Travel insurance in Switzerland: protection for your trip
Travel and holidays can be expensive, especially with unexpected events. Comparis shows you which travel insurance helps you travel worry-free.
29.07.2024
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1. What does travel insurance cover?
Travel insurance coverage varies depending on the insurer and insurance package. In some cases, you can freely combine different insurance modules and adjust the insurance cover exactly to your needs.
Cancellation insurance helps in cases where you or your companion are unable to travel. However, the cancellation of a trip is only insured for certain reasons – such as illness or natural disasters.
Tip: review your policy for the events and reasons covered.
Potential health costs abroad due to illness or accident are partially insured by compulsory health insurance and accident insurance. The amount of cover varies depending on the destination.
Do you or your companion need to end a trip early or extend it for certain reasons? Then personal assistance insurance can help. For example, it pays the following costs:
Return transport including necessary new flight tickets
A hotel room
Rescue
The reasons for interrupting or extending the trip may include illness or accident. However, travel insurance also pays for non-medical reasons, depending on the terms and conditions.
Your luggage is often not covered by travel insurance. Many insurers therefore offer separate luggage insurance. This supplemental insurance covers the following risks:
Theft
Robbery
Damage
Loss and damage during transportation by a carrier
Lost or forgotten items are not covered.
Good to know: in some cases, you can also insure your luggage through home contents insurance or your credit card provider.
Would you like to use a vehicle abroad? Vehicle assistance insurance can help you in the event of a traffic accident or breakdown outside Switzerland. This applies to your own car as well as to rental vehicles.
Vehicle assistance cover includes:
Breakdown service
Towing service
Return transport costs
Excess for rental cars
Accommodation costs and costs of returning home
This cover is usually limited to Europe. Before your trip, find out whether the insurance is also valid in your destination country.
Make sure you check your legal protection insurance before you travel. After all, legal disputes can be expensive. Before taking out insurance, clarify in which countries the insurance policy applies.
Good to know: some travel insurance policies also include travel legal protection insurance.
2. What risks are covered by annual travel insurance?
There are two different types of general, year-round travel insurance: cancellation insurance and assistance insurance. Depending on the insurer, you can take out the modules individually or in combination.
Cancellation insurance covers costs in cases where you’re unable to travel. Conversely, assistance insurance covers costs if something happens during the trip. This also includes a cancellation or interruption of the trip.
Insured risks
Do you or your companion need to cancel, interrupt or extend your trip? In that case, cancellation insurance and assistance insurance usually pay costs incurred for the following reasons:
Accident
Illness: this also includes serious complications of pregnancy.
Death
Accident, illness or death of a close family member: depending on the insurance policy, this also includes pets.
Natural disasters and epidemics
Unrest in the destination country
Loss of transport, for example in the event of an airline or train strike. Important: delays and detours are not considered a “loss of transport”.
Professional reasons:
You lose your job.
Your deputy or substitute will be absent and you must therefore be present at work.
You start a new job, but didn’t know about it when you booked the trip.
Major damage to your home contents or building that requires you to be on site. This also applies in the event of a burglary in your house or apartment.
Theft of documents such as your passport immediately before or during your trip.
Before the trip:
The Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) or the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) advise against the trip. The travel warning may not already exist at the time of booking.
There is an entry ban due to a natural disaster or epidemic.
The insured risks vary from insurer to insurer. So check your policy.
Good to know: package tours are subject to the Package Travel Act. In other words: tour operators have to pay for certain costs in some situations.
3. When should I choose an annual travel insurance policy?
With an annual insurance policy, you are insured for travel all year round – whether for spontaneous short breaks or longer trips.
Annual insurance may be worthwhile if you travel several times a year. It’s also particularly worth considering for medium- to high-priced trips. However, if you only plan one expensive trip per year, insurance for the individual trip may be more suitable. It’s best to compare different deals.
Annual travel insurance is valid for one year. Most of the policies automatically renew afterwards. The notice period is usually three months.
Important: when you submit a termination letter, the date of receipt by the insurer usually applies – not the postmark.
You must terminate the policy in writing. Some insurance companies offer an online portal for cancellations. Important information to include in the termination includes:
The sender
The recipient
The date
The policy number
Your signature if you do not cancel online
Good to know: you can also terminate your travel insurance policy in the event of a claim (Art. 42 IPA, not available in English). To do so, you must terminate the contract no later than 14 days after the claim has been settled.
4. Travel protection tips
Check whether you already have travel insurance. Some credit cards and home contents insurance policies also provide travel cover.
Please note: Rega is not an insurance provider. Even as a patron, you are not legally entitled to any benefits.
In case of any incidents abroad, contact your insurer as soon as possible. Take along the emergency number of the 24-hour helpline, your policy number and your insurance card when you go on holiday.
5. Travel insurance as a supplement to health insurance
Compulsory basic insurance and accident insurance generally pay for medically necessary treatment abroad. However, there are restrictions and maximum amounts to bear in mind.
Country-specific provisions regarding hospital choice and out-of-pocket expenses apply in EU/EFTA countries. As a rule: the insurers only pay for treatments in public institutions that charge according to the basic rate of the respective country. Depending on the country, you must also expect a higher coinsurance than in Switzerland.
In non-EU/EFTA countries, basic insurance or accident insurance pays up to twice as much as it would pay for the same treatment in Switzerland.
Good to know: in Switzerland, the cantons pay at least 55% of the hospital costs. Health insurers pay correspondingly less. In other words: in the event of hospitalization abroad, basic insurance pays a maximum of 90% of the cost of the same hospital stay in Switzerland.
Depending on the destination and needs, not all illness or accident costs are covered. It can therefore be worth taking out supplemental insurance.
Important: always take your “European Health Insurance Card” with you on holiday. It’s usually printed on the back of your Swiss health insurance card. In EU and EFTA countries, the local billing practice of the respective country applies – and your European card is valid in these countries.
The insurance for medical costs normally covers the costs of emergency treatments abroad. The insurance usually applies to medical costs that are not covered by health insurance or accident insurance.
For example: you are on holiday in the USA and get kidney pains. The outpatient treatment costs 20,000 francs. In Switzerland, the same treatment costs 3,300 francs – so your health insurer pays a maximum of 2,970 francs (a maximum of 90% of 3,300 francs). Medical cost insurance covers the remaining 17,030 francs.
This article was first published on 29.07.2024
