Swiss Car Insurance Comparison

Car insurance is offered by Allianz, Axa, Baloise, Elvia (Allianz), Generali, Helvetia, Mobiliar, Postfinance, Simpego, Smile (Helvetia), Sympany, TCS (Baloise), Vaudoise, and Zurich.

All Swiss car insurers offer third-party liability car insurance, which is mandatory for all cars that use public roads in Switzerland. Additionally, voluntary partial-casco car insurance and full-casco car insurance are also offered by all car insurance providers. 

Other car insurance coverages that may be offered include:

• Insurance for roadside assistance: This insurance covers the cost of roadside assistance. Coverage is generally limited (to one or two incidents per year, for example).
• Parked card damages insurance: This covers damages to your parked car by unknown third parties.
• Passenger insurance: This insurance covers medical costs when the driver or passengers are injured in an accident, up to certain limits. It also typically includes some life insurance coverage that pays out a predefined benefit if you or another passenger are killed in an accident. 
• Insurance for transported items: This insures the stuff you carry with you in your car against damages caused by car accidents.
• Motorist legal insurance: A few car insurance providers offer motorist legal insurance along with their car insurance offers. Motorist legal insurance covers legal costs resulting from road accidents and disputes related to traffic.
• Underinsured driver insurance: This insurance, which is offered by some Swiss car insurance providers, covers liability claims by you against other vehicles for accidents that occur in countries which have low minimum liability insurance requirements. You can learn more in the guide to underinsured motorist insurance.

Some insurers offer special insurance for classic cars.

In Switzerland, all cars are required to have third-party liability insurance in order to drive on public roads. Third-party liability car insurance covers the cost of liability claims for injuries to third parties and damage to third-party property.

All other car insurance coverages are voluntary. Whether or not a specific car insurance coverage could benefit you depends on your vehicle’s are and value, and on how exposed you are to different hazards.

Having partial-casco car insurance or full-casco car insurance is primarily beneficial for newer cars. That is because the amount you can claim if your car is written off after a collision decreases with every year that the car is on the road. Because the value of older cars is normally low, the compensation you would receive if your (old) car is written off may not be high enough to justify the insurance premiums you have to pay. It is important to note, though, that partial-casco and full-casco car insurance always cover repairs, when repairs are possible – even for old vehicles.

You can use the moneyland.ch insurance calculator to find out whether partial-casco or full-casco car insurance is worth the price, based on the cost of repairs.  

• Insurance for roadside assistance: This insurance can be beneficial if you do not already have a roadside service plan (from a TCS membership, for example).
• Insurance for parked car damages: Most Swiss insurance providers only offer parked car damages insurance in combination with full-casco car insurance. Getting this insurance is primarily worth it if you have a relatively new car. It is important to note that certain damages to your parked car, such as vandalism, are covered by partial-casco car insurance. The Swiss National Guarantee Fund provides some compensation for parked car damages caused by unknown vehicles.
• Passenger insurance: All residents of Switzerland are already insured against medical costs resulting from accidents through either compulsory health insurance (not employed or self-employed) or employer-based accident insurance (mandatory for employees of Swiss employers). Swiss employer-based accident insurance also includes life insurance in the form of survivor’s pensions for your dependents. For these reasons, passenger insurance is only beneficial if your car will transport non-residents.
• Personal property insurance: It is worth noting that Swiss household insurance also covers personal property in your car against fire and water damages, among others. If you have household insurance, the benefit of getting supplemental car insurance for stuff you carry is marginal, and generally only makes sense if you frequently transport expensive items.
• Motorist legal insurance: Getting this insurance is worth considering if you do not already have stand-alone legal insurance that covers road traffic. That is especially true if you drive a lot, drive in foreign countries, or drive in very populated locations – as there is a higher risk of incidents. However, it is important to compare all offers, there may be stand-alone offers that suit your needs better than the ones offered in combination with car insurance. You can learn more in the guide to motorist legal insurance.
• Underinsured motorist insurance: Paying for this insurance only makes sense if you drive your car to countries that have very low liability insurance requirements for vehicles. You can learn more in the guide to underinsured motorist insurance.

The cost of car insurance varies hugely depending on which insurance company you use, where in Switzerland you live, and the age, make, and value of your car. Which insurance deductible you choose also has a major impact on the cost. 

Premiums for third-party liability car insurance start at around 220 francs per year. Partial-casco insurance, which covers natural hazards, theft, and vandalism, costs a minimum of around 50 francs. Premiums for full-casco car insurance, which includes both partial-casco insurance and collision car insurance, start at around 100 francs per year. These minimum premiums are for an older budget car, with the highest possible insurance deductible and no supplemental insurance riders or coverages. For very expensive cars, car insurance for third-party liability plus full-casco insurance can cost up to several thousand francs per year.

You pay markups on your insurance premium when you add insurance riders like claims-forgiveness for bonus-malus and/or a gross negligence waiver. You pay additional insurance premiums for supplemental coverages like roadside assistance, parked car damages insurance, motorist legal insurance, passenger insurance, and insurance for personal property in your car.

Third-party liability car insurance covers damages caused by a specific car – not by a specific driver. If other people use your car and cause an accident with it, your car’s liability insurance will also apply. However, insurance companies require you to list the car’s primary drivers. That is because factors like age, driving history, and the length of time for which a driver has held a driver’s license play a role in determining your insurance premiums.

Your car’s compulsory third-party liability car insurance does not cover you as a driver when you drive other cars. Damages you cause when you drive cars that do not belong to you are covered by the third-party liability insurance of the car you are driving. In some cases, damages you are liable for that are not covered by a car’s third-party liability insurance may be covered by your personal liability insurance.

Partial-casco car insurance and full-casco car insurance cover a specific car. Other cars you drive are not covered by your car’s casco insurance. The same holds true for other car insurance coverages.

Motorist legal insurance is an exception to this rule, as it generally covers you as a driver, regardless of which car you are driving when an incident occurs.

• Third-party liability insurance

The minimum coverage and requirements for third-party liability insurance are laid out in the Swiss ordinance on traffic insurance (Verkehrsversicherungsverordnung / Ordonnance sur l’assurance des véhicules). The law specifies that cars must have a minimum of 5 million francs (per accident) of third-party liability insurance coverage. The minimum requirement is 10 million francs for vehicles that seat between 10 and 50 people, and 20 million francs for vehicles that seat more than 51 people. 

The coverage you get with Swiss third-party liability insurance is generally much higher than the minimum required sum insured. Typically, Swiss insurers cover up to 100 million francs of liability per incident.

• Casco insurance

The maximum sum insured by partial-casco and full-casco car insurance is generally limited to the car’s catalog price (the recommended price for that mode when it was brand new).

Within the limits of the sum insured, casco insurance covers the actual cost of repairs. Glass is an exception to this rule, as coverage for repairing or replacing glass components is limited to the car’s actual cash value (the cost of buying the same used car at current prices). 

If your car is written off, the benefit you can claim from your casco insurance is equal to the car’s actual cash value. That means you will only receive the amount roughly equal to what it would cost to buy a similar used car.

Many Swiss insurance providers offer agreed-value insurance riders for casco insurance. If you add this optional rider, you will be able to claim higher benefits if your car is ever written off. You can find an overview of agreed-value riders in the guide to partial-casco car insurance.

Only the collision coverage included in full-casco car insurance covers damages to your insured car that are caused by collisions for which you are at fault.

Damages inflicted on your own property, or the property of other members of your household, are generally not covered by your car insurance. For example, if you scrape your spouse’s parked car while leaving your parking, your insurance will not cover the damages.

However, some Swiss car insurance providers offer a supplementary insurance rider for self-inflicted damages to your own property.

• Third-party liability car insurance

Swiss third-party liability car insurance coverage for foreign countries is based on the Green Card system. Switzerland is one of nearly 50 members of the Green Card system. This agreement makes it possible for a car licensed in one member country to travel to a different member country without having to get additional third-party liability car insurance for that country. The Green Card system ensures that your liability for accidents caused by your car is covered in keeping with the laws of the country in which the accident occurs.

Countries that participate in the green card system are: Austria, Albania, Andorra, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Germany, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Ireland, Iceland, Luxembourg, Lithuania, Latvia, Malta, Morocco, Moldova, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Norway, Netherlands, Portugal, Poland, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Slovakia, Slovenia, Serbia, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom. Belarus, Russia, and Iran are also members of the Green Card system, but their membership is currently suspended. Kosovo is not covered by the Green Card system.

However, Swiss car insurance providers are not required to cover all countries in the Green Card area. Typically, certain Green Card system member countries in Eastern Europe, Asia, and North Africa are excluded from coverage. Exclusions can vary between Swiss insurance providers. Countries that are covered by your Swiss third-party liability car insurance appear uncrossed on the International Motor Insurance Card that you receive from your insurance provider. Green Card member countries that are excluded from coverage are crossed out.

A total of 36 Green Card system member countries have an additional multilateral agreement that enables you to drive your Swiss-registered car across their borders without having to show your International Motor Insurance Card. These include all EU and EFTA countries, and the United Kingdom. Travel to all of these countries is typically covered by Swiss car insurance.

Liability for accidents caused by your car in countries outside of the Green Card system region is generally not covered by Swiss third-party liability insurance. When you travel to these countries with your car, you will need to purchase separate liability insurance for that country. Typically, short-term car insurance for visits or transits can be purchased at the border.

• Casco insurance

Swiss partial-casco car insurance and full-casco car insurance also only cover your car within certain countries. Commonly, your car is covered while traveling in European countries and countries bordering the Mediterranean, with the exclusion of certain countries in Eastern Europe, Asia, and North Africa. Some travel insurance providers offer specialized casco insurance for travel to countries that are not covered by casco insurance from Swiss car insurance providers.

• Insurance for roadside assistance

This insurance coverage is typically limited to roadside assistance in Switzerland and Liechtenstein.

The Swiss National Bureau of Insurance (NBI) and the Swiss National Guarantee Fund (NGF) administrate the Green Card system in Switzerland. They handle liability claims against cars registered in foreign countries, when the accident occurs in Switzerland. They also insure that victims are compensated in accordance with Swiss law.

Additionally, these bureaus manage a fund that pays out benefits towards damages to your parked car by unknown vehicles. Unlike the parked car damages insurance from car insurance providers, claims are subject to a 1000-franc insurance deductible.