Risk is a big part of the experience you get from extreme sports. Being properly insured against the risks can help protect your financial life while you do the activities you love.

1. Accident insurance

Rules governing mandatory Swiss accident insurance allow insurance companies to reduce benefits (including coverage for treatment, loss of income, and disability pensions) by up to 50 percent if an accident results from your taking exceptional risks.

Sports which are always considered to be exceptional risks:

• Diving at depths of 40 meters or more

• Riverboarding

• Speed-flying

• Base jumping

• Driving a motorized vehicle on a race track (unless part of a driving safety course)

Sports which are normally covered but are considered exceptional risks in certain cases (primarily when practiced competitively):

• Skiing with the goal of setting a record

• Boxing (full-on, competitive)

• Extreme karate (splitting bricks, for example)

• Motocross (racing and training on race tracks)

• Boat racing (motorized, racing and training)

• Autocross (racing and training)

• Motorcycle racing (and training on race tracks)

• Snowmobile racing (and race training)

• Quad bike racing (or race training)

• Skateboarding (when it is competitive or speed-driven)

• Go-karting (training and racing with vehicles capable of speeds above 100 Kmph)

Sports which are normally covered but are considered an exceptional risk in the case of gross negligence:

• Mountain climbing, rock climbing and ice climbing (when safety guidelines are not followed)

• Off-slope snow sports (when official guidelines and regulations are not closely followed)

• Combat training (unless officially approved and overseen by relevant authorities)

• Hang gliding or parachuting (in hazardous wind conditions)

• Canyoning (when guidelines are not followed)

• Sailing or canoeing (under extreme conditions)

• Snow rafting (where adequate safety procedures are not followed)

• Buildering (in dangerous conditions, such as at night or in an intoxicated state)

Some accident insurance providers offer employers supplementary insurance which closes gaps in compulsory accident insurance. This is the best way to be insured against the risks of extreme sports. However, your employer has to take out this supplementary accident insurance for all of their employees. You cannot take it out on your own. It is worth checking whether your employer’s accident insurance includes this supplemental coverage.

If you do not receive adequate insurance from your employer, you should consider other options to close possible gaps. Options for insuring yourself privately are somewhat limited.

Extreme sports associations may give their members the option of taking out special insurance. For example, the Swiss diving association SUSV/FSSS offers its members a diving insurance policy underwritten by Helsana. Among other things, it includes coverage of up to 500,000 francs towards closing the gap if your loss-of-income benefits from compulsory accident insurance are reduced.

The Swiss Paraplegic Group offers a membership program which pays out a 250,000-franc benefit to any member who becomes permanently bound to a wheelchair due to a spinal cord injury. This provides one means of making up a shortfall in accident insurance benefits.

Some Swiss insurance brokers offer supplemental accident insurance for certain extreme sports which may cover some activities that are not otherwise part of your mandatory accident insurance. You can take out this insurance privately. The downside: It is relatively expensive.

2. Liability insurance

If you cause injury or damage to other people or their property while practicing extreme sports, you may be liable for the associated costs and loss of income.

Swiss personal liability insurance generally excludes liability for damages if the cause of damage is foreseeable, or if the risk of damages is high. Participation in competitive motorsports including training is also normally excluded.

Some insurance companies offer optional riders for personal liability insurance which cover specific sports. Visana and Mobiliar let you add cover for hang gliding as an optional rider. Allianz and Generali let you cover kitesurfing. Go-karting coverage can be included in personal liability insurance from Allianz, Axa, Elvia, and Generali.

Some extreme sports associations offer their members special liability insurance. The Swiss Base Association, for example, offers base jumpers liability insurance underwritten by Generali.

3. Life insurance

When you take out Swiss term life insurance, you have to fill out a questionnaire which, among other things, asks what kind of sports you practice. You must answer this truthfully, and the insurance company will decide whether or not to accept your application in spite of your extreme sporting activities.

Swiss life insurance generally does not specifically exclude extreme sports, and insurers generally waive their right to reduce benefits for deaths caused by gross negligence. If the insurance company accepts you even though you engage in extreme sports, you will be covered against the risk of death unless a special exclusion is made.

4. Health insurance

Basic mandatory health insurance covers medical costs for illnesses related to practicing extreme sports the same as health issues with other causes.

However, supplementary health insurance typically excludes extreme sports based on the rules applicable to accident insurance. This generally also applies to dental insurance.

5. Travel insurance

Most Swiss travel insurance offers explicitly exclude damages resulting from certain extreme sports from coverage. This generally applies to all travel insurance coverages including trip delay and cancellation, medical emergencies, medical evacuation and/or repatriation, search and rescue, emergency dental care, and legal assistance. 

Examples of sports which may be excluded are: 

• Training and/or competing in motorsport on land or water; 

• Training and competing in organized sporting events; 

• Training or competing in professional or semi-professional sports which involve high speeds.

Travel insurers usually exclude damages which result from deliberately participating in any high-risk activities. Damages caused by gross negligence are also generally excluded.

More on this topic:
Winter sports: How to get properly insured
Compare Swiss term life insurance offers now
Swiss accident insurance guide
Swiss disability pension guide