Damage to a bathtub

Hi there, we stayed in an apartment near Lausanne for a couple years and at some point we made a few chips on the bathtub. The property management people say that we need to pay around 800 francs to replace the tub. Our liability insurance has a 500 franc deductible so we would still pay a lot. Is it fair for them to expect us to replace the tub? It wasn't exactly new when we moved into our apartment.

Greetings,

Most Swiss homeowners adhere to the guidelines set by the Swiss Homeowner's Association which stipulate that renters should pay for the repair or replacement of damaged property on an actual-cash-value basis.

The Homeowners Association maintains a list of the average lifespans of various housing components. You can find this list here. You should not be expected to pay more than the remaining value of a damaged item.

For example, the enamel coating of a bathtub has a listed lifespan of 20 years. If the tub is 10 years old, you can only be expected to pay for 50% of the cost of repairing the coating. If the tub is 20 years old or more, you should not pay anything at all because the enamel coating has already "expired".

Best regards from Moneyguru

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