Accidental damage insurance allows you to insure specific types of damage to your vehicle. There are three types of accidental damage insurance: partial accidental damage insurance, collision accidental damage insurance and comprehensive accidental damage insurance.

• Partial accidental damage insurance: Damage that you did not cause. For example from hail, fire, theft, damage caused by martens, etc.
• Collision accidental damage: Damage that you caused in an accident.
• Comprehensive accidental damage insurance: If you have both partial accidental damage insurance and collision accidental damage insurance, it is known as comprehensive accidental damage insurance. 

This procedure determines whether you have disregarded traffic rules. The police or the public prosecutor are responsible for this. The driver and vehicle licensing office then decides in the so-called administrative procedure whether you will be cautioned due to having committed an offence, must hand over your driver's license or prove that you are still fit to drive. 

This is the age you are when you take out an insurance policy. There is coverage that dictates a minimum and/or maximum age at entry.

This is the amount that is at stake in a dispute in court. The amount in dispute is what the claimant is demanding. For example, you destroyed a sofa worth CHF 5,000 and the owner demands that you pay for this damage in court. The amount in dispute is therefore CHF 5,000.

In Switzerland, annuity insurance is based on three pillars. The first two, the state and occupational pension, are compulsory, whereas the third pillar is voluntary and allows you to privately build your pension capital for your retirement so that you can maintain your current standard of living.

In this procedure, a conflict is not judged by a statutory court, but by an arbitration tribunal on which both parties agree. This is an effective way to settle a dispute out of court and to avoid the associated high costs. 

Assignment refers to transferring an insurance policy to another person i.e. a change in policyholder. This option is only available for free provident insurance (Pillar 3b). The original policyholder assigns their policy to another person who will then be the new policyholder.

Assistance refers to our services that are available to help you 24/7. For example: Breakdown assistance, medical information over the phone or organising your repatriation from abroad.

The average return indicates how much the savings portion of your insurance has grown per year, on average, over the duration of the insurance. The return also takes into account the money you have paid in and have been paid out. 

If your vehicle has been damaged, we calculate its residual value at the time the damage occurred. There are two ways of calculating this value: using the base value or the current value. To calculate the base value, we apply a mathematical formula that takes the age, mileage and other factors into account. This formula is based on the guidelines for I independent car experts.

If you take out life or savings insurance, you can name beneficiaries. These are the people who will receive the insurance money in the event of your death. Beneficiaries are typically family members such as your partner or your children. But you can also name business partners as your beneficiaries.

Benefits are the money that we, the insurance company, pay in the event of a claim. The term can also be used to refer to the replacement of something that has been damaged. 

A burglary is when someone forcibly breaks into a building, room or container (e.g. safe or drawer) and steals its contents. Burglary also refers to situations where a person unlawfully gains entry into a building or a room with a stolen key.

This is the amount of money at your disposal. The term ‘capital’ is often used for the amount of money that a person wants to save or invest. 

If you don’t pay a bill and are unsuccessfully sued, the next step is to seize your property and assets. If this is not sufficient to cover the outstanding claims, the debt collection agency will issue a certificate of shortfall. This certificate states that you do not have enough assets to pay a claim. The document is then sent to the creditor and establishes that they must accept a loss despite the debtor’s property having being distrained.

The term ‘change of ownership’ is primarily used in relation to real estate. Particularly when ownership of a property you own is passed on to another person. This may be because of a sale or an inheritance. Changes of ownership are subject to tax. 

The term claim refers, for example, to a collision, glass breakage or the consequences of a fire. But accidents, death, disability or legal pitfalls can also be referred to as “claims” in the insurance world, even if we do not call them that. In the insurance industry, then, a claim refers to anything for which benefits from property or life insurance are paid out.

The class of vehicle has an influence on the amount of the insurance premiums. Vehicles with a lower class are cheaper. The class of vehicle is based on the accidents and damages associated with the vehicle class.

It is possible to combine life risk insurance with savings insurance. This allows you to save for your retirement with a Pillar 3a or Pillar 3b account and simultaneously cover the risks of death and loss of earning capacity should something happen to you.

When you take out insurance, we incur costs. For example, the cost of making a quote and drawing up the policy, as well as paying referral commissions. These costs are known as conclusion costs. They are usually included in the premium you pay for your insurance. 

Insurance conditions can usually not be adjusted during the term of contract. However, we are allowed to adjust the conditions if there are special circumstances, such as a change in law.  

Confirmation of cover is confirmation that we will pay for your claim, in full or in part. You have to report your claim to us in order to receive this confirmation. We will then check whether or not you are insured for your claim. 

This is the fine that is imposed for non-compliance or partial compliance with the terms of a contract. Both parties agree on this penalty when they conclude a contract. 

Coverage refers to the protection your insurance offers for specific risks and claims. If your policy clearly states that a specific claim is covered, then we will usually assume the costs for this claim. For example: Car insurance coverage might include collision or parking damage. In the case of life insurance, coverage is often an amount of money paid out in the event of death or a pension for loss of earning capacity. 

This refers to the current value of an item. The current value is calculated by using the age of the item and level of wear. For example, for a vehicle claim, we determine how much the vehicle is currently worth. There are two ways of calculating this: using the base value or the current value. The current value represents the market value of the vehicle at the time of the claim. The value of the vehicle is calculated using the operating life, mileage and condition of the vehicle. 

This refers to any illegal activity that takes place on the internet. For example, when someone misuses login data to pretend to be someone else, or distributes software that causes damage to other computers (malware). 

This term is used to describe bullying that takes place online, i.e. if someone is insulted, threatened, harassed or humiliated on the internet. This is most often an issue on social media, in forums or WhatsApp chats.

You can find additional information about cyberbullying and what you can do about it in our article ‘Protect yourself against cyberbullying’.

Damage to land is damage that happens to fields, pastures and other agricultural areas. This damage is often caused by wild animals or force majeure, such as a storm.

Life risk insurance is designed to protect your family if you pass away. With this insurance, your surviving dependants will receive a fixed sum of money, the death benefit, if you die.

A deductible is the amount that you need to pay yourself in the event of a claim. If you decide on a high deductible, your premiums will be lower. And if the deductible is lower, then you will pay higher premiums. 

Direct indemnity in lieu of litigation involves the following: if, for example, you have a claim against another party, your legal expenses insurance does not sue for this claim in court, but pays it to you directly. The insurance thus ‘buys’ its way out of the case, thereby avoiding expensive and lengthy court proceedings.

A person is considered disabled if they are not able to work at all or have diminished ability to work due to a health impairment. This impairment can be physical, psychological or mental. This definition applies to both impairments to health that people are born with and those that develop later in life such as through an illness or accident. In terms of disability insurance (IV), a person’s loss of earning capacity has to be permanent or last a long time (at least one year) in order to qualify.

This is the written contract in which married couples regulate the implementation and consequences of their divorce. This is done by mutual consent. Among other things, the divorce agreement regulates custody of children, the division of assets or the payment of maintenance. It is also referred to as a divorce settlement.

This refers to the term of contract. That is the time between concluding the contract and the end of the contract. The end of contract date is listed in your policy. A damage event that results in a claim must take place within the duration in order for us to cover it.  

In Switzerland, the retirement age is 65. If you enter retirement earlier than that, it is called early retirement. As soon as you stop working, your employer will stop paying into your second pillar account. This means you will have a smaller pension. This is why it is important to make sure you will have enough money to retire: it’s best to consult an expert. 

If you withdraw the money from the third pillar account early, this is called an early withdrawal. With a Pillar 3b account, you can do so any time and will then receive the surrender value. It is only possible to withdraw your money from a Pillar 3a account under certain circumstances. These include starting a business, buying a home you plan to live in and buying into a pension fund. 

In the world of insurance, the term ‘effects’ can have two distinct meanings.

• Personal belongings which are movable property. For example the kind of things one might typically have in a car such as a jacket, laptop or bag.
• However, effects can also be securities such as shares, bonds, mortgage bonds, investment certificates and warrants.

The endowment benefit is the sum that you will be paid at the end of your life insurance’s term of contract if you are still alive. In other words, this is what you will receive if you do not pass away before the insurance ends. These kind of lump sum payments are a good way to provide for your retirement.

Entitlement to insurance benefits is what you have in the event of a claim. For example: You are entitled to a specific amount that we pay you for your claim.  

ETF stands for “Exchange Traded Fund”. An ETF is an investment fund that is traded on the stock exchange on an ongoing basis.

As an insurance company, we are allowed to exclude certain benefits from your insurance contract. We then do not have to pay out these benefits in the event of a claim. For example: We might exclude water damage from your household contents insurance. This must be detailed in your insurance contract.

For exclusion of liability, we agree with you that you are not liable for a specific mistake. That means you are not legally responsible for it. However, this only applies to mistakes made recklessly or due to a lack of attention. If you make a mistake deliberately, it is not possible to exclude liability.

Expropriation is when the state takes property away from a private individual. A distinction is made between:

• Formal expropriation: part or all of your property is taken away and transferred to someone else. For example, the state may need your land to build a road and takes it away from you.
• Material expropriation: you retain ownership of your property, but are only allowed to use it to a limited extent. For example
  

Fires that serve a useful purpose are fires that are lit deliberately in a place designed for that purpose. This could be in a fireplace or a barbecue, for example. 

When you take out first-loss insurance, you agree to an insured sum in the event that something is damaged. This type of insurance makes sense if the insured value cannot be determined in advance. It means that you are not at risk of being under-insured and having your benefits reduced.

Free provident insurance refers to Pillar 3b, which allows you to privately build up capital through savings. In contrast to qualified provident insurance (Pillar 3a), Pillar 3b allows you to access your money more easily. This makes it ideal for medium- and long-term savings objectives. There are also no caps on the maximum amounts you can pay in. 

When you use an item that belongs to someone else. Compared to hiring the item, the user loan is always free, so you don't pay any money for it. A user loan is usually agreed verbally.

Full-value insurance means that the full, current value of an item is insured. If something happens – for example a fire or theft – then the insurance will pay enough money to fully replace the insured object or to rebuild it. Of course, this is only the case if you really do insure the full value of the item – if you do not, this is known as under-insurance. Full-value insurance is often taken out for buildings.

Your fund account reflects the current value of your fund units. This value is made up of:

• The amount that you regularly pay in (savings components)
• Profits, interest or dividends
• Exchange gains and losses.

The value of a fund account can fluctuate because it depends on the performance of the financial markets. Past gains are never a guarantee of future ones.

An investment fund is a professionally managed investment instrument. The contributions paid into the fund by investors will be spread as widely as possible – this is known as risk spreading or diversification. Every fund pursues a specific investment strategy, such as primarily investing in shares, property or sustainable investments.

When an investor invests in a fund, they acquire units in it. A fund unit is the smallest unit of the fund’s assets. 

Furniture is defined as all of the furniture and movable objects in your apartment or house. That is, all of the things that would fall out of your home if it were to be turned upside down. Furniture can be insured with a household contents insurance. 

If there is a gap in coverage, it means that you do not have enough insurance coverage to cover the entire costs of a claim. This might be the case if certain risks are not included in your policy, or if the insured sum is lower than the potential maximum damage.

You will receive General Policy Conditions for every insurance policy you take out. These conditions contain important information about your insurance. For example: Claims that are covered or not covered, what to do in the event of a claim or how and when you can cancel your insurance policy. Important: If your policy has special conditions, then these apply instead of the General Policy Conditions. The General Policy Conditions only apply when your policy does not list different conditions.

The geographical scope determines where your insurance cover applies. This might, for example, be in Switzerland, in Europe or globally.

A person is considered grossly negligent if they act in a way that could have been prevented by common sense. Another word for this is ‘reckless’. For example: It is grossly negligent to drive through an intersection when the traffic light is red. Or to leave the doors of your house unlocked.

The Swiss Household Goods Index shows how the value of household items changes due to inflation. These items include electrical appliances, furniture and clothing. This index prevents you from suddenly being under-insured as a result of your household contents being worth a lot more than when you took out the insurance. When this index goes up, your insured sum will automatically increase and so will your premium. The Household Goods Index is published once a year by the Swiss Insurance Association and will be shown on your insurance premium statement.

When you take out insurance, we are obliged, as an insurance company, to provide you with all the important information. This includes, for example, the General Policy Conditions. This information helps you to better understand your insurance policy. You are also required to provide us with important information. This is known as your obligation to provide information.

Interest risk deduction is the cost that we incur as an insurance company if we make losses due to rising interest rates, such as if we have to repay money or change our investments.

This is a person who provides you with advice on the subject of insurance and recommends suitable products. This is also something that our own insurance advisors do. The difference is: A broker is not associated with a specific insurance company. They look for suitable products from multiple providers for their clients. Insurance brokers are often simply called brokers. 

You need third party liability insurance for your car in order to drive it on the roads. The insurance certificate proves that you do have third party liability insurance. We send this proof to the driver and vehicle licensing office so that your vehicle can be registered. There are also insurance certificates for other types of insurance, such as for third party liability insurance, hunting liability insurance, third party liability insurance for dog owners, etc.

You can find more details in our FAQ. 

If a person pretends that they have suffered or intentionally causes damage in order to have money paid out to them, this is known as insurance fraud. For example: A person sets their apartment on fire and then claims money from their insurance. Or a healthy person pretends to have an illness and receives a daily sickness allowance. Those who commit insurance fraud are also affecting all other policyholders. That’s why we combat insurance fraud with every means at our disposal.

Insurance industry refers to the insurance sector. It describes the insurance industry and all insurance companies. 

The insured amount is the maximum amount that we will pay out in the event of a claim. 

The insured sum is the maximum amount that insurance pays out in the event of a claim. That means it represents how much protection is offered by an insurance policy. For example: For life insurance, the insured sum is the money that your beneficiaries will receive in the event of your death. For household contents insurance, it is the amount that you will receive if furniture or other items have been damaged or stolen.  

This refers to the value of an item at the time you concluded the insurance contract. Depending on the situation, the insured value may represent the replacement value or current value of the item.

This term refers to us, the insurance company. As an insurer, we insure our policyholders.

This area of ​​law regulates the protection of intellectual creations. It gives a person the right to use their ideas, works or inventions exclusively and prevents third parties from doing so without permission, for example, when someone invents a technical device, composes a song or writes a book. Identification marks such as brands or company names also come under intellectual property law.

If you have two vehicles, but only ever drive one at a time, you can use interchangeable licence plates. These licence plates are valid for both vehicles. However, you can never drive both vehicles at the same time.  

This is a name for insurance policies that also apply abroad. If you are planning to travel, it is very important to check which countries your insurance covers. If it only applies in Switzerland, then you can expand the scope of application or take out supplementary cover.

You need this card if you are planning to drive your car in Europe (outside Switzerland). It provides proof that you have third party liability insurance for your vehicle. If you do not have this card, you are not allowed to drive abroad. In Switzerland, insurance companies provide this proof directly to the driver and vehicle licensing office.

You can find more details in our FAQ. 

An investment plan sets out how we, as an insurance company, invest and manage your savings contributions. An investment plan involves one or several investment funds in which we invest your savings. The equity component of the plan is in line with your personal risk/return profile.

ISIN stands for International Securities Identification Number, which is an international form of ID for securities. ISINs are used internationally to identify securities. in Switzerland, they are the same as the securities number. 

If representation by a lawyer is required in court proceedings, the parties may only be represented by licensed lawyers. 

If you are liable for something, that means you must take legal responsibility for it. For example: If you hurt another person or break something that belongs to them, you will be liable for those damages. Third party liability insurance covers these types of claims. 

Liability law is a complex branch of ​​law. It regulates when a person can be held responsible for damage they have caused to others and how this person must make compensation or reparation. Liability law is the basis for claims for damages.

A life annuity provides financial protection post retirement. It involves dividing your private pension funds (Pillar 3a) into annual life annuity payments, which you will be paid from a defined point in time until you pass away.

There are two different types of life insurance: Life risk insurance, which only covers death and disability, and combined life insurance. The latter is very popular because it combines the benefits of life risk insurance with those of a savings plan. It ensures that your family or loved ones will be financially protected if you pass away or experience a loss of earning capacity, while simultaneously allowing you to save and provide for your retirement. 

Life risk insurance covers death benefits insurance and income protection insurance. This insures you against the risk of death or if you become unable to work due to illness or accident. In this case, you or your dependants will be paid the sum insured. 

This is the upper limit for the amount that an insurance policy will pay out in the event of a claim. The limit of compensation is stated in your policy. There are a variety of different limits of compensation. For example, the limit of compensation may be a set amount, a percentage share or a specific number of benefits per year. 

This is the period over which a creditor is entitled to their claim against the debtor. A creditor can no longer demand this claim in court once the limitation period has expired. In principle, the limitation period for a claim in Switzerland is 10 years, but there are various exceptions such as loss certificates (20 years), alimony or rent (5 years).

If a person becomes unable to work, their ability to financially support themselves will be affected in full or part. A person’s level of incapacity is determined by the Disability Insurance provider (IV).

In this procedure, disputing parties try to find a solution to their disagreement with the support of a mediator. Mediation is a voluntary procedure for all those involved and the solution must also be acceptable to everyone. This can often avoid court proceedings. A mediator is an independent third party who manages the communication in this procedure.

You can find out more information in our article ‘What is mediation?’. 

If you want to take out health or life insurance, you will have to undergo a health check. If it seems very likely that you will need the coverage from this insurance within the near future, the premium for the insurance will be more expensive. It is also possible that we will exclude certain illnesses from our benefits. Or we might decline to provide insurance if the associated premiums would be extremely high.

Monetary assets are: cash, securities, savings books, precious metals (in the form of stocks, bars or merchandise), coins and medals, loose precious stones and pearls, credit cards, travel tickets and season tickets.

Movable property is things that are not part of a building, such as vehicles or devices. The opposite of movable property is immovable property, such as real estate.

This is the term we in the insurance industry use to refer to natural catastrophes. These include, for example, flooding, falling stones, storms, hail, landslides, avalanches, etc. You can take out insurance against damages caused by natural catastrophes.

Vehicle insurance makes use of a bonus system. The lower your bonus level (also known as a premium level), the lower the premium you pay. The bonus level rises if you have an accident. If your policy includes no-claims bonus protection, then your premiums will not increase, even if you have an accident. This applies to one accident per year.

You can think of an obligation as being a sort of duty that benefits you. You are not required to do anything. But not doing something could have negative consequences. For example: If you need to make a claim, you should report it to us immediately. Of course, nobody will force you to do that. But if you do not report a claim or any consequential losses immediately, we may not cover your claim, or may cover only part of the costs.  

If you have a claim, you must make sure that the claim does not get bigger. This is an obligation. If the claim gets bigger and you could have prevented it, then we might not cover the entire cost of the claim. For example: Your windshield is smashed, but you do not repair it immediately. Because of this, rain damages the inside of your vehicle. 

If you take out a new insurance policy or report a claim, we will need certain information from you. You are obligated to provide this information to us. For example, information on your health, accident statements, medical certificates or expert opinions. This is the only way we have of determining the correct insurance premium or checking whether we can cover a claim.

Being over-insured means that the sum insured is higher than the actual value of the insured items. This can happen in particular with household contents insurance where one might overestimate the value of one’s household contents. However, in the event of a claim, we would only compensate you for the value of the damaged items, but no more. If you are over-insured, you will be paying a higher premium than necessary. This is why it pays off to regularly get the value of your household contents checked and to adjust it accordingly.

Parking damage is damage caused to your parked vehicle by an unknown third party. This means it is not damage that you cause when parking. 

This term is used to refer to a damaged item that can still be repaired. Partial damage means that the repair costs less than what you would have to pay to buy the item again. 

This is the compensation you have to pay the other party if you lose a court case. It includes the legal and procedural costs incurred by the other party. You must cover these costs in whole or in part. 

If you receive a payment commitment from us, then we will definitely cover the costs for your claim. For example: You car is damaged in an accident. The garage repairing your car wants confirmation in advance that the costs will be covered. 

A payout is the sum of money you are entitled to from your life insurance:

• Life risk insurance: This will only be paid on occurrence of one of the insured events (death or disability).
• Combined life insurance: This is always paid either on occurrence of the insured event (risk benefit) or when the insurance policy ends (survival benefit).

A pension entitlement means that a person is entitled to a pension. This could be because they have paid premiums into their insurance policy over an agreed period of time. You will also be entitled to a pension when they reach retirement age or in the event of certain events such as becoming disabled.

If you need more money to live on after you retire than you will receive from your state (AHV, Pillar 1) and occupational pension (Pillar 2), this is referred to as a pension gap. Ordinarily, the pensions from the first two pillars should equate to around 60% of your final salary. This means that there is usually a 40% pension gap that you can fill with a private pension (Pillar 3a). 

Pillar 3a is the qualified provident insurance plan. It allows you to save money for your retirement. ‘Qualified’ means that you will only be able to access these savings when you have reached retirement age. There are also a few exceptions under which you can access these funds at an earlier stage, such as when buying a home or starting a business.

At present, employees with a pension fund can pay a maximum of CHF 7,258 into a Pillar 3a account per year, and employees without a pension fund CHF 36,288 (as of 2025). Money paid into a pillar 3a account can be deducted from your taxable income. This tax is only due when the money is paid out. 

Pillar 3b is the free provident insurance plan. Just like a Pillar 3a account, Pillar 3b accounts also allow you to build private capital, but also allow you to access your money more easily. That is, you can withdraw these savings at any time as opposed to when you reach retirement age. There is also no limit on the maximum amount you can pay in. This is why Pillar 3b is perfect if you want to save for a medium or major purchase. Pillar 3b premiums can only be deducted from your taxes to a limited extent. Get in touch with your canton of residence to find out about the specific Pillar 3b taxation rules that apply to you.   

A pledgee is a person or a company that has the right to demand a service or payment from another person – the debtor. If, for example, you take out a mortgage to buy a home, the mortgage lender will be your creditor. Creditors sometimes ask for a security. In that case, you could, for example, pledge your life insurance to the mortgage lender. In that case, your mortgage lender will be entitled to draw on the insurance amount if you are unable to pay back the mortgage.

Pledging means providing your creditor with a security for the event that you are unable to pay the money or service owed. This security could take the form of valuable objects, shares, cash or something like a life insurance policy, and, for example, be provided to a mortgage lender as security for a mortgage In the latter case, your mortgage lender will then be entitled to draw on the insurance amount if you are unable to pay back the mortgage.

A policy is an insurance contract. You will receive a policy when you take out insurance with us. The policy contains the most important information: coverage, premium, term of contract, etc.  

This refers to the person who is the insurance company’s contracting partner. The policyholder is usually also the insured person, but not always. For example, your employer might be the policyholder while you are the insured person. Or you are the policyholder and your child is the insured person. 

The premium is the amount you pay for your insurance. Depending on the insurance policy, you will pay a premium monthly, semi-annually or annually. You will receive a premium statement when you make this payment. 

You can use this calculator to find out how much you would pay for an insurance policy. You can find a calculator for almost any type of insurance on our website.

You must pay your premium annually on the date stated in your policy under due date (premium due date). 

This means that we will continue paying your premiums if you lose your income because you are unable to work due to an illness or accident. This removes a major financial burden and guarantees that you will remain insured. Premium exemption can be co-insured in provident insurance policies.

The term ‘provident insurance’ refers to insurance policies that provide financial protection for potential future risks or life events. One example of such an insurance policy is life insurance.

Public notarisation refers to the recording of facts in a document or contract in writing by an official. The official is usually a notary public. Public notarisation is required, for example, when someone buys an apartment, concludes a marriage contract or sets up a limited company. The document only becomes legally effective once it has been signed by the notary public.

Qualified provident insurance refers to Pillar 3a, which allows you to build up pension capital for your retirement. Pillar 3a is a qualified pension. This means that you will only be able to access these funds once you have reached retirement age. There are also a few exceptions under which you can access these funds at an earlier stage, such as when buying a home or starting a business. 

Recourse refers to reclamation. The term is used when we charge you for costs that we have already paid for you. This is legal in specific circumstances. For example:

• If you act in breach of contract.
• If you caused a claim due to gross negligence.

The redemption price is the price at which units in a fund are bought back. This means that this price represents the current value of a fund unit. At Generali, this value is always calculated and updated on the first day of a month.  

This is compensation that you have to pay if you lose a court case. This compensation is based on the so-called litigation costs. These include costs arising from court appearances (expenses for proceedings, decisions, evidence, etc.) and party compensation (expenses for the proceedings, lawyers’ fees, etc.). As the losing party, you have to pay these litigation costs in full or in part. 

The replacement value is the price that you would have to pay right now in a shop if you had to purchase a new item. It is also known as the replacement cost.

The residual value is the value of an item once it has been damaged.

The return credit is the amount that accumulates through the profit generated with a Flex provident insurance policy. This part of your fund is generated when we successfully invest your money as an insurance company. 

The term ‘return’ means earnings or profits. When talking about investments, it refers to the percentual profit earned with the savings deposit.

If you have a right in rem to something, then this right applies with regard to everyone else. For example, if you own a piece of land, then you control it and can do whatever you want with it (within the legal limits). Rights in rem can apply with regard to movable or immovable property.

The risk/return profile describes the relationship between return and risk. If you want higher returns, you will need to be willing to take greater risks. If you are happy to take a higher risk, the greater the chance your investments will generate high returns. Conversely, if you want to invest your money as safely as possible, it will be less likely for you to make a lot of profit, but it also means that the risk of loss is lower. 

Risk spreading – also referred to as ‘diversification’ – is an important success factor when investing money. It involves dividing the assets of an investment fund among different assets. Efficient diversification can reduce the overall risk that an investment fund is exposed to. 

A robbery is when someone threatens you and steals your personal belongings. This could happen while you are walking on a street or in your home.

This is the compensation you receive if you have been caused physical or mental suffering. This is why it is also referred to as damages for pain and suffering. Satisfaction only compensates for non-material damage. It must be paid by the person who caused the damage or by their insurance.

A savings insurance allows you to save for your retirement. If you regularly pay into a Pillar 3a or Pillar 3b account, we will invest this money in investment funds with the aim of generating a return. When concluding savings insurance, you can decide the level of risk you are willing to take with regard to these investments. We will then invest your money accordingly. Once you have reached retirement age, we will pay you these savings plus any additional profits.

Your life insurance savings premium is the part of the insurance premiums that remains once all of the costs have been deducted (e.g. for risk, conclusion and administration). The savings premium is what will then be paid into your savings.

Scorch damage is caused by heat exposure in a confined space, such as when cigarette ash burns a hole in a sofa. Scorch damage does not involve any fire or flames.

Securities numbers act as a form of ID for securities in Switzerland, among other functions. They are also sometimes called securities identification numbers. Internationally, these numbers are referred to as the ISIN number (International Securities Identification Number). 

The security credit is the part of our Flex providence insurance that will be invested at a fixed interest rate. This means that you can be sure that your savings will increase as planned. This is in contrast to the plan’s fund share, which will be traded on the stock exchange. The security credit is made up of the savings you have accumulated through your premiums and the interest that accumulates thanks to this credit over time. 

If we cover a claim for you, then we are the service provider (we cover the costs). Service providers are defined as a contracting partner who has to provide a benefit. 

A simple theft is when someone steals someone else’s property without using force. This includes when someone steals things from a car. However, if a theft involves any threat of or use of force, it is either defined as a burglary or a robbery. 

Slander occurs when someone makes and spreads untrue or defamatory statements about someone else, even though that person knows the statements are false. 

Your policy may contain special conditions. These are different from the General Policy Conditions. As such, these special conditions will be listed in your policy. For example: A loyalty discount or an additional premium in the event that you are subject to an above-average amount of risk.

This is a tax on insurance premiums. It is determined by the federal government. We add this tax to your premium invoice and then pay it to the federal government. There is no stamp tax on life insurance with regular premiums, or for health, accident, disability and unemployment insurance.

Subsidiary insurance only pays after other insurance contracts have refused to pay. You can think of it as a sort of safety net, in the event that your other insurance does not cover the entire claim.

You have a right to receive supplementary benefits in the event that your AHV or IV pension does not cover the minimum cost of living. Your canton of residence will provide you with this financial support. Important: Unlike social welfare, you have a legal right to supplementary benefits. 

In some cases, your policy may contain supplementary conditions that will apply in addition to the General Policy Conditions or special conditions. These conditions set out rules for additional situations that are important for you, but are not described by the other conditions. 

If we, as an insurance company, generate more profit during the term of your policy than anticipated, this profit is known as a surplus. This surplus will be shared with our customers. With life insurance policies, we will pay out any surplus participation at the end of the policy's term. 

Life insurance policies have a fixed term. This means that you have to pay premiums for a certain period of time. The term is agreed when you take out the policy and is set out in your policy documents. If you cancel your life insurance prematurely, you will be paid the policy’s surrender value. The surrender value may be less than the amount of money you have paid into the policy. This is because we incur costs for managing the policy. That is also why we do not recommend cancelling a life insurance policy prematurely. 

If you do not pay your premium, despite the fact that we have sent a reminder, then you will lose your insurance coverage. Your coverage is thus suspended and you will have to pay for any claims yourself. Once you have paid your premium, including any reminder fees, you will be insured once more.

One simplified way to think about a tariff is that it is the price you pay for your insurance coverage. The tariff depends on the amount of risk and the scope of the benefits that you want to insure. The higher the risk, the higher the tariff.

As a general rule, all of the money you earn or own is subject to tax in Switzerland. However, you only need to pay tax on Pillar 3a life insurance when the policy is paid out. Plus, during the life insurance term, you can also deduct these life insurance premiums from your taxable income. Pillar 3b insurance premiums, on the other hand, can only be deducted in some cantons.

To find out more, take a look at our FAQ. 

In a tax assessment, the competent tax authority checks how much tax you actually have to pay or get back. The assessment is based on the information you provided in your tax return.

The tax rate is the percentage of your income that you have to pay in taxes. The tax rate differs from canton to canton.

Temporary structures are structures that are not permanent and do not have a fixed connection to the ground. This includes garden huts, rabbit hutches and wooden huts. 

Third-party insurance is the term used when you take out insurance for another person. That is, the person who signs the contract is not the insured person. 

Social insurance in Switzerland is based on three pillars. The first two are compulsory. The third pillar is voluntary and allows you to build private capital to draw on during your retirement and help you maintain your current standard of living.

• Pillar 1 – State Pension: This includes Old Age and Survivors’ (AHV) and Disability Insurance (IV) as well as the Supplementary Benefits.
• Pillar 2 – Occupational Pension: The second pillar comprises the Occupational Pension Fund and Occupational Accident Insurance.
• Pillar: 3 – Private Pension: The third pillar is subdivided into Pillar 3a and Pillar 3b, both of which allow you to privately build savings for your retirement.

If the cost of repairing an item is too high, it is known as a total loss. For example: You have an accident and the repairs to your car would cost more than the car is currently worth. Or there are holes in your sofa caused by a fire, but reupholstering it would cost more than it is worth. If a repair is no longer worth it, you will receive the current value of the damaged item from us.

Being under-insured means that the sum insured is lower than the actual value of the insured items. This can happen in particular with household contents insurance where one might underestimate the value of one’s household contents. Or if you fail to adjust your household contents’ value  after buying new furniture or electrical devices. If you suffer any damage to your household contents, we will then only compensate you for part of that damage.

For example:

If you have insured your household contents for CHF 50,000 but their actual worth is CHF 100,000, you will be under-insured by 50%. If you have a claim totalling CHF 10,000, we will also reduce our benefit by 50% and only pay you CHF 5,000.

This is why it is important to regularly get the value of your household contents checked and to adjust it accordingly. It is always better opt for a slightly higher sum insured than a lower one. How to avoid under-insurance.

Vandalism refers to damage that was caused deliberately by third parties. For example: If someone breaks off your car’s antenna or destroys the plants on your terrace. 

Your employer pays part of your salary into the pension fund as part of the occupational pension scheme (Pillar 2). If you are temporarily out of work and do not yet have a new employer, you will need to ‘temporarily store’ your Pillar 2 assets somewhere else. This is what vested benefits accounts are for, which we also refer to as vested benefits policies. 

In the first few weeks or months after you have taken out insurance, you only receive a reduced benefit or no benefit at all in the event of a claim. This gap until you are entitled to the full benefit is called the waiting period. It is designed to prevent insurance fraud. You can find details about this in your policy.

A waiver of right of recourse means that we will not ask you to repay any costs if you caused a claim due to gross negligence. You can add this coverage to your policy. If you do not have a waiver of right of recourse in your policy, we have the right to reclaim any money that we have paid on your behalf if your actions were grossly negligent.