Hausratversicherung / Household Contents Insurance

Banks, Insurances & Third Pillar
1

Hi all,

I would like to get your opinion on this topic.

I have a household content insurance from Basler which costs me 370 CHF per annum.
Lately I was going through all my expenses and was wondering “Do I really need this one?”.
We own a little house and I was told it makes sense to have such an insurance. I just realized that we never had an ocassion close enough to claim something.

Whats your thought on such kind of insurance ?

Thanks

2

Insurance is normally taken hoping that one would never need to claim it

Having said that, if you believe you don’t have a lot of stuff, you can try to reduce the coverage

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Not specific to this kind of insurance, but I try to apply the following mental model to all insurances:

Since the insurance is, as far as the insurer thinks, a bet in their favor, the default answer to whether to get an insurance is no, unless:

  • The insured event would be devastating to your financial situation and future quality of life (in other words you can’t afford to self-insure, the loss would be too much w.r.t. your assets)
  • There is extra information known to you and unknown to the insurer (and you are legally allowed to not disclose it) that you believe actually makes the bet to be in your favor (e.g. increases the chance of the insured event significantly higher than the insurer thinks)
  • The insurer would end up paying less money than you to compensate an insured event and the difference would be so large to make the insurance contract a win-win for both parties. For example, if the insurer has some collective bargaining power. This probably does not apply to a household insurance where the insurer must directly compensate you with the market value.
  • If it makes you sleep better at night. Even if it does not make sense in terms of probability theory, you are not a robot but a human - spending money for peace of mind can be money well spent, there is nothing wrong with it.

Up to you to figure out if any of the above applies :slight_smile:

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4

IMO, health insurance and private liability + household insurance are the 3 most relevant insurances and especially if you own a house I wouldn’t drop the household insurance. Especially due to this point of @rez, unless you are so wealthy that it wouldn’t hurt you much if the whole thing burns down:

But as @Abs_max said, you can always check whether there are cheaper options for the same coverage (other provider), or whether you can lower the costs by reducing coverage (e.g. because you’re currently insured for 60k while you think all your household items are only worth 30k).

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love the inputs, thank you all

6

I’d disagree on the household one and don’t have one, myself.

Which use case do you have in mind?
It was recommended to be, often bundled with private liability (which I’d consider mandatory).

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Complete loss of your household items (Fire, Water, Theft). But yeah, if that does not bother you much and you can sleep well without, then its no crime to skip it.

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Well, such an event would be extremely disturbing. Yet money from the insurance later on wouldn’t change that, nor could they send me new furniture, clothes, toys etc. the next day.

It’s no crime to have one, either :wink: Just wanted to add that I’d consider it optional.

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9

Thanks again all. It helped me to get a broader view and form an opinion.
Actually we dont own very expensive stuff. That speaks for to reduce the coverage.
The case that a full catastrophe happens, well that part is also covered by the mandatory “Facility insurance” which one must have like health insurance.
Fully giving it up ?..hmm… I think I want to have a good sleep as well.

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Yes, I chalked this one off as a Swiss speciality. Usually that construct is called „Haushaltsversicherung“ - an arguably optional insurance bundled with an absolutely essential one.

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11

Just wait until your charming house is flooded… And you have to buy everything anew until the house gets flooded again. Just cleaning up is costly. And that’s if it’s IKEA furniture. Let’s not mention flooring etc. Cutting corners on this will prove to be a costly mistake.
I use the Swiss Mobilère / Mobiliär. It’s a co-op. Most often than not, they post a profit which is redistributed.
Your thinking is false economy. Look somewhere else for cost-cutting. (The wife’s mink overcoat?)
Just joking. Think about it, really.