Car insurance and Swiss advice

[krallicious]

Some questions if you would be so kind as to help.

1)I have been told by some the girlfriend's family the insurance is astronomical for cars and was wondering if this was the case in anyone's experience. Surely it cannot be as bad as Britain?

2)Should I bring my car from England and register in Swizterland. Is this difficult? And if so are cars generally expensive to purchase?

I will be moving to the Bern in October. Are there any other PHers around the area?

Thanks

Pete

[Phil-CH]

krallicious said:

Some questions if you would be so kind as to help.

1)I have been told by some the girlfriend's family the insurance is astronomical for cars and was wondering if this was the case in anyone's experience. Surely it cannot be as bad as Britain?

2)Should I bring my car from England and register in Swizterland. Is this difficult? And if so are cars generally expensive to purchase?

I will be moving to the Bern in October. Are there any other PHers around the area?

Thanks

Pete

Hi Pete,

Not sure of how much help I can be, since I haven't lived in the UK and therefore, can't really make any comparisons.

Personally, I think insurring isn't all that expensive, if you're not all that young and have a few years worth of driving experience (each year you have you your licence, insurrance premium goes down). It also depends what you are getting insurred, the value of the car, should it include the parking cover, do you want the first accident per year to have zero effect on the premium etc etc.

There are quite a few car insurrances that are well known over here:
AXA Winterthur, Zurich-Versicherung, Mobiliar Versicherung, Generali etc.

I'm personally with AXA Winterthur and have been very happy. Perhaps give one of the above a phone call - Usually it doesn't take them long to come up with a quote.

Or visit http://www.comparis.ch/ - very popular site that helps compare different offers over the internet.

As for number 2.) - not sure how car prices compare with the UK either. Depending on what you're looking for, they should be more or less around the same, with the exception that I think our VAT is lower. What car are we talking about, if I may ask?

Cheers Phil

[GregW]

Follow Phil's advice and throw some details into Comparis to get an idea. It's hard to make an absolute judgement because like the UK the costs are dependent on car, you and where you live.

Consider:

- Some insurance companies charge foreigners an additional levy so check the small print. Winterthur don't.
- Make sure your UK insurer provides documentation confirming your claims discount. Most insurance companies will accept this and apply it to your Swiss insurance to some degree.
- If you have more than one car you can insure the most expensive car and simply swap the license plates. This works well if you have a regular and a sports car.
- It's also possible to turn in your license plates for winter. I know some people who do this and make quite a saving on insurance.
- If you don't have winter tires through the months of November-May and are involved in an accident your insurance company can refuse to pay out. You will also assume liability irrespective of who is to blame.
- New cars e.g. BMW are generally a little cheaper on list but are not as well specified compared to the UK. Taking a historical exchange rate and equivalent specification cars are about the same or a little more expensive.
-Fuel is cheaper.
- If your car is RHD I wouldn't bother brining it here unless it's a classic or rare care that won't be driven much. It will cost you more to insure and you'll have to pass a tough inspection after 12 months anyway. Because space is so tight here underground and multistory car parks are ubiquitous. A RHD car would be a pain.

Edited by GregW on Thursday 10th April 19:10

[krallicious]

Thanks for the replys. Will give comparis a whirl tomorrow and see what happens. I do not have a classic by any means. Will be changing my car in the summer but I may wait until I'm in Switzerland as it is probably the most sensible option.

Phil - Currently drive a SEAT Leon Cupra but am looking to upgrade to a year old BMW Z4MC (very jealous of your car. Hethal is just round the corner from where I am originally from)

Greg - I'm curious as to to legality of changing the number plates from the more expensive car to a second car.

I was wondering where car lovers generally head to enjoy their machines? I know there are some fantastic roads heading towards the Tissen but are there many meets/track days held in Switzerland?

THanks

Pete

[Phil-CH]

Hi Pete,

krallicious said:

Greg - I'm curious as to to legality of changing the number plates from the more expensive car to a second car.

That's what I'm doing at the moment with the Lotus (the Lotus being the more expensive one).
Technically, when you insure two cars with one number plate, your premium is reduced to just the more expensive car, with the benefit of the car that's not driven still being insured. This works out well for both, since you can't drive both cars at the same time, as you only have one plate anyway, so you only pay for the more expensive one.

In Winter, if you decide not to use the more expensive one, you can inform the car insurance company and notify them. At that point until you use it again, you'll only pay the other cars insurance premium. Works out very well in my case since the Lotus doesn't get used in Winter and is quite a bit more expensive than my daily drive.

krallicious said:

Phil - Currently drive a SEAT Leon Cupra but am looking to upgrade to a year old BMW Z4MC (very jealous of your car. Hethal is just round the corner from where I am originally from)

I was wondering where car lovers generally head to enjoy their machines? I know there are some fantastic roads heading towards the Tissen but are there many meets/track days held in Switzerland?

Thanks!
If you are moving to Bern, you should have plenty of nice roads close by - either the alps towards Thun or towards Basel/Jura. Since I live in Zurich, I usually prefer going to the black-forrest just across the border in Germany though - much closer and less traffic. Do take Clarkson's opinion of Switzerland very serious though. :/

As for the Z4MC. Nice choice. Perhaps check out www.autoscout24.ch to get an idea of car prices.

Cheers Phil

Edited by Phil-CH on Friday 11th April 10:31

[Phil-CH]

krallicious said:

I was wondering where car lovers generally head to enjoy their machines? I know there are some fantastic roads heading towards the Tissen but are there many meets/track days held in Switzerland?

One more thing: No track days in Switzerland as it's AFAIK against the law (very old and silly law). We do have slaloms throughout switzerland and historic hill climbs in the alps every now and then. We also have various car meets throughout the year at various places. For track-days, the closest one is in Anneau du Rhin a bit north of Basel.

For some other nice drives, Glarus has some very nice passes. Try googling "Klausenpass".

Cheers Phil

[GregW]

From Bern head towards Interlaken and then Meiringen which is close to the Brünig pass. Once in Meiringen you have some of the best driving roads Switzerland has to offer.

I normally head out late afternoon to avoid the tourist traffic and take in the Grimselpass, Furkapass, Sustenpass and Gotthardpass. If I leave earlier the Nurfenenpass.

You'll enjoy the Z4 ///M coupe but in Switzerland the Roadster makes a lot more sense. You don't have the security issues that are prevalent in the UK and the weather is better. I had one of the first Z4 ///M Roadsters in CH so am a little biased

A Z is not going to be fun in winter. It's none of my business but may want to budget for a daily driver or plan to use public transport in winter.

The motorsports ban in switzerland is coming to an end and there are plans for a couple of tracks and even a potential F1 bid. Like most things in Switzerland, this change will not happen quickly so for the next few years you'll have to head towards DE and FR for track days or leave a car in the UK and fly back to the UK.

Edited by GregW on Saturday 12th April 04:38

[krallicious]

Thanks very much for the pointers. Did not realise just how many good roads are near Bern. My girlfriend is from the Black Forest (well right at the southern tip - Bad Saeckingen) so I have been on a few roads. Unfortuantly she does not really approve of spirited driving unless the road is straight. Have spent the weekend looking at various cars and insurance. Why is the exchange rate now so low I am becoming tempted by the 2 cars 1 plate route. It does seem to make a lot of sense for the winter. Also, I have been made aware of a travel pass that can be used throughout Switzerland which costs around 3500CHF?

Thanks agin

Pete

[GregW]

A GA represent very good value for money if you plan to use the train for commuting etc.

http://mct.sbb.ch/mct/en/reisemarkt/abonnemente/ga...

An alternative if you don't use the train very often is a 'Halb-Tax'. This reduces the fare by 50% irrespective of time of travell and class.

http://mct.sbb.ch/mct/en/reisemarkt/abonnemente/ha...

[krallicious]

Greg, Phil

Sorry for the absent spell. Been all over the place recently. Thank you so much for the advice. Invaluable to hear from people actually living in CH. Look forward to meeting up for some hoons once I'm all settled if you would be up for it.

Thanks agin

Pete

[Gixer]

What a great common sense approach -only having to cover the most expensive car. Just got back from our 2nd visit to Switzerland and Black forest.

Edited by Gixer on Tuesday 1st July 18:20

[Roop]

Swiss insurance is based on a number of things including the new value of the car, it's current value etc. I moved here last year and went from paying £500-ish fully comp on a Civic Type-R in the UK to around £700 for a cooking 2 litre Focus here in Switzerland.

My road tax is around £350 (based on weight and emissions I think) plus £20 for the motorway vignette.

In the case of specialist cars, my RS500 was insured in the UK for around £450 a year, agreed value of £26,000 and max 3000 miles a year. Here they are struggling to value it at more than £19k for replacement purposes, maximum 1500km a year and the cost is likely to be around £2k.

In a word, it's significantly more expensive than the UK for, I expect, the majority of cars.

[JMGS4]

Roop, you have to agree that the coverage is much higher though. e.g. full coverage for other drivers, automatic green card for all of Europe etc etc which in GB has all to be paid extra. AND petrol is a damn sight cheaper over here!

[AndrewD]

Hmmm. When I first tried to insure the spyder most insurers offered some ridiculous policies where the theft excess was around 10% of the car's value. Eventually we sorted that one, but at a cost!

Same thing now happening on the superleggera, they'll be on different plates so it is new insurance time. They wanted 10% excess if the car were to be stolen when abroad. Again, sorted ... at a price.

And watch out when they try to contract you for 5 years.

But I'd rather be here than the UK!

[Roop]

JMGS4 said:

Roop, you have to agree that the coverage is much higher though. e.g. full coverage for other drivers, automatic green card for all of Europe etc etc which in GB has all to be paid extra. AND petrol is a damn sight cheaper over here!

Sorry chaps, just got back from vacation. Yes, the coverage is better but is it worth paying - in the case of my Focus - double the premium I'd pay in the UK...? Not sure on that. Green card from Direct line cost me a fiver so that doesn't really count. Yes, petrol is cheaper. That does make up for it quite a way...!!!