Insurance for tenants: contents, liability, and Vaud's compulsory cover

Two insurances matter when you rent in Switzerland, and they are easy to confuse: contents insurance protects your own belongings, personal liability insurance can cover damage you cause to others — including your landlord. Neither replaces the other, and in one canton on this site, Vaud, part of the first is compulsory by law.

Two different insurances

• Household contents (Hausrat / mobilier de ménage): your furniture, clothes and other belongings in the flat, against risks such as fire, natural hazards, water damage or theft, depending on the policy.
• Personal liability (Privathaftpflicht / responsabilité civile privée): damage you cause to other people or their property — a neighbour’s flat flooded by your washing machine, or damage to your rented flat beyond normal wear.

Policies differ in what they cover, so read the terms rather than the product name.

Why landlords ask for liability cover

When you move out, you must return the flat in the condition that results from using it as agreed (Art. 267 CO). Normal wear is the landlord’s cost; damage beyond normal use is yours. Liability insurance is the usual way to cover such damage — ETH Zurich notes that some landlords ask for proof before signing the lease. Our documents checklist lists it, and the cover letter generator can name it among your enclosures.

A rental deposit is a different thing: it secures the landlord’s claims, it does not insure you. See the rental deposit guide.

Vaud: compulsory contents insurance

In the Canton of Vaud, everyone living in the canton must insure their household contents against fire and natural hazards with the cantonal insurance institution, the ECA. That applies to tenants as much as to owners. Newcomers who already have cover with an insurer licensed in Switzerland may keep that contract until it expires, but at the latest five years after bringing their belongings into the canton; the canton recommends contacting the ECA on arrival.

The compulsory part covers fire and natural hazards only. Other risks — and personal liability — are separate insurance.

The Vaud rule above is verified. For other cantons, check with the cantonal authority about requirements at your new address; this guide does not establish their insurance rules.

What to check

1. Your lease: does it require personal liability insurance?
2. Your canton: moving to Vaud? Contact the ECA about contents cover.
3. Your policy terms: what counts as damage to a rented flat, and what the excess is.
4. Your move-out: at the handover, damage beyond normal wear is where liability insurance comes in.