Does My Household Insurance Cover Damages by a Pet I Am Looking After?

I am looking after some hamsters for a friend while her family is away on their summer vacation. This morning I found that my son had let them out of their cage last night. During the night they bit up many of the cables for our computers and stereo, and also damaged the lounge set.

The damage is hundreds or even thousands of francs. Can I claim it from my Swiss household insurance or do I have to pay myself? I can't really hold my friend responsible since it was my son who let them out.

Is there any chance of these damages being insured?

Hi there,

In Switzerland, damage by pets is covered by personal liability insurance. Liability falls on the owner of the pet, and they can claim on their personal liability insurance.

However, not all policies cover damages inflicted on the property of caretakers looking after a pet on a voluntary basis. Policies whose terms and conditions explicitly provide for this include those from Allianz Suisse, Vaudoise, Sympany (max. CHF 100,000), Helvetia (max. CHF 1000), Visana (max. CHF 2000), Axa (max. CHF 100,000), Smile Direct, Mobiliar (max. CHF 2000), Generali (max. CHF 2000), Elvia (max. CHF 2000) and Zurich.

A good first step is to explain the situation to the pets' owner and ask them if they have personal liability insurance which covers damage to the property of pet caretakers and if so, if they would consider filing a claim covering the estimated cost of the damages.

Important: Commercial pet sitters and other pet caretakers are generally not covered by the personal liability insurance of the pet's owner. Commercial pet caretakers are caretakers who charge a fee for looking after pets.

Best regards from Moneyguru

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