Swiss Motorcycle Insurance Comparison

In Switzerland, all motor vehicles must be covered by third-party liability insurance before they can use public roads. Third-party liability insurance covers your legal liability for the costs of injuries to other people and damages to other people’s property that result from using the insured motorcycle.

Other kinds of motorcycle insurance are voluntary.

If you want to insure the costs of repairing your motorcycle if it gets damaged by hail, floods, fire, storms, and other natural hazards, you can get voluntary partial-casco motorcycle insurance. You can find clear overviews of what is covered in the guide to Swiss partial-casco insurance.

Some partial-casco insurance offers also include coverage for various kinds of vandalism that you may encounter as a motorcycle owner. Hazards that may be covered include vandals placing foreign liquids in your bike’s fuel tank or oil reserve, or cutting your motorcycle’s seat. Depending on where you park your motorcycle, the risk of vandalism can be relatively high. For that reason, it is important to choose an insurance that covers the kinds of vandalism you are most likely to encounter. You can find a comparison of vandalism coverage by insurance provider in the moneyland.ch guide to partial-casco motor vehicle insurance.

Theft is also covered by partial-casco insurance. This voluntary insurance also covers your loss if your motorcycle is stolen. When you get partial-casco insurance, you can choose to get additional coverage for optional extras (storage cases, for example) in addition to the motorcycle itself.

If another vehicle is at fault for the accident, the costs of repairing your bike will generally be covered by that vehicle’s compulsory third-party liability insurance.

If you want to insure the cost of repairing damages to your motorcycle caused by accidents that you are responsible for, you can get voluntary collision insurance. In Switzerland, collision insurance is generally bundled with partial-casco insurance to form full-casco motorcycle insurance.

Full-casco insurance covers damage to your motorbike caused by both collisions with other vehicles for which you are at fault, and accidents that do not involve other vehicles (skidding or hitting a guard rail, for example).

You can find detailed information in the guide to full-casco motor vehicle insurance.

Voluntary partial-casco insurance may pay out a lump-sum benefit if your motorcycle is severely damaged by fire or another covered hazard, or if it is stolen and cannot be recovered. The collision insurance that you get with voluntary full-casco insurance may pay out a lump-sum benefit if your motorbike is wrecked in an accident.

If the cost of repairing your motorcycle exceeds a certain threshold, the insurance company will give you the option of getting a lump-sum benefit instead. You can choose to accept this lump-sum, or to have the insurance pay to have your motorcycle repaired.

With standard insurance, the lump-sum benefit you are offered if your motorcycle is written off will be equal to its actual cash value – the price you could have sold it for before the damages occurred. However, most insurance providers give you the option of adding scheduled benefits to your partial-casco or full-casco insurance policy. With a benefits schedule, you receive a lump-sum that is higher than the actual cash value if the write-off occurs before the motorcycle reaches a certain age. Adding a scheduled benefit rider can be beneficial if you have a new or relatively new motorcycle because motorbikes tend to lose a great deal of their value during their first years on the road. A scheduled benefit rider ensures that you receive a lump-sum that is closer to the amount you paid for your bike.

You can find an overview of compensation models for write-offs in the moneyland.ch guide to partial-casco insurance.

Most motorcycle insurance providers offer passenger insurance that covers your medical costs if you are injured in an accident, up to certain limits. Typically, passenger insurance also includes some life insurance, and pays out a death benefit if you or a co-rider are killed in an accident. But it is important to understand that medical expenses are already adequately covered by the mandatory accident insurance you get from your compulsory Swiss health insurance (or from your Swiss employer-based accident insurance, if you are employed). Unless you occasionally lend your motorcycle to friends who are non-residents without adequate accident insurance, or let them ride along as co-riders, then passenger insurance is generally superfluous.

Damages caused by natural hazards and vandalism can be insured against using voluntary partial-casco insurance.

If you want to insure the costs or repairing scratches or dents that unknown vehicles inflict on your parked motorcycle in hit-and-run incidents, you can do this by getting voluntary parked car damages insurance. This insurance is typically offered in combination with full-casco motorcycle insurance, although some insurance offer it to partial-casco insurance customers as well.

No. It is possible to get the obligatory third-party liability insurance from one insurance company, and voluntary motorcycle insurance like partial-casco or full-casco insurance from a different insurance provider. However, it may not be possible to do this using online applications.

Most Swiss motorcycle insurance providers use bonus-malus systems, with which your premium is lowered after each claim-free year, and raised after you make a claim. Only a handful of motorcycle insurance providers do not use bonus-malus systems. You can find a clear overview of bonus-malus systems and claim-free discounts in the guide to full-casco car insurance.

Household insurance generally does not cover your motor vehicles for which a special, vehicle-based liability insurance is mandatory. That means your motorcycles are not covered by your household insurance, even when they are parked on your property. However, if your household insurance includes coverage for simple theft away from home, then that insurance generally does cover the theft of things stolen from off your motorcycle – such as a phone or other personal property.

You can insure your motorcycle against most of the risks covered by household insurance – including theft, fire, natural hazards, and vandalism – by getting voluntary partial-casco motorcycle insurance.

Insurance providers that offer car insurance generally offer motorcycle insurance as well. Swiss motorcycle insurance providers include Allianz, Axa, Baloise, Elvia (Allianz), Generali, Helvetia, Mobiliar, Postfinance, Simpego, Smile (Helvetia), Sympany, TCS (Baloise), Vaudoise und Zurich.