Switzerland has a strong insurance culture, and it is common for newcomers to be offered a bundle of policies within their first few weeks. Some are genuinely useful, others are oversold relative to the actual risk.
Common overspend patterns
- Supplementary health insurance bought before understanding what basic cover already includes
- Legal protection insurance duplicated across household, vehicle, and employment policies without checking for overlap
- Life insurance sold as a savings product, when a term policy plus separate Pillar 3a savings is usually cheaper and more transparent
- Household and liability insurance bought separately from multiple providers instead of bundled with a discount
A simple sanity check
Before adding any policy, ask what specific loss it covers that you could not absorb yourself, and whether you already have overlapping cover through an existing policy, your employer, or a credit card. If the answer to both is unclear, it is worth a second opinion before signing.
Best for / avoid if
Best for: reviewing your full insurance stack once a year against actual claims risk, not just renewing everything automatically.
Avoid if: you sign a bundle in your first meeting with an advisor before comparing it to buying each policy separately.
