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We pay over a quarter of our household income for insurance. “Over-insured,” says consumer protection – “a customer need,” replies the Helvetia managing director. One thing is clear: the federal government wants to act on life insurance.
On average, people in Switzerland spend over 1,000 francs every month on insurance. Only people in Hong Kong and the United States invest more in protecting themselves from the unexpected. Of course, many insurances are mandatory: above all the health insurance premiums, the social security contributions for the AHV, the IV or the income compensation scheme. These costs can at least be optimized somewhat with an insurance comparison and waiver. There is more freedom of choice when it comes to property insurance or life insurance.
An average household in Switzerland spends almost 25 percent on insurance. Too much, says the managing director of the Consumer Protection Foundation Sara Stalder: “The Swiss population is certainly the best insured group of people in the world because they have a high need for security.” But certain insurance companies took advantage of this: “The insurance companies know that there is a high willingness to pay,” says the consumer advocate.
Multiple insured risks, such as travel or theft, are also an unnecessary cost factor. “We are not over-insured,” replies the managing director of Helvetia Insurance. His argument: “Our research shows; “Customer satisfaction is very high,” says Philipp Gmür. The rewards are worth their price.
The federal government wants to act on life insurance
A particular thorn in Sara Stalder’s side is life insurance: “Insurance policies that have an insurance and a savings component are, firstly, expensive and you can’t cancel them without losing a lot of money.” In addition, the promised returns are often unrealistic. This is confirmed by an investigation by the financial market supervisory authority Finma.
Upon request, the federal authority wrote: “Finma found that in the ‘unfavorable’ scenario, the example calculations for life insurance were too optimistic for over 90 percent of the approximately 80,000 insurance contracts examined.” It is now important to create a transparent basis for decision-making for customers. Finma announced in August that it would strengthen supervision in this area.
Helvetia boss: “Can’t understand Finma criticism yet”
“We have taken note of the Finma criticism,” says Philipp Gmür from the Helvetia Group. “All tariffs that we sell on the market have been checked and approved by Finma,” he says. He therefore cannot yet understand Finma’s criticism. “We are now evaluating the criticism,” he says.