The topic of a mandatory national earthquake insurance repeatedly returned to the political arena and was regularly rejected, backed by in-depth investigations and working groups of the insurance companies and affected parties. The Federal Council was also always against it. In implementing the motion 'Swiss Earthquake Insurance via a System of Contingent Liability,' it was necessary to draft a proposal within the framework of a federal decision. This envisages an amendment to the Federal Constitution: In the event of a severe earthquake, all homeowners in Switzerland would have to pay a one-time premium. This should amount to a maximum of 0.7% of the building's insurance value, with an additional deductible of 0.5% of the building's insurance sum, but at least 25,000 Swiss Francs. The so- called 'contingent liability' should be real secured in the land register. Overall, damage totaling 22 billion Swiss Francs is expected to be covered, which corresponds to statistically expected damage from an earthquake with a recurrence period of 500 years.
The Council of States rightly rejected the federal government's model. However, the preparatory commission of the National Council, UREK-N, is now unfortunately narrowly speaking out in favor of a new proposal. Unlike the federal government's approach, the contingent liability is to take effect already when the damage amounts to approximately 6.3 billion Swiss Francs. This corresponds to an expected amount of damage from an earthquake statistically occurring every 100 years or less frequently. Lower damages are to be covered by the insurance market and through the property owners' deductible, provided the property owners have taken out voluntary insurance. This approach is a compulsion for HEV Schweiz. As the federal government's proposal has proven not to be feasible, the commission is now trying to present a supposed solution by hook or crook. However, this is far too complicated and not practical. It would create a paper tiger with massive administrative effort. Moreover, all property owners would be made to pay already for minor damages. There is no need for a mandatory solution across Switzerland, especially not a special treatment of the natural hazard of earthquakes by establishing a state-imposed joint liability for all owners.
HEV Schweiz regrets that UREK-N presents such an inadequate proposal. It will advocate for the National Council to put an end to this nonsensical endeavour.
Press contact:
HEV Schweiz
Markus Meier, director HEV Schweiz
Tel.: +41/44/254'90'20
Mobile: +41/79/602'42'47
E- Mail: info@hev-schweiz.ch