Personal liability insurance is not mandatory in Switzerland, but it is highly recommended.
If you, your children or your pets unintentionally cause someone else to suffer a loss, you are liable for that out of your own assets. Personal liability insurance covers the cost of small acts of carelessness, such as when you scratch the parquet flooring in your rental accommodation, through to costs incurred when another person is injured. This includes not just treatment costs, but also costs for consequential losses such as the injured person’s loss of earnings – in other words, it quickly becomes very expensive. That is why personal liability insurance is indispensable.