Homeowners Building Insurance (Wohngebäudeversicherung)
Homeowners building insurance covers damage to residential buildings caused by fire, water escape, storm, hail, and other insured perils.
Comparison profile
- Trigger
- Named perils
- Insured interest
- The fixed structure and fabric of a residential building (masonry, roof, permanently connected installations, exterior features) at replacement value.
- Rating basis
- Building replacement value / sum insured, Building type, age, and construction, Location and natural hazard exposure, Claims experience
- Typical limits
- Sum insured based on full replacement value, with sublimits for debris removal, demolition costs, and loss of rent.
- Typical deductibles
- Per-occurrence deductible, generally modest for standard perils and higher for optional natural hazard extensions.
- Target segments
- Private homeowners, Landlords, Real estate investors
Insured events
- Fire, lightning strike, and explosion
- Escape of water
- Storm and hail
- Natural hazards (flood, earthquake, landslide, where extended)
- Burglary damage to the building fabric
Key exclusions
- War and nuclear energy
- Wear and tear and gradual deterioration
- Earthquake and flood unless specifically extended
- Damage covered under household contents insurance
- Consequential loss beyond loss-of-rent extensions
Concept
Homeowners building insurance covers damage to the fabric of a residential building caused by insured perils such as fire, lightning strike, explosion, escape of water, storm, or hail. It complements household contents insurance, which protects the movable contents inside the living space, by covering the fixed structure of the building itself – that is, the masonry, roof, permanently connected installations, and exterior features.
Scope and Typical Extensions
Beyond the basic perils, homeowners building insurance frequently includes further modules, such as reimbursement of lost rental income if the building becomes uninhabitable following an insured loss, coverage of debris removal and demolition costs, and – for an additional premium – extended natural hazard cover such as flood, earthquake, or landslide, which in many jurisdictions is not included as standard.
Basis of Valuation
The sum insured for homeowners building insurance is typically set on the basis of replacement value, i.e. the amount required to rebuild the building to the same type and quality at the same location, regardless of the building’s age or condition at the time of loss; accurate valuation is essential to avoid subsequent underinsurance and the corresponding reduction in benefits.
Comparison and delineation
Homeowners building insurance is the private-market counterpart to cantonal building insurance: in Swiss monopoly cantons the basic fire and natural hazard cover is placed exclusively with the cantonal institution, while homeowners building insurance is the sole vehicle in the free-market cantons and, elsewhere, the supplementary layer for perils and modules the cantonal monopoly does not offer. It is regularly complemented by loss of rent cover, which protects the owner’s rental income during reinstatement, and by glass insurance, which extends breakage cover typically excluded or only narrowly included under the base building wording.