Household and liability insurance (not LAMal)

Last checked: 5 Oct 2026. Unofficial student guide, not EPFL or government advice: confirm on the linked official pages before you act. Unfamiliar abbreviation? See the Glossary.

Private household cover, private liability (RC), and Vaud ECA fire / natural-disaster cover for newcomers near EPFL. Orientation only, not insurance advice. Compare offers yourself before you sign.

Keep these separate from health insurance

Landlords and halls often ask for household + RC. That does not replace LAMal. ECA fire/natural-disaster cover is a separate Vaud legal obligation from private ménage/RC policies.

Household insurance (assurance ménage)

EPFL (English housing-insurance page): covers water damage, broken glass, and theft (including theft outside the home) in your apartment, and water damage in a neighbour’s flat (theft/glass wording applies to your apartment; neighbour coverage is water damage only).

• Not mandatory by federal law as stated by EPFL, but almost always required by rental agencies and student halls.
• Often included in student-hall contracts; ask your hall for written confirmation.
• Cancellable in writing with 3 months’ notice before the end date (EPFL).
• Something stolen? How to file a police complaint and keep a copy for your insurer: see Police report and criminal complaint.

Source: EPFL, Insurances for housing

Private liability (RC / responsabilité civile)

EPFL (English third-party liability page; French RC page matches): covers you or a family member for physical injury or material damage caused to a third party, and helps against unjustified claims.

EPFL states it is compulsory in Switzerland if you want to:

• rent accommodation, or
• ride a bicycle.

Also highly recommended otherwise; claims can reach large amounts (EPFL: cover up to several million francs). Often sold together with household insurance. If you still live with your parents, their private RC may cover you (EPFL). EPFL EN: cancellable in writing with 3 months’ notice before the end date. EPFL FR: “préavis de 3 mois selon la durée [du] contrat”.

Sources:

• EPFL, Third party liability insurance
• EPFL, Assurance responsabilité civile privée

How to read “compulsory” (official context)

• Rent: EPFL’s wording matches common landlord / agency practice (proof of RC before signing). Treat it as a practical lease requirement, confirmed by EPFL for students (not a kit fee).
• Bicycle: the former federal bike vignette (dedicated cycle liability sticker) was abolished on 1 January 2012. The Federal Council / ASTRA announced that from then on, damage caused by bikes is borne by the cyclist’s private RC or by the cyclist personally. So EPFL’s “compulsory if you ride a bicycle” means you need private RC cover in practice; there is no longer a separate federal bike vignette to buy.

Source (vignette abolition): admin.ch, La vignette vélo aux oubliettes dès 2012

Motor vehicles are a different rule: vehicle RC is compulsory before Swiss plates (LCR / related rules). That is not the same product as private household RC.

Drones over 250 g need CHF 1 million liability cover: see Flying a drone in Switzerland and Vaud.

EPFL’s study-cost table lists RC as about CHF 10 / month (CHF 120 / year) as a budget line and labels it “Assurance obligatoire”. Treat as an EPFL budget estimate; compare offers yourself.

Source: EPFL, Financement des études

Vaud: ECA fire and natural-disaster insurance (compulsory)

For the main EPFL campus in Vaud, EPFL states:

• After you register with your commune, the ECA (Cantonal Establishment of Insurance) is informed and sends a letter so you insure household contents / personal property against fire and natural disasters.
• This insurance is compulsory for all residents of the canton (EPFL cites art. 27 LAIEN).

ECA’s own mobilier-ménage page confirms:

• Obligation under LAIEN (Loi du 17 novembre 1952) for residents, including owners, tenants, sub-tenants, shared flats, lodging with a third party, and résidence étudiant, whatever the housing mode.
• If you rent a furnished flat or room, you still insure your own personal belongings (clothes, IT, jewellery, etc.) in your name.
• Cover examples ECA lists for the inventory: belongings in the flat, cellar/garage storage, garden furniture, pets, personal medical aids, sports/leisure items; light constructions, certain solar panels, mobile pools/jacuzzis, light motorised vehicles (e.g. certain e-bikes / mopeds up to stated cm³) under ECA’s product rules.
• Temporary travel: belongings remain insured without surcharge up to CHF 20,000 for at most 60 days (ECA page).
• If you leave the canton of Vaud, goods remain insured until 31 December of the current year (ECA).

EPFL: “Don’t underestimate this amount, as the insurance is really not expensive (from CHF 25/year in canton of Vaud).”

ECA’s own student housing guide (25 Sep 2025) publishes labeled examples, not personal quotes: a student with about CHF 20,000 of belongings pays about CHF 20 per year; complementary “choses spéciales et frais” cover of CHF 10,000 costs CHF 10 per year. ECA’s “Household Furnishings Insurance for All” flyer states the rate as CHF 0.50 per CHF 1,000 insured. The product page uses the same CHF 10 / CHF 10,000 complementary illustration. ECA does not sell private RC; students usually buy private RC + complementary ménage from a private insurer separately (ECA student guide).

Sources:

• EPFL, Insurances for housing
• ECA Vaud, Assurance mobilier ménage
• ECA, student housing insurance guide
• ECA flyer, Household Furnishings Insurance for All (PDF)
• ECA regional agencies

Other EPFL campuses (from EPFL housing-insurance page): Geneva / Valais, no cantonal fire institution, private optional; Neuchâtel and Fribourg, compulsory (see EPFL links for those cantons).

To verify: current ECA premium for your inventory / letter. Use the ECA letter and agency quote (or ECA’s online prime simulator) once you know your sum insured; this kit has no personal premium. EPFL’s “from CHF 25/year” and ECA’s student examples (CHF 20 / CHF 20,000; CHF 10 / CHF 10,000; rate CHF 0.50 per CHF 1,000) are published ballparks and illustrations, not your bill.

To verify: whether your student hall already includes private ménage + RC: ask housing for written confirmation. ECA fire cover is still compulsory for each resident in a résidence étudiant (ECA); EPFL says private household insurance is often included in hall contracts, but that does not replace private RC or your own ECA inventory.

Practical order

1. Sort LAMal / dispense within 3 months of residence → LAMal.
2. When signing a lease or hall contract, check whether ménage + RC are included or required (ask for written proof if the hall says “included”).
3. Expect an ECA letter after commune registration if you live in Vaud; insure your own belongings even in a furnished room.
4. If you cycle, make sure private RC actually covers bicycle liability (no vignette since 2012).
5. Cross-check deposits / blocked accounts on EPFL housing and Rental deposit / garantie de loyer.