1. Find every active policy
Start by collecting the policy schedule, certificate, general terms, renewal letters, and any policy changes. Swiss households often have cover split across health, household contents, personal liability, car, legal protection, travel, and supplementary policies.
The first job is not to decide whether the policy is good. The first job is to know what documents exist and which ones are current.
2. Check renewal and cancellation dates
Renewal date and cancellation deadline are not the same thing. A policy may renew at one date while the deadline to cancel or change it sits weeks or months earlier.
Record the date and the source: policy schedule, general terms, renewal letter, or insurer message. If the source is unclear, mark it for review instead of guessing.
- Renewal date: when the policy period rolls forward.
- Cancellation deadline: when you must act if you want to change or stop the policy.
- Date source: where the date came from, so you can check it later.
3. Check who and what is covered
Do not assume a policy covers the whole household, every address, every driver, every valuable, or every situation. Read the insured people, insured objects, address, vehicle, deductible, limits, and named modules.
For expats, this matters because older policies, translated summaries, moving address, family changes, and multi-language documents can make the cover feel clearer than it really is.
4. Look for overlaps and gaps
Two policies may cover similar risks, while something important may not be covered at all. The point is not to panic or cancel things quickly. The point is to know what questions to ask before the deadline.
- Do two policies appear to cover the same risk?
- Is anyone in the household missing from a policy?
- Are valuable items, bikes, travel, legal costs, or liability situations handled clearly?
- Are deductibles and limits acceptable for how you actually live?
5. Keep the schedule and terms together
A policy schedule often shows what you bought. The general terms explain how it works. You usually need both to answer practical questions.
If the documents are split across email, insurer portals, PDFs, and letters, renewal review becomes harder than it needs to be.
6. Ask questions before the deadline
The useful moment to ask questions is before a renewal or cancellation deadline, not after it passes. If something is unclear, make a note and ask the insurer, broker, or a qualified adviser before taking action.
CoverAware is not a broker and does not tell you what to buy. It helps you organise your existing documents, understand what they say, and see the questions worth asking.