Car insurance in 2026: the premium hike hides the real question

Every autumn brings its wave of renewal notices, and 2026 is no exception: according to a survey by comparis.ch of 13 major Swiss insurers, car insurance premiums are rising this year for around 45% of drivers, with increases sometimes exceeding CHF 200 a year in French-speaking Switzerland.

Why premiums are rising

This increase has nothing to do with your driving. It comes from « claims inflation »: modern cars are packed with sensors, cameras and LED headlights that are expensive to repair and recalibrate after the smallest bump, while weather-related damage keeps increasing. La Mobilière says it won't adjust existing contracts in 2026 — only new contracts and replacement policies — while Generali, Zurich, TCS and Baloise have confirmed increases.

The right time to act

Most contracts run until 31 December: you have until the end of September to compare calmly and, if needed, cancel in time.

In this fast-moving market, I currently recommend favouring annual contracts over multi-year ones: insurers are both raising rates and running targeted promotions to attract electric-vehicle customers, and an annual contract keeps you free to take advantage as soon as a better offer appears.

The question almost nobody asks: fully comprehensive or partial cover?

The obvious move is to compare premiums between insurers — worthwhile, since the premium can vary by 30 to 50% for identical cover depending on the insurer. But there's a more structural decision, usually made once when buying the car and almost never revisited afterwards: fully comprehensive or partial cover?

Fully comprehensive cover makes sense as long as the car's market value is above CHF 15,000 to 20,000: it then covers damage you cause yourself — a collision, a single-vehicle accident, running off the road — on top of theft, fire and natural-damage cover already included in partial cover. After 5 to 8 years, depending on the model, the fully comprehensive premium often ends up costing more, over time, than it would pay out in the event of a total loss. At that point, switching back to partial cover alone is almost always the more rational choice — and nobody will call you to suggest it.

The real criterion isn't just the car's age, though — it's whether you genuinely need to be reimbursed. Insuring a second car that's only driven at weekends with fully comprehensive cover, while you hold the equivalent of its value in a savings account, often ends up costing more over time than the risk it's meant to cover.

New on the market: total-loss-only cover

One provider now offers cover limited to total loss — a written-off vehicle, an unrecovered theft, complete destruction — with no cover for partial claims. It's a middle-ground product, useful in two specific situations: for a leased car, where the contract requires cover but you want to cut its cost, or for an older, low-mileage car you want to protect against total loss without paying for classic fully comprehensive cover.

Two things to check if you drive electric

• The battery often accounts for 40 to 60% of the car's value: check that it's properly covered under fully comprehensive insurance.
• The charging cable can be covered either under partial cover (theft) or under liability insurance (damage caused to a third party).

Before renewing on autopilot or jumping at the cheapest quote, take two minutes to place your car on its value curve and check these points. That's often where the real saving is hiding — not just in comparing insurers.