Emergency information

One never pays much attention to this section…reason why I decided to set it on the first place! Just be aware of the numbers and now you can easily find them here :)

-          Ambulance: 

Phone number: 144 (use of ambulances for emergencies)

-          Emergency Department Kantonsspital Aarau

Adress: Tellstrasse, 5001 Aarau

Phone number: 062 838 41 41

-          Emergency Department Hirslanden Clinic Aarau

Adress: Schänisweg, 5001 Aarau
Emergency Phone number: 062 836 76 76
Direct connection with the doctor on duty: 0900 114 114

-          Emergency services for children aged 0 - 16 years: 

Phone number: 0900 000 480

-          Emergency service of the Dental Society of the Canton of Aargau on weekends and public holidays: 

Phone number: 0848 261 261

-          Pharmacy service: 

Phone number: 0800 300 001

-          Poisoning: 

Phone number: 145

-          The Helping Hand: 

Phone number: 143

Label your Mailbox

As soon as you get in your apartment check your mailbox!!!!  If it’s not labeled, LABEL it as soon as possible.

-          Provisional label:

Start off with a provision paper label until you arrange the final one.

-          Name it exactly as in your ID

This is VERY important … I explain myself… some of us have two surnames. This complicates getting the letters into your mailbox. The postman is going to identify the last fragment of your full name and will assume this is your surname and will look for this one on the mailbox, although for us this is our second surname. To avoid misunderstandings…don’t put short cuts and include both surnames!

-          Why is this so important?

Basically, the postal addresses in Switzerland are composed by your name, the street and the house number. Although each house number may have several flats or apartments no further notice to the floor or door number is made. For this reason if your mailbox is not labeled with your name, the postman has too few information to leave your letter… he only has the house number with no reference to the flat you live in!!

Go to the Local council

Once you have arrived in Switzerland, you must register with your local area office within 8 days and always before the first day of work. To complete the registration be aware of:

-          Opening hours: 

It is very likely that in your home country working hours don’t correspond to the Swiss ones, so check online before you go there! Current working hours for Gemeinde Aarau  are:

Mo, Tue, Wed, Fri: 8,00-11,30 and 14,00-17,00

Thu: 8,00-11,30 and 14,00-19,00

Sat (1st and 3rd of each month): 8,00-11,30

-          Documents:

1)      Official proof of identity, make sure it’s not out of date and it’s still valid!

2)      Proof of compulsory basic health insurance with a Swiss health insurance company. You have three months to get yourself a Swiss health insurance. If you still don’t have one don’t worry, registration is still possible without it. Bar in mind that as soon as you have you have to pop back in the Gemeinde to inform them.

3)      Passport photo

4)      Civil status documents (family register, marriage certificate, birth certificate of underage children, etc.)

5)      Contract of employment or proof of admission to institution of higher education

6)      Copy of the current Swiss tenancy contract

-          Where to order it

The most common website is http://www.comparis.ch/.

What this website basically does is browses according to the criteria you introduce the different insurance offers. It is exactly the same as if you go one by one to each of the different insurance companies and do it yourself.

It is a browser that filters according to a certain parameters and displays the possibilities in a chat way. It does not make a choice, so you can look through everything yourself.

IIMPORTANT is that this webpage acts like an intermediate. You purchase the insurance directly with the company.

-          How to order it

When you select “order offer” you are only requesting an offer, you have no obligation to carry on if you find a better one. So don’t feel afraid and feel free to require as many offers as you need until you find the one that fulfills your requirements!

You will then get an offer directly from the company on your mail box.

After a few days an agent from the insurance company will contact you to know if your expectations are fulfilled and in case they aren’t they will try to find a good solution for you…remember you are a coming client!!!! 

You need at least two insurances (three if you have a car!)

1)    Medical insurance:

You have to register with a Swiss health insurance within 3 months of entering the country; by law a basic medical insurance is mandatory. Things to consider when choosing your policy:

-          Basic or extended?

There are basic and extended policies.

Basic health insurance covers cost in case of illness, having the right to have a treatment, food and bed in a general ward in the closest hospital. When travelling abroad basic health insurance will only pay up to twice the amount the same treatment would have cost in Switzerland. This is completely sufficient for travel within Europe. However, purchase additional protection if you are planning to visit the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand or Japan.

-          Which franchise should I choose?

The higher the franchise the lower the insurance policy. So a franchise can be added to the policy to make it cheaper, nevertheless this has a disadvantage- all the medical cost until this franchise is reached is to be paid by you entirely.

I would recommend a basic premium with a medium franchise; note there is little difference in monthly rate between a high and a low franchise… and the higher the franchise the more you pay if you get ill.

-          Accident coverage?

If you work for the same employer for at least 8 hours per week, you are automatically entitled to accident coverage. This means you can buy health insurance without accident coverage without any concern. Accident coverage provided by employers covers accidents that happen both inside and outside of work, i.e. during your time off. If you don’t work for at least 8 hours per week for the same employer you have to get an accident insurance.

-          What type of insurance model?

There are different models depending on your needs. There are three main insurance models; HMO, GP and Telemed. With the HMO you must always consult a specified doctor in the event of illness, with GP you must also consult a doctor, but you can choose which one and with Telemed for every newly appearing health problem, you have to call a consultation hotline before consulting a doctor for the first time. There are other models and of course you can add as much as you want to your policy…but this will increase the price!

2)    Personal liability insurance

You might be asking yourself why you need this extra insurance…I fully understand…I felt the same the first time I heard about it. It took me several months to make up my mind to do it myself as I didn’t understand the purpose of it. The personal liability insurance covers costs for damages, material damage and damage to persons, which are caused by you towards third parties and which you have to pay for.

This covers uncountable situations that you may not even imagine, but that can occur…and if they do you are screwed up. Leaving by accident the tap opened in the morning, stepping into someone by accident on the street and causing them harm… all this is covered for less than 75 CHF/year!! This is the reason why I would highly recommend it… it covers every damage you can cause and which sometimes are out of your hand!!

3)    Car insurance

I don’t have a car in Switzerland…so I cannot give personal feedback in this area. Nevertheless I thought it would be nice including this insurance here, just so that those of you who do have a car acknowledge that you need a Swiss car insurance.

On the following guide you can find all the doubts that you may come across when deciding the policy you want to get for your car:

http://en.comparis.ch/auto/docs/ratgeber_en.pdf