What does private cyber insurance pay for?
limited Bank and card first
It pays second: usually only if the bank or card issuer does not pay, and only up to the limit. 18 of the 29 products we read are an add-on to household contents or legal protection insurance.
As of
Tap a plus in the picture.
At home · Children’s room · 1 of 7
Child bullied online
Children are usually only co-insured in the family or multi-person variant.
Children usually only on a family policy
Who pays?Who pays? Read the answer
At home · Study · 2 of 7
Ransomware on your laptop
Disconnect the device from the network immediately and do not pay; the NCSC advises against it.
Data recovery yes, ransom usually not
Who pays?Who pays? Read the answer
At home · Living room · 3 of 7
Twint scam on Ricardo or Tutti
TWINT and the banks attribute actions in your TWINT app to you; confirmed payments are irrevocable.
Approved by you: usually nobody pays
Who pays?Who pays? Read the answer
At home · Living room · 4 of 7
Call from a fake bank employee
Under their T&C, banks do not reimburse payments initiated or confirmed by the customer; the bank does not have to check the purpose of a payment.
Approved by you: usually nobody pays
Who pays?Who pays? Read the answer
At home · Hallway · 5 of 7
Unknown charge on your credit card
As a rule, the card issuer pays first.
Bank or card first, then the policy
Who pays?Who pays? Read the answer
At home · Outside wall · 6 of 7
Smart home hacked
This is the biggest gap: hardly any policy regulates attacks on connected devices.
Hardly any policy addresses this
Who pays?Who pays? Read the answer
At home · Letterbox · 7 of 7
Reminders for orders you never made
First dispute it with the merchants and file a criminal complaint.
A policy with cyber cover first
Who pays?Who pays? Read the answer
Most often covered
- Misuse of card, Twint, e-banking (25 of 29 products)
- Online purchase (24 of 29 products)
- Identity theft (22 of 29 products)
- Internet legal protection (22 of 29 products)
Usually doesn’t pay
- Payments you make yourself after being tricked
- Investment fraud and crypto
- Ransom and extortion money
- Gross negligence, sometimes any negligence
In detail, with sources
- Transferred yourself: payments that you trigger yourself after being deceived (grandchild scam, romance scam, fake police officer) are excluded by AXA, Swisscom and Mobiliar; of these, Mobiliar insures only fake IT support.
Where does it say so?
Haushalt- und Gebäudeversicherung, Kundeninformationen und Allgemeine Bedingungen (Hausrat, Wertsachen, Privathaftpflicht, Gebäude, Haustiere, Cyberversicherung, Vertragsrechtsschutz), Ausgabe 04.2025, Art. A Ziff. 4 lit. f, PDF-S. 41
«Dieser Ausschluss gilt nicht für Betrugsfälle im Zusammenhang mit falschen IT-Support-Mitarbeitern (Fake-IT-Support)»
- Investment fraud and crypto: Mobiliar excludes investment transactions of any kind (let. d); Mobiliar, AXA and Swisscom also exclude cryptocurrencies.
Where does it say so?
Haushalt- und Gebäudeversicherung, Kundeninformationen und Allgemeine Bedingungen (Hausrat, Wertsachen, Privathaftpflicht, Gebäude, Haustiere, Cyberversicherung, Vertragsrechtsschutz), Ausgabe 04.2025, Art. A Ziff. 4 lit. d, PDF-S. 41
«im Zusammenhang mit Anlagegeschäften jeglicher Art»
- Ransom and extortion payments are excluded in all private products reviewed (e.g. Mobiliar let. g, AXA G1.6, Generali).
Where does it say so?
Haushalt- und Gebäudeversicherung, Kundeninformationen und Allgemeine Bedingungen (Hausrat, Wertsachen, Privathaftpflicht, Gebäude, Haustiere, Cyberversicherung, Vertragsrechtsschutz), Ausgabe 04.2025, Art. A Ziff. 4 lit. g, PDF-S. 41
«im Zusammenhang mit Löse- und Erpressungsgelder»
- Gross negligence: AXA excludes the Cyberversicherung Plus from the waiver of reduction, Allianz excludes losses caused by gross negligence, Generali even negligent conduct.
Where does it say so?
Allgemeine Vertragsbedingungen (AVB) Haushaltversicherung (Privathaftpflicht, Hausrat, Cyber Plus, Zusatzversicherungen und Services), 16162DE, Ausgabe 10.2021, Ziff. H1, PDF-S. 33
«Ebenfalls ausgenommen vom Verzicht auf Grobfahrlässigkeit sind sämtliche Leistungen der Cyberversicherung Plus»
Open document: Allgemeine Vertragsbedingungen (AVB) Haushaltversicherung (Privathaftpflicht, Hausrat, Cyber Plus, Zusatzversicherungen und Services), 16162DE (opens in a new window), retrieved 06.11.2026
Who pays first?
Go in this order.
-
First
Card issuer or bank under its T&C
-
Then
Cyber or household contents add-on insurance, on a secondary basis
-
Then
Legal protection insurance
Nobody pays
30 situations in 8 rooms
Open a room.
-
Card, Twint, e-banking Strangers pay with your money 12 situations
- There is an unknown charge on my credit card, and I still have the card. Is this covered? limited
- My card was stolen and someone used it to pay or withdraw money. limited
- I clicked on a phishing link and entered my card details or a code. limited
- Fraudsters took over my e-banking and transferred money. limited
- A fake bank employee called me and I confirmed the payment myself. unclear
- Twint fraud on Ricardo or Tutti: an alleged buyer emptied my account. limited
- I fell for a crypto investment scam. not covered
- Love scam: I transferred money to someone I met online. unclear
- SIM swapping: my mobile phone suddenly has no network and someone is using my number. limited
- Shock call or grandparent scam with an AI voice: I gave money to an alleged relative or police officer. unclear
- A fake Microsoft or IT support obtained remote access and debited money. limited
- I only noticed a charge after two months. Am I still entitled to anything? not covered
-
Buying and selling online Paid, but nothing or the wrong thing delivered, fake shop · Shipped, but never paid 5 situations
- I paid a private seller via Twint, but the goods never arrived. covered
- Fake shop: I paid online, but the goods never arrived. covered
- The goods arrived wrong or broken, and the online merchant does not respond. covered
- I booked a holiday flat online that does not exist. covered
- I sold something online and shipped it, but never received any money. limited
-
Accounts and identity Social media, email or shop taken over · Orders and accounts in your name 3 situations
-
Extortion Sextortion, ransomware on your own device 3 situations
-
Bullying and reputation Removing content, psychological support 2 situations
-
Devices and data Remove malware, restore data and devices · Hotline and advice before anything happens 2 situations
-
Smart home Attack on camera, router or door lock 1 situation
-
Law and liability Lawyer and proceedings in an online dispute · You unintentionally caused harm to others 2 situations
Overview based on public policy terms, as of 06.11.2026. Only your policy and its general terms and conditions (GTC) are binding. No confirmation of cover.
What does it cost?
The 4 cheapest products with a public price.
- from CHF 39 Zurich Cyber – Safe Shop & Pay a year Add-on to household contents insurance
- CHF 39 Zurich Cyber – Safe Surf a year Add-on to household contents insurance
- from CHF 41.90 Allianz Suisse Online- und Kaufschutzbrief (cyber protection) a year Add-on to household contents insurance
- CHF 48.60 Swisscard Shopping-Versicherung (Classic, Premium, Exclusive) with the module «Safe online» a year Bundle or add-on to the card