Check Your Utility Bill

A check protocol, a template letter to inspect the supporting documents and a template letter to object with an itemised refund claim. Editable in Word, Pages or Google Docs.

Checked on 21.08.2026 by Jens Herbst, BoVitaWe keep every document current and check it regularly against the sources.

Who is this document for?

For anyone who has received a Swiss utility bill and wants to know whether the additional charge is justified before paying it.

What is inside

  • Check protocol with eight questions, item by item against your lease
  • Inspection letter listing the documents you are entitled to see
  • Objection letter with an itemised refund claim and the legal basis for each point
  • The eight rules a bill must satisfy, covering the allocation key and the renovation fund
  • Deadlines and limitation periods set out correctly, including the balance acknowledgement

How to fill it in

  1. 1Open the file in Word, Pages or Google Docs and replace every field in square brackets.
  2. 2Fill in the check protocol line by line, with your lease next to you.
  3. 3Send the inspection letter by registered mail.
  4. 4Pay any additional charge subject to reclaim only; the wording for that is in the letter.
  5. 5No reply: contact the conciliation authority where you live, the procedure is free of charge.

Frequently asked questions

For tenants in Switzerland who have received a utility bill, with or without an additional charge. It works for flats, rooms and shared-flat rooms alike.

Swiss tenancy law sets no statutory deadline for objecting to the bill itself, and a deadline printed on the bill does not create one. It is different when the landlord introduces new ancillary cost items or changes the allocation key: that is a unilateral change to the contract, and it can be challenged within 30 days of the notification (Art. 270b CO).

No. Paying without reservation does not bar a refund claim, it only shifts the burden of proof onto you. That is why the template letter contains the sentence you use to pay subject to reclaim.

Yes, and you do not have to give a reason. The right to inspect the original documents is in the law itself (Art. 257b para. 2 CO). Part 3 lists which documents that covers.

In tenancy matters the conciliation procedure is free of charge. You need no lawyer, and the authority also gives advice.

If the template alone is not enough

Let it fill itself inunderstand utility bill switzerlandThe tool does the same work, just without the typing.

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