Facts
On January 30, 2006, B.B., a self-employed person, died in a traffic accident. The Swiss Federal Old Age and Survivors' Insurance (AHV) and the VSAO-ASMAC Foundation for Self-Employed Persons (BVG Foundation) paid survivor's benefits to the husband C.B. and the two children D.B. and E.B. With a claim filed on November 23, 2017, the plaintiffs demanded compensation for the benefits they had provided.
The Commercial Court of the Canton of Zurich ordered the defendant to pay the plaintiff 1 (AHV) CHF 183,801 and the plaintiff 2 (BVG Foundation) CHF 265,725, in each case plus interest at 5% since January 30, 2006. Both the plaintiffs and the defendant filed civil law appeals with the Federal Supreme Court.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court confirmed the practice of calculating the survivor's pension damage abstractly by capitalization at the time of the provider's death. It rejected the plaintiffs' arguments that a concrete calculation up to the time of the judgment would be more appropriate. The Federal Supreme Court saw no serious, factual reasons that would justify a change in the long-standing case law.
Furthermore, the Federal Supreme Court affirmed the crediting of asset yields in the calculation of the survivor's pension damage, even if they did not already serve the maintenance during the support relationship. It…