At a glance

Does quarterly car insurance cost more than an annual policy?

Usually yes. Each insurer sets its own loading for paying by the quarter, and there is no public market average. Multiply the quarterly price by four and compare it with the annual one. The quarter is worth it when you plan to sell the car or want to try a new company.

  • In Greece car insurance is often advertised by the quarter or the half-year, so the small number in an advert may cover only a few months.
  • Four quarters usually cost more than one annual policy. Each insurer sets its own loading, and no public market average exists.
  • One public example: Personal Insurance prints €44 for a half-year and €55 for a year for a boat of 76 to 100 horsepower1. Two half-years cost €88.
  • The loading is not a punishment. It pays for more collections, more administration and the risk that an instalment is not paid.
  • An annual policy paid in instalments can be the cheaper way to spread the cost. Hellas Direct, for example, sells annual cover paid in 12 debit-card instalments2.
  • The quarter is worth it when you plan to sell the car, when you want to try a new company, or when the budget cannot take the lump sum.

Four quarters usually do not cost the same as one year. Ask for both prices, bring them to twelve months, and compare.

Why the loading exists

It is not a punishment. A quarterly policy means four times the administration, four collections, four times the risk that the next instalment is not paid, and a customer who can leave four times a year instead of once.

When the quarter is worth it

  • When you are thinking of selling the car. On a sale, the motor contract ends by law 30 days after the transfer, and the insurer must refund the unearned premiums3. With a quarter you simply do not renew and wait for no refund.
  • When you have just switched company and do not know it yet. Three months is a cheap sample, especially if it is the first time you have insured online.
  • When the budget cannot take the lump sum. That is the real reason for most people, and it is perfectly legitimate, as long as you know you may pay for it. Ask first about instalments on the annual policy.

When it is not

When you choose it because the number looks smaller. It is smaller for three months. Bring every price to its annual equivalent, so you do not compare one company’s quarter with another’s half-year.

See the market average and the prices insurers print

Sources

  1. ↑Personal Insurance, boat insurance: half-year and annual liability premiums by horsepower, 12 October 2026
  2. ↑Hellas Direct, car roadside assistance: annual policy paid in 12 instalments, 12 October 2026
  3. ↑Law 3746/2009 (Government Gazette A 27/2009), article 36: Decree 237/1986 article 8(2), the contract ends 30 days after a sale, 2009