Business insurance in Greece: the complete guide

At a glance

The market average from the public figures of ΕΑΕΕ is €1.17 a year per €1,000 of building and contents, before the 20% premium tax on fire¹. It is one rate for every kind of property².
In 2024 shops and other commercial businesses held 122,372 property policies in the ΕΑΕΕ survey, and 2.26% of them had a claim, which cost €4,205 on average³.
General liability of commercial businesses: 42,658 covers and 849 claims in 2024, about €1,004 a claim, paid and reserved⁴.
Professional liability, average net premium per cover from the same survey: €594 for an accountant, €487 for a doctor, €1,782 for a lawyer, €2,482 for an engineer².
No public price exists for each activity. The price of your own business comes only with an offer.

The point

Business insurance is not one contract. It is three questions. What will happen to your property, what will you lose while you stay closed, and who will ask you for money because you harmed them. Each question has its own section in the contract and its own price. No insurer publishes a price for each activity. What is public are the figures of ΕΑΕΕ, the association of insurers: how many businesses insure, how often they claim and what a claim costs. This guide explains what those figures say.

What “business” means to an insurer

To an insurer, a business is a place, an activity and some people. The place burns, floods and gets burgled. The activity says how easily this happens: a bookshop has paper, a bakery has paper and an oven. The people are of two kinds, the customers who come in and the staff who work there, and both can be injured and claim compensation.

Insurers built one form that answers all of this together, the multi-risk policy (πολυασφαλιστήριο). At Ydrogios, for example, it is called Mega Business⁵. You declare two sums, the value of the building and the value of the contents. You declare what you do. You declare how many people work there. The insurer prices each sum and each liability and gives the annual premium.

Two kinds of business do not fit this form. The hotel, because its season is the risk and its turnover must be insured separately. And the self-employed professional who sells knowledge, because the risk is not the office but the mistake. That is why this section has three comparison tools: for a business, for a hotel and for professional liability.

The first part: property

Property divides into building and contents. Whoever owns the building insures it. If you rent, you enter zero and insure only what you brought in. Contents are the equipment, the furniture, the machines and the stock, all at replacement value. They also include the improvements you paid for in rented premises, such as the floor, the false ceiling, the lighting and the electrical work.

The perils covered are the same as for a home, with a few additions. Fire, lightning, explosion. Flood, storm, hail, snow. Burst pipes. Short circuit, up to a limit. And the perils of a business: theft with break-in, a broken shop window, robbery of the till, spoiled goods in a fridge. Earthquake is often a separate option with its own price and its own excess. In 2024, 59.1% of the property policies of businesses in the ΕΑΕΕ survey included it³.

There are often three packages. The basic one gives fire, water and weather with an excess on each loss, and suits someone who rents and insures a little equipment. The full one removes some excesses and adds theft, the shop window, the till and the daily sum for the days you stay closed. The third adds earthquake. No public figure gives the difference in price between them.

The activity changes the price. A bookshop has paper, a bakery has paper and an oven, and an office has computers and not stock. ΕΑΕΕ divides the policies of businesses into groups: hotels, short-term rentals, renewable energy, supermarkets, industry, commerce and offices. In 2024 offices held 20,372 policies and commerce 122,372³.

The second part: lost income

A fire burns the shop in one night. The repair takes three months. The property policy pays for the walls and the stock, but not for the rent, the wages and the turnover of those three months. Business interruption cover (loss of profits) closes that gap.

It is sold in two forms. The simple one is a daily sum for each day you stay closed after a covered loss, for a limited period. It can come inside the full shop package. The full form insures the gross profit, based on the turnover of the previous year, for an indemnity period that you choose. A hotel needs this form, and so does a workshop with expensive machines.

The third part: the three liabilities

Liability is the part most business owners buy last and need first. It takes three forms, and they look alike enough to confuse anyone.

General liability pays for the damage your premises and your operation cause to others. The customer who slips on a wet floor. The shelf that falls. The fire that spreads to the shop next door. The sign that falls into the street. In 2024 ΕΑΕΕ counted 849 claims on 42,658 covers of commercial businesses, about 2 in every 100⁴.

Employer’s liability pays the employee injured at work. EFKA, the social insurance fund, pays the medical costs and a pension if the employee is left disabled. Under the Civil Code, though, the employer owes damages for pain and suffering, and the whole loss if the accident came from a breach of safety rules. A worker who falls from a ladder without protection can claim large sums from the employer, and the court decides them.

Professional liability pays the client harmed by a mistake in your work. The tax return filed late. The structural study that missed the crack. The diagnosis that came too late. Here the thing insured is not the premises but your judgement, and the price depends on the profession before any other question. The public figures of ΕΑΕΕ give an average net premium per cover of €594 for an accountant, €487 for a doctor and €1,782 for a lawyer². Insurance intermediaries must hold professional liability by law⁶. The liability guide explains the three families of liability contracts and which of them are compulsory.

Two more liabilities concern fewer businesses. The liability of a carrier for the goods it carries, under the international CMR convention. And the liability of a contractor to the neighbours of the works, inside contractor’s all risks insurance.

The new cover: data

Every business today keeps customer details, cards, bookings and invoices on a computer. An attack locks the till system or steals the customer list. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) requires you to notify the Hellenic Data Protection Authority within 72 hours of learning of a breach, and it provides for fines⁷. No classic property or liability contract covers these costs.

Cyber insurance is a newer cover in the package. No public price for it exists. Ask for an offer and read what it pays: the notice to customers, the restoring of systems, the legal costs. A fine is not covered.

How to choose: four questions

Do you own the building? If yes, it is the largest sum in the contract, and earthquake cover is a decision about the property of the family, not about the shop. If not, you insure contents and liabilities, and the premium falls.

What do you lose in a month closed? Add the rent, the wages, the loan and the profit that will not come in. If the sum is large next to your turnover, you need business interruption in its full form, not only the daily sum.

How many people come in, and how many work there? Many customers mean general liability with a limit that fits the crowd. Staff on ladders, in kitchens or at machines mean employer’s liability from the first day.

Do you sell goods or judgement? If your work is advice, a study or a diagnosis, the contract that protects you is professional liability, and the property package comes second.

Where to go from here

Every business is different. Find your own case and see what it asks of you. The article below covers hotels and rented rooms. The comparison for business insurance shows the market average from public figures for your own sums, and our own estimate for each company, from the cheapest.

Frequently asked questions

Is insurance compulsory for a business?

For the property, no. No law obliges you to insure the shop or the equipment. Professional liability is compulsory for a few professions, such as insurance intermediaries. In practice, property insurance is imposed by the bank, by the owner of the premises and by the contract with a large customer.

How much does insurance for a small business cost?

It depends on two sums and one word. The sums are the value of the building and the value of the contents. The word is the activity. No public price exists for each activity. The market average from the public figures of ΕΑΕΕ is €1.17 a year per €1,000 of property, before the 20% tax: about €47 for €40,000 of stock. Liability and other covers come on top.

What is the difference between general, employer's and professional liability?

General liability pays the customer who slipped in your shop. Employer's liability pays the employee injured at work, beyond what EFKA, the social insurance fund, gives. Professional liability pays the client harmed by a mistake in your work, such as a wrong tax return. They are three different contracts, or three different sections of the same package.

I rent the premises. What do I insure, and what does the owner insure?

The owner insures the walls, the roof and the pipes. You insure whatever you brought in and whatever you paid for: stock, equipment, shelves, false ceiling, floor, lighting. Read the lease. Many leases ask the tenant to insure the glass and the third-party liability, and some ask the tenant to insure the whole building on behalf of the owner.

What does claims made mean in professional liability?

It means the contract pays the claims made while it is in force, not the mistakes made while it was in force. If an accountant stops the contract and an audit of an old tax return comes two years later, nobody pays. That is why there is retroactive cover for the past years and run-off cover for the years after the contract ends.

Is earthquake cover worth it for a business?

No public price for earthquake cover exists. In the ΕΑΕΕ survey of 2024, 59.1% of the property policies of businesses (other than homes) included earthquake cover. If you own the building, it is the one cover that keeps you in business after the one loss you cannot repair. If you rent, you insure only the contents and the decision is easier, because the sum is smaller.

Can I pay the premium in instalments?

Often, yes. Many insurers accept half-yearly or quarterly payment for premiums above a minimum. Ask whether instalments cost more than a single payment. The premium of a business can be a deductible business expense, like the rent and the electricity. Ask your accountant.

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