Is own damage cover worth it for my car?

Own damage is the one cover you can judge as a sum: you know what you pay, and you know the most you will get.

In the view of our article, own damage cover is worth it above 12,000 € of value, and almost never below 6,000 €.
On a car of €7,500 with a deductible of €300, the average own damage premium, €131 a year without taxes, buys at most €7,200, as much as 55 years of premium.
With a loan or a lease you have no choice, because the lender asks for it.

Calculate

The car

What it is worth today € Age of the car years

The own damage cover

Excess € Yearly premium of the own damage cover €

Loan or leasing

Nothe car is yours Yeswith a loan or a lease

The answer

Worth it?: It depends
The most it pays: €7,200
Years of premiums that make one total loss: 55

From €6,000 to €12,000 one question decides: what would you do tomorrow if the car were gone. If the answer is "a loan", take it.
Market average: €131 a year, without taxes. It is the average own damage premium of 2024 at the ΕΑΕΕ, whatever the value. Enter your quote for an exact answer.
In five years you pay about €655, while the car loses value every year.

If own damage cover is not worth it, keep fire and theft: it pays the two events that take the whole car.
Declare the real value. With a lower one, the insurer pays every claim in proportion: article 17 of Law 2496/1997.
Every year the car loses value, and the premium does not fall at the same pace. Do the sum again at every renewal.

Two examples

In 2023 the press gave two examples from an online platform, with a deductible of 500 €. A new SUV worth €25,000 paid €370 a year without own damage cover and €510 with it, and the cover pays at most €24,500. An SUV worth €60,000 paid €555 and €1,025, for at most €59,500. On the first the cover cost 0.56% of the value, on the second 0.78%.

How we work it out

The answer follows the rules of the article on own damage cover, in this order. With a loan or a lease the lender asks for it. Past 15 years most insurers do not offer it, as the press writes. Below 6,000 € it is not worth it, above 12,000 € it is, and in between your own need decides. The two limits are the view of our article, not a rule of the market.

The most that own damage cover pays is the value less the deductible, in one total loss. With no quote, the premium is the average of the statistical yearbook of the ΕΑΕΕ for 2024: the frequency of own damage claims times their average cost, divided by the loss ratio, without taxes. The real price changes with the value, the deductible, the driver and the insurer. Total loss: what will you get?

Sources

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Frequently asked questions

What people usually ask

01 Is own damage cover worth it on an old car?

Rarely, and often it is not even offered. Past 15 years most insurers do not offer it, and ask for a special appraisal of the car. The lower the value, the less it can pay.

02 What does own damage cover cost?

The average own damage premium was €131 a year in 2024, without taxes, according to the statistical yearbook of the ΕΑΕΕ, for every value of car. In 2023 the press gave two examples with a deductible of 500 €: with own damage cover, the policy of an SUV worth 25,000 € rose from 370 € to 510 € a year, and that of an SUV worth 60,000 € from 555 € to 1,025 €.

03 Is own damage cover compulsory?

No. The law asks only for third-party liability (Presidential Decree 237/1986). But a bank asks for it on a car with a loan, and a leasing company on a leased car.

04 What do I do if own damage cover is not worth it?

Keep fire and theft, which pays the two events that take the whole car. Put the difference aside for small damage.

05 Which deductible should I choose?

As much as you can pay tomorrow morning without borrowing. For most people that is €500. A higher deductible makes the premium cheaper.