Mandatory natural disaster insurance for businesses in Greece:
who must insure, what, and the fines.

Updated 26 October 2026Reading time 9 minBy Leadinsure, registered insurance agent (no. ΧΑΝ/395) · How we are paid

Yes: since 1 June 2025, natural disaster insurance is mandatory for every business in Greece with gross revenue above €500,000 in the previous tax year. The rule is art. 5 of Law 5116/2024 (ν. 5116/2024), as amended by Law 5162/2024, and the details are in Joint Ministerial Decision (ΚΥΑ) 96806 ΕΞ 2025 (Government Gazette ΦΕΚ Β' 2810/05.06.2025). The business must insure its owned buildings and its other assets, such as equipment, raw materials, goods and work vehicles, against earthquake, flood and forest fire, for at least 70% of their total value. The only test is revenue: the nationality of the owners does not matter, so foreign-owned companies and hotels are caught too. A business that does not comply is fined €10,000, doubled if it has not complied within 30 days of notification, and obliged businesses get no state aid for these losses. This guide explains who is caught, what the policy must cover, what changes if you lease your premises, the exemptions, vehicles, and how to check your policy. For the other covers a business needs, see business insurance.

Which businesses must insure against natural disasters in Greece?

Every business («επιχείρηση») whose annual gross revenue in the previous tax year was above €500,000 (art. 5(1) ν. 5116/2024). Only revenue counts: profit, sector and number of staff play no part. At €500,000 the rule reaches many hotels, restaurants, shops, wholesalers and workshops, not only large companies. The law does not distinguish by legal form, so in the most common reading it covers sole traders and partnerships as well as companies.

Foreign-owned companies and hotels

The law sets no nationality or residence condition. A Greek company (ΑΕ, ΙΚΕ or ΕΠΕ) owned by foreign shareholders, a hotel run by foreign investors through a Greek company, or a foreign national trading in Greece as a sole trader is caught whenever the revenue test is met. For the branch of a foreign company, the law does not say how revenue is counted; settle that with your accountant before you conclude that the rule does not apply to you.

Which tax year counts

The test looks at the previous tax year, so a business can move in or out of the rule from one year to the next; check the figure with your accountant every year. Since 4 September 2026, Law 5329/2026 (art. 35) also says which year is used when, after a disaster, the State checks whether a business was obliged to insure: the previous tax year if the deadline for that year's income tax return had passed on the day of the disaster, and otherwise the year before it.

Since when, and has it been extended?

The original 2024 text applied only to businesses with revenue above €2 million. Law 5162/2024 lowered the threshold to €500,000 with effect from 1 June 2025 (art. 136(10)). We have found no extension or suspension since then (checked October 2026). Law 5329/2026 changed only the revenue-year rule above, not the threshold, the perils, the 70% or the fines.

What must be insured: earthquake, flood and wildfire, at least 70%

The three perils

The policy must cover at least material damage from earthquake, flood and forest fire (art. 5(1)–(2)). The law's term is «δασική πυρκαγιά», forest fire or wildfire, not fire in general. Do not assume that the fire cover of a standard property policy meets it, and remember that earthquake and flood are often optional extras rather than part of the basic package. Check that all three perils are written in the policy.

The assets

The cover must reach the business's owned buildings and installations («ιδιόκτητες κτιριακές εγκαταστάσεις») and its other assets, «such as» (όπως):

• equipment and means of production;
• raw materials, goods and stored products;
• trucks and professional-use vehicles.

Because the law says «such as», the list gives examples rather than a closed list. Agree with your accountant which other assets count.

How the 70% works

The sums insured must reach at least 70% of the value of all these assets together, not 70% of each asset separately. The law does not define «value»: book value and rebuilding or replacement cost can differ widely, so agree the basis with the insurer and your accountant before you set the sums.

Example: a hotel company that owns its hotel (figures for illustration only)

The van is insured here at 100% of its value (€40,000), which also releases it from the separate vehicle rule (see the section on vehicles), and that amount counts within the €1,680,000. The other €1,640,000 is spread over the building, the equipment and the stock.

Owned or leased? The leased-hotel case

The building part of the duty covers owned buildings only: the text says «ιδιόκτητες κτιριακές εγκαταστάσεις». Neither the law nor the decision deals separately with leased premises, so what follows is our reading, not an official position.

• You lease the hotel, shop or warehouse: this law does not require you to insure the building. You must still insure your own equipment, furniture, stock and vehicles, and the 70% is worked out on those assets.
• You own the building and lease it out: it falls under this rule only if you are yourself a business caught by the revenue test, with the rent counting towards your revenue. Your tenant's revenue does not decide it.
• The lease may oblige the tenant, or the landlord, to insure the building. Read it: a contractual duty applies whatever this law says.
• Finance leases (leasing) are not addressed expressly. Ask the leasing company and your accountant who insures what.

Other rules for hotels and holiday lets

A property let short-term through the AMA register (Airbnb, Booking.com or direct lets) has had to carry civil liability insurance since 1 October 2025; see our guide to short-term rental insurance in Greece. For a holiday home owned privately rather than through a business, see home insurance in Greece.

Fines and loss of state aid

The fine

The fine is imposed by ΔΙΜΕΑ (Διυπηρεσιακή Μονάδα Ελέγχου Αγοράς, the inter-agency market inspection unit): an administrative fine of €10,000. The business then has 30 days from notification to comply; if it does not, the fine is doubled, to €20,000 (art. 5(3) ν. 5116/2024; ΚΥΑ 96806 ΕΞ 2025, art. 4). Under the decision, ΔΙΜΕΑ may draw data from, and cross-check against, the systems of AADE, the Greek tax authority, and of insurance companies.

No state aid for these losses

Businesses obliged to insure are excluded from every state-aid grant, housing aid («στεγαστική συνδρομή») included, for material damage to the assets above from earthquake, flood or forest fire (art. 5(4)). The exclusion applies to disasters from 1 June 2025 (ΚΥΑ 96806 ΕΞ 2025, art. 5). Note the wording: the law speaks of businesses obliged to insure, not only of those that failed to. Above the threshold, your policy is the only source of recovery for these assets, and you should not expect state aid to cover the gap between 70% and your actual loss.

Exemptions and the two-refusals rule

ΚΥΑ 96806 ΕΞ 2025 (art. 3) exempts:

• public sector bodies and ΕΤΑΔ, the Public Properties Company;
• unauthorised structures that are excluded from state aid;
• ships, trains, aircraft and other means of transport that count as equipment (trucks and professional-use vehicles are named in the law itself, so they stay in);
• air, underground and undersea infrastructure of every kind, mines included;
• crops, plant production, fish farming and livestock;
• newly established businesses that do not yet have published financial statements;
• businesses refused cover twice, as explained below.

Most of these exempt assets, not the whole business. A farming business above the threshold need not insure its crops or animals, but its buildings and equipment are not on the list. If your business runs boats, note that boats have their own rules: pleasure craft over 7 metres and speedboats must carry liability insurance, as our guide to boat insurance in Greece explains.

When insurers refuse: the two-refusals rule

1. 30 days to answer. Insurers operating legally in Greece must answer a request for this cover, yes or no, within 30 days. Silence after that counts as a refusal (art. 2).
2. Two refusals from different insurers exempt the business for 2 years.
3. After 2 years you must apply again. Two new refusals make the exemption permanent.
4. Partial refusals exempt only the perils or assets refused, for example flood cover for a warehouse next to a stream.
5. The 30% rule. If the assets that cannot be insured are worth more than 30% of the business's total assets, the duty is limited to the assets that can be insured.

Keep evidence. Send each request in writing, keep its date and ask for the answer in writing. If an inspection comes, your requests, the refusals and their dates are what show that you tried.

Vehicles of these businesses

Two rules meet here.

• The general vehicle rule (art. 5Α ν. 5116/2024): since 1 June 2025, every motor vehicle normally parked in Greece must be insured against forest fire and flood at its current market value, whether or not it is used. There is no fine, but an uninsured vehicle gets no state aid.
• The business rule (art. 5): trucks and professional-use vehicles are among the assets that make up the 70%.

ΚΥΑ 94798 ΕΞ 2025 (ΦΕΚ Β' 2706/02.06.2025, art. 2) links the two. Trucks and professional-use vehicles of businesses with revenue above €500,000 are exempt from the general vehicle rule if they are insured under the business rule for 100% of their current market value, and that value counts within the 70%. The 100% is the condition for that exemption, not for meeting art. 5: a truck insured for less still counts within the 70%, but it also stays under the general rule and needs its forest fire and flood cover. Every other vehicle stays under the general rule.

The decision sets no valuation method. It says only that the vehicle's chassis number, as shown on the public «Open data Οχημάτων» service, may be used to work out the current market value (art. 3). Agree the value with the insurer in writing. For the other covers of a vehicle, see our guide to car insurance in Greece.

How to get a compliant policy

If your revenue is above €500,000 and you already hold a property policy, do not assume that it meets the rule. Check:

1. Revenue: confirm last year's gross revenue with your accountant, every year.
2. Perils: earthquake, flood and forest fire are written in the policy, with no exclusion of fire spreading from forest or scrubland.
3. Assets: owned buildings, equipment, stock and raw materials, not only the building.
4. Sums: at least 70% of the total value, on a valuation basis agreed with the insurer.
5. Vehicles: trucks and professional-use vehicles count within the 70%. Insured at 100% of their current market value, they are also exempt from the separate vehicle rule; otherwise they need its forest fire and flood cover too.
6. Deductibles and limits: the law does not say whether they affect compliance, but they decide what you are actually paid after a loss.
7. Documents: keep the policy, your requests and any refusals ready for an inspection.
8. A policy issued abroad: if your group holds an international property programme, ask us to check how it fits the Greek rule before you rely on it.

How Leadinsure helps

Leadinsure is an insurance agency (registered insurance agent) for individuals and businesses. We ask the insurers we work with for proposals and explain them side by side: perils, sums insured, deductibles and exclusions. We check that the cover matches what the law asks, help you set the values and, if an insurer refuses, ask for the refusal in writing. We work with businesses by phone and online, wherever their premises are. You pay us no separate fee: our commission is already included in the premium. Please send us:

• what the business does, its legal form and whether its revenue is above €500,000;
• the address, year of construction and type of structure of each building you own, and any premises you lease;
• the value of your equipment, stock and raw materials;
• a list of your trucks and professional-use vehicles;
• your current property policy, if you have one.

Use our quote page and tick “Property and equipment”, email info@leadinsure.gr or call +30 28210 86065. We reply within 24 hours on working days, with no obligation. Our office is open Monday to Friday 09:00–16:00 and 17:30–20:30, and Saturday 09:00–14:00, Greek time. For liability, business interruption and the other covers a business needs, see business insurance.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

The laws, decisions and official pages we checked for this guide. Many of them are in Greek.