ENFIA and home insurance in Greece: how the 20 % reduction works
Insuring a Greek home properly lowers the following year’s ENFIA, and the rules on what counts as proper are stricter than most policies.
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy
A home in Greece that was insured during the previous year against earthquake, fire and flood pays 20 % less ENFIA if its taxable value is up to €500,000, and 10 % less above that, under article 10(5) of the Property Tax Code. The insurer must be registered with the Bank of Greece, and the policy must cover the full rebuilding value of the building, excluding the land, which the law sets at no less than €1,000 per square metre. Cover must have lasted at least 3 months in the previous year; a part-year policy gives a prorated cut. On an 80 m² flat in Thessaloniki at a €2,100 zone price with a 2001 permit, ENFIA falls from €256 to €205, and the policy needs a building sum insured of at least €80,000. The reduction applies to dwellings of individuals, main homes and holiday homes alike, not to shops, offices or company-owned property. The two calculators on this page check the cut and the sum insured.
How much insurance cuts ENFIA
Reduction
€64
| Rate | 20 % |
| ENFIA after the reduction | €256 |
Under 3 months of cover there is no reduction; under 12 months it is pro rata.
What the policy must cover
Article 10(5) sets four conditions, and missing any one of them cancels the reduction entirely. The policy must cover all three perils, earthquake, fire and flood; a fire-only policy or one without flood does not count. The insurer must be an insurance undertaking entered in the register kept by the Private Insurance Supervision Department of the Bank of Greece. The cover must reach the full value of the property, defined as the rebuilding value of the building alone, not its market price and not the land. And the policy must relate to the previous year and last at least 3 months of it.
Newcomers often arrive with the habit of buying contents insurance only, as tenants do in many countries. Contents cover does not help here: the law looks at the building sum insured. If you own a flat in a Greek apartment block, check whether the building has a common policy and, if so, whether it covers your flat’s full rebuilding value for all three perils, or whether you need a policy of your own.
The rebuilding value test
| Floor area | Minimum sum insured (€1,000/m²) | ENFIA saved, full year |
|---|---|---|
| 60 m² | €60,000 | €36 |
| 80 m² | €80,000 | €51 |
| 110 m² | €110,000 | €70 |
| 150 m² | €150,000 | €108 |
| 200 m² | €200,000 | €168 |
The minimum rebuilding value is €1,000 per square metre, whatever the age or condition of the building. A ruined stone house on an island and a new-build flat of the same size need the same minimum cover. The last column shows what the reduction is worth each year on homes with the same features as our Thessaloniki flat, which you can set against the premium you are quoted. The article lets the Minister of National Economy and Finance, on a proposal from the head of AADE, set the rebuilding cost and adjust that minimum, so the figure may change.
Does your policy cover the rebuild value?
Minimum sum for the reduction
€95,000
| Your policy | €80,000 |
| Enough? | No, €15,000 short |
Cover must include earthquake, fire and flood, excluding the land value.
Part-year cover and the proration
| Policy start in the previous year | Months covered | Reduction | ENFIA saved |
|---|---|---|---|
| From 1 January | 12 | 20 % | €51 |
| From 1 April | 9 | 15 % | €38 |
| From 1 July | 6 | 10 % | €26 |
| From 1 October | 3 | 5 % | €13 |
| From 1 November | 2 | 0 % | €0 |
The table assumes the policy runs to the end of the year. Below 3 months there is nothing; from 3 months the 20 % is scaled by the months covered over twelve. The law says only that the reduction is adjusted proportionally when cover is shorter than a year, without specifying months or days; our calculator prorates by month.
Timing therefore matters around the purchase of a home. Buy in June and you pay no ENFIA on that flat for the year of purchase, because the tax looks at who owned the property on 1 January. In the second year the bill arrives with a reduction for seven months of cover if you insured from the day of completion, and from the third year with the full 20 %. Leaving the policy until the autumn costs you part of that second-year reduction.
Above €500,000: the smaller rate
The rate depends on the taxable value of the home itself. Up to €500,000 it is 20 %; above, 10 %. A 200 m² detached villa on an island at a €3,600 zone price, with a 2017 permit and two frontages, is estimated at €720,000. It gets only 10 %, yet because its ENFIA carries the value tax and a surcharge, the saving is €363 a year. Like the law, our calculator tests the limit against the home itself, using its estimated value (floor area × zone price, for full ownership) rather than the total value you enter for the reduction; AADE’s taxable value uses more coefficients, so close to the limit check your assessment.
Reading a Greek policy schedule
A policy issued in Greek can be hard to read for a newcomer. On the schedule, look for the building sum insured (kefalaio ktiriou), listed separately from contents (periechomeno). In the list of covers, earthquake (seismos) may be an optional extra with its own premium, and flood (plimmyra) may appear under a broader heading, so ask the insurer to confirm both in writing. Check the start and end dates, which decide how many months of the previous year count. And note the insurer’s legal name, not just the broker’s: it is the insurer that must appear in the Bank of Greece register.
Which properties qualify
The provision covers dwellings (katoikies) owned by individuals. It does not require the home to be your main residence, so a holiday house insured on the same terms qualifies, and each dwelling is judged on its own: two homes need two compliant policies, and insuring one does nothing for the other. A shop, an office or a storage unit, however well insured, gets no reduction under this paragraph, and neither does property held through a company. Owners who bought through a Greek or foreign company to hold a holiday villa should keep that in mind when comparing structures.
Co-owned homes raise a practical point rather than a legal one: one policy can cover the whole building for all co-owners, and the reduction then applies to the tax on the dwelling. If siblings inherit a house together and only one of them pays the premium, agree in advance who keeps the receipts, because each of them will see the cut on their own share of the bill.
How it combines with the other cuts
The insurance cut does not replace the value-based reduction of article 13; our calculator applies it to what is left after that reduction. On the Thessaloniki flat, the main tax of €320 first falls by 20 % for value and then by 20 % for insurance, a combined 36 % rather than 40 %. Add the 2026 small-settlement cut for a village main home and the same logic applies. Run your own home through the ENFIA calculator with the insured option, read the ENFIA reductions guide for the value bands, and if you are budgeting a move, the Greek salary calculator gives your take-home pay.