Business insurance in Cyprus in 2025. Affordable business insurance in Cyprus.
December 23, 2023
Ian Westwood
December 23, 2023
Ian Westwood
Also known as commercial insurance, business insurance is necessary for your company as it can protect your business from unexpected circumstances and financial losses.
In this comprehensive guide to business insurance in Cyprus, we will help you understand the various types of business insurance available on the market, and we will explain their coverages in detail.
We will also share clever tips on reducing the cost of your business insurance by comparing the most affordable business insurance contracts in Cyprus.
Table of contents
Business insurance, also known as commercial insurance, is designed to protect business owners from unexpected losses.
Business insurance protects you from covered risks such as accidents, theft, property damage, professional errors, and cyber attacks. It can financially help with lawsuits when claims arise.
It can also help cover injured employees’ lost wages and provide access to programs that can help them return to work.
A traditional business insurance contract in Cyprus, aka business owners policy (BOP), is a multi-coverage insurance policy comprising a combination of the following coverages.
Nevertheless, business insurance is a generic term encompassing the following coverages.
Below, we will elaborate on the different coverages of commercial insurance in Cyprus to help you understand what type of coverage your business requires.
The following are the business insurance coverages available in Cyprus.
This insurance is also called commercial property insurance or business hazard insurance.
Commercial property insurance helps to protect your rented or owned building. Additionally, it protects the tools and equipment you use to operate your business.
Commercial property insurance covers losses from many sources, such as:
Commercial building insurance helps to protect your physical business assets, such as:
How can I get correctly insured?
To ensure you get the correct amount of coverage for your business, you should be prepared to provide the correct information to your insurers.
We suggest you take your time compiling a list of all the expensive items in your office, such as computers, laptops, servers, printers, and expensive decorations.
Note: update this list annually and send the updated version to your insurance company.
If you own your company’s building, you will need to provide us with the reconstruction value of your property.
The reconstruction value of your property is the cost to replace or rebuild it to original or like standards considering the current material and labour costs within a certain geographical area.
Our engineers can help you to calculate the reconstruction value of your property. Send us an e-mail: [email protected].
Business property insurance Cyprus
To read more about business property insurance in Cyprus, see here.
This type of commercial insurance can help to cover the cost of accidents when using commercial vehicles, such as company-owned cars.
Commercial car insurance can help pay for medical expenses and property damage relating to car accidents. It can also cover any employees that use company cars.
Commercial auto insurance can be invaluable if you or your business rely on company vehicles.
Commercial car insurance covers many accidents and circumstances.
When it comes to private vehicles, there are three main types of coverage:
Comprehensive commercial car insurance includes the following coverages:
Commercial car insurance typically excludes the following.
Commercial car insurance covers many types of vehicles, such as:
Commercial car insurance Cyprus
To learn more about commercial car insurance in Cyprus, see here.
Business owners need employers liability insurance in Cyprus to protect them from legal concerns that result from employee work-related injury or illness claims.
It’s important to note that employers liability insurance isn’t the same as workers compensation insurance.
Workers compensation mainly covers employee’s medical expenses, while employers liability insurance helps pay for legal costs.
How does employers liability insurance work?
This business insurance can help pay for employee work-related illness or injury expenses and legal fees if you are sued.
Employer’s liability coverage ensures you are financially protected from employee claims.
This type of insurance can be sold separately or as a part of business insurance.
Business insurance includes business interruption; property; general public; and product liability insurance.
What does employers liability insurance cover in Cyprus?
This type of insurance covers an employer’s liability for errors or negligent acts to compensate the employees (or their families) concerning personal injury or death caused by an accident at work or occupational disease resulting from and during their employment.
Employers liability insurance is obligatory in Cyprus and regulated by Law 174 /1989.
The minimum limits of liability requirement are:
In Cyprus, it is a criminal offence for employers to not have employers liability insurance.
In case of conviction, employers who fail to carry employers liability insurance are liable to imprisonment for up to one year, a fine of up to €5,000, or both sentences.
All employees must display the Certificate of Employers Liability insurance in a prominent place in their Head office or headquarters, or they will face a penalty charge of €3,000.
The Cyprus Institute of Legal Information (CyLII) regulates Employers Liability Insurance and presents this information on their online portal here.
Employers liability insurance Cyprus
See our article to learn more about this insurance product and why you need it.
In many cases companies in Cyprus are under contractual obligation to purchase a comprehensive business insurance when signing deals with large international companies. International companies usually request general public liability and professional indemnity insurance as standard.
Companies working in the technology sector may also be required to carry multimedia and cyber insurance.
What is general public liability insurance?
This insurance is sometimes called business liability insurance.
Overall, general public liability insurance is a business contract that protects the insured against claims made by the general public, including the company’s clients and visitors.
A general public liability policy will help pay for medical expenses and other fees resulting from injuries, death, and property damage involving your business.
General public liability insurance covers claims no matter where the accident occurred, whether inside or outside the company’s premises.
This type of insurance in the EU and the USA is usually part of an umbrella contract called a “business insurance contract” or “business owners contract”.
Most business insurance contracts include:
General public liability insurance coverages
The main portion of general public liability insurance comprises “premises liability insurance” or a simple “public liability insurance” coverage.
Premises public liability insurance only covers incidents inside your company’s premises (e.g., shops, points of sale, offices, or factories).
In Cyprus, premises liability insurance is sold as part of a “business owners contract” or as additional coverage on a standard “employers liability insurance” contract. This coverage is rarely sold on its own.
In Cyprus, you can extend your premises liability coverage (i.e., incidents that occur inside your premises) to general public liability coverage (i.e., incidents that occur inside and outside your premises).
Your company’s activities will be carefully assessed before you can get the coverage extension.
What does public liability insurance not cover?
Most standard public liability insurance does not cover the following circumstances:
Is public liability the same as general liability insurance?
Public liability insurance, or premises liability insurance, covers claims of incidents that occur within your company’s premises, while general public liability insurance also covers claims outside your company’s premises.
Some general public liability policies might include product liability insurance.
Examples of public liability claims
The following incidents commonly result in public liability claims.
General public liability insurance Cyprus
If you would like to read more about general public liability insurance, see our article here.
Companies face financial risks without the right business insurance. At least, most business owners commonly need business interruption insurance as a standard.
This insurance is also known as business income insurance and contingent business interruption coverage.
Business interruption insurance is usually sold as part of commercial property insurance.
How does business interruption insurance work?
As its title suggests, business interruption insurance is intended to financially help business owners when their business services are interrupted.
It can help replace lost income if you temporarily close your business after a covered loss.
For example, you may have to close your business due to property damage and repair work.
Your business interruption insurance policy can help keep you and your business afloat while your premises are repaired.
Most business owner policies (BOP) are made up of business interruption insurance and coverages such as:
What does business interruption insurance cover?
Interruption insurance can help cover your company’s operating expenses if a covered loss forces you to close your business doors.
Business interruption insurance can cover the following types of expenses.
Business interruption insurance Cyprus
In our property insurance article, read more about business interruption insurance in Cyprus and how it can protect your company.
Also known as group health insurance, business health insurance is a type of health insurance plan offered to employees and their family members by an employer. It is an attractive option with many advantages compared to an individual health insurance policy.
What does business health insurance cover?
A business health insurance policy covers expenses relating to disease or accidental bodily injury incidents.
By default, business health insurance plans cover inpatient (hospitalisation) expenses and are commonly sold with the option to additionally cover outpatient expenses.
Two sources in Cyprus provide health insurance.
How does business health insurance work in Cyprus?
When acquiring a group health insurance plan in Cyprus, you usually need to complete a questionnaire stating the following.
Next, you must choose whether you want outpatient coverage in addition to inpatient coverage (inpatient coverage is part of all group business health insurance plans).
Additionally, you must declare how much time your employees spend in Cyprus and whether they want to receive medical treatment outside Cyprus, whether inpatient or outpatient.
Business health insurance coverage
As noted, group health insurance plans cover the expenses relating to incidents of medical treatment, disease, and accidents.
Some of these diseases and accidents might not be covered under certain conditions, as explained below.
Business health insurance coverages are divided into two categories:
Inpatient expenses
These expenses result from a hospitalisation requirement for at least one night in a private clinic (i.e. for an operation).
These expenses cover more than operating costs and include the costs for staying in the clinic, e.g. pre-op diagnostic exams (i.e. x-rays and blood exams) and post-op exams (i.e. x-rays and rehabilitation).
Inpatient expenses examples
Pre & post hospitalisation expenses
Pre-hospitalisation expenses include the medical costs that the insured will incur before admittance to a hospital.
Post-hospitalisation expenses include the medical costs that the insured incurs after hospital discharge.
Outpatient expenses
Outpatient expenses involve the costs that do not require hospitalisation.
These costs include routine clinic visits, check-ups, prescriptions, physiotherapy, home care, hospice care, long-term outpatient care, and public health services.
Types of business health insurance in Cyprus
There are two classifications of business health insurance policies in Cyprus.
1st classification: inpatient and outpatient coverage
The main difference between these coverages is that inpatient expenses require hospitalisation while outpatient expenses do not.
In general, coverages for outpatient expenses, in addition to inpatient expenses, are usually 25% – 50% pricier than plans that cover only inpatient expenses.
Since employees living permanently in Cyprus should be registered in the GESY (General Health System of Cyprus) with access to free healthcare, we recommend purchasing premium business health insurance with international inpatient coverage but limited outpatient coverage.
In general, outpatient expenses are straightforward, there isn’t usually a long waiting time, and visiting a specialist doctor or clinic is usually unnecessary.
2nd classification: International group health insurance and local policies
International companies’ business health insurance plans generally cost more than local providers. Depending on what we compare, these plans can be 15% – 300% more expensive.
International business health insurance generally provides higher coverage limits for outpatient and inpatient treatment.
Another notable difference between local and international policies is that local policies do not cover international outpatient expenses. Local policies can only be used in Cyprus.
Some local companies advertise that they also cover international outpatient expenses, but to do that, they require the following:
The above can often be a hassle for companies with employees, so we recommend those who often return to their country of origin and prefer their medical services to buy an international plan.
Another important thing to mention is that international health policies have a claim satisfaction ratio of 95%, while local ones have an 80% claim satisfaction ratio.
It’s known that international companies protect their reputation at all costs, while local providers try to save money where possible – this is especially apparent with ambiguous claims.
Business health insurance Cyprus
To see our full article about business health insurance in Cyprus, please see here.
This type of insurance also goes by the name of errors and omissions insurance in the US (E&O) and protects businesses against that.
Professional indemnity insurance covers a company’s professional mistakes regarding its services.
Financial protection by way of professional indemnity insurance can prove to be priceless for your business if you face an allegation of professional business mistakes.
If your company is sued for professional mistakes, this insurance can protect you from paying out-of-pocket costs for legal fees and compensation costs.
How does professional indemnity insurance work?
Professional indemnity is designed to protect businesses against claims concerning the services they provide their customers or clients.
Even if you’re an expert in your field, there is always the possibility of a professional error.
If your customer or client believes that an error you made cost them or their business, they can file a lawsuit against you.
What does professional indemnity insurance cover?
Professional indemnity insurance can protect you against the following claims.
You can still be taken to court even if you are not guilty of making professional mistakes.
Without professional indemnity insurance coverage, you’ll have to pay out-of-pocket fees.
What does professional indemnity insurance not cover?
Professional indemnity insurance typically does not cover the following situations.
Who needs professional indemnity insurance in Cyprus?
Professional indemnity insurance is only obligatory in Cyprus for specific professions that are regulated by a governing body.
For example, financial companies and fund administrators regulated by CySEC, lawyer members of the Cyber Bar Association, and civil engineer members of ETEK are obligated to carry this insurance.
Many technology companies must also carry professional indemnity and general public liability insurance when doing business with an international company.
It’s wise for large international companies providing services to third parties in the EU, UK, and the USA to carry professional indemnity insurance as lawsuits have significantly increased in the last decade.
Public liability and professional indemnity insurance
Cyprus-based companies must sign a contract to purchase insurance from a reputable provider when doing business with large international companies.
In most circumstances, international companies require the following.
There may be another obligation for technology companies to acquire cyber insurance and multimedia insurance.
What’s the difference between general public liability and professional indemnity insurance?
The main difference between these coverages is found in the title of each.
Public liability insurance is designed for claims by members of the public for personal harm or property damage. In contrast, professional indemnity insurance covers claims by clients for professional mistakes or negligence.
While public liability insurance covers claims related to non-professional mishaps, professional indemnity insurance covers claims related to professional errors and omissions.
Claim examples
Accidentally breaking a client’s laptop is not deemed a professional mistake. Therefore, this type of accident will be covered by public liability.
A lawyer breaching his client’s confidentiality is a professional mistake. His client can take him to court, so this mistake will be covered under professional indemnity insurance.
Professional indemnity insurance Cyprus
Please see our article here to learn more about professional indemnity insurance in Cyprus.
Directors and officers (D&O) insurance protects corporate directors’ and officers’ (and their spouses) personal assets if they are personally sued by competitors, employees, vendors, customers, investors, or other third parties, for actual or alleged harmful acts in a company’s management.
How does directors and officers insurance work?
The insurance typically protects the company, directors, and officers and covers legal expenses, settlements, and other costs.
D&O insurance is a financial foundation for a standard indemnification provision, which safeguards directors and officers from losses resulting from their role in the company.
What does directors and officers insurance cover?
Directors and officers coverage covers directors and officers who are actually or allegedly involved in the following wrongful professional acts:
Directors and officers insurance covers the following expenses.
Who is insured under a directors and officers insurance policy?
D&O insurance is issued under the company name and not the names of directors or officers.
Directors’ names are not written on a D&O contract in Cyprus but need to be declared on the application form.
Nevertheless, this insurance provides coverage to many individuals not registered as directors.
Specifically, the following individuals can be covered under this contract.
D&O insurance exclusions
Directors and officers insurance vs professional indemnity insurance in Cyprus
There is usually confusion surrounding the differences between professional indemnity (PI) insurance and directors and officers (D&O) insurance.
Professional indemnity insurance protects professionals against third-party claims arising from their alleged mistakes or omissions that took place in a professional capacity.
It covers professionals against liability resulting from their negligent or irresponsible services.
Both D&O insurance and professional indemnity (PI) insurance are types of liability insurance that cover financial losses originating from claims of negligence, errors, or omissions.
While they are similar coverages, they have their differences. The main differences between these coverages include the following.
Insured parties. Directors liability insurance protects a company in case they come up against legal scrutiny for the management of its services. In contrast, professional liability insurance protects a company and individuals that provide professional services.
Nature of claims. D&O liability insurance is designed to cover claims arising from a company’s decision-making that resulted in financial losses for a company or its shareholders.
In contrast, professional liability insurance is designed to protect against claims arising from the wrongful delivery of professional services to a company’s clients.
Directors & officers insurance Cyprus
If you would like to learn more about directors & officers insurance in Cyprus, please see our article here.
Cyber insurance in Cyprus is an invaluable insurance product for companies that handle their customer’s personal data (i.e. credit cards, tax records, medical records) and companies that provide technology services to third parties.
Cyprus-based companies are frequently under obligation to acquire cyber insurance from a reputable insurer when doing business with a large international company.
In many cases, these international companies ask for cyber insurance, general public liability insurance, and professional indemnity insurance.
How does cyber insurance work?
Cyber insurance, or cyber liability and cyber security insurance, is a contract designed to help individuals and companies reduce the financial risks of managing online businesses.
Cyber liability insurance helps to cover costs associated with data breaches and cyber-attacks.
Data Breaches. In general, cyber insurance covers liability for data breaches involving personal customer information, such as credit card numbers, social security numbers, driver’s licence numbers, and health records.
Cyber attacks. It also deals with cyber attacks. Examples of cyber attacks include the following.
Cyber insurance coverages in Cyprus
Policies vary, but most insurers in Cyprus have sets of standardised cyber insurance coverages.
The following list includes the cyber cover insurance available in Cyprus.
What does cyber insurance cover?
Detection expenses (First response). Most companies cannot resolve an IT issue alone, especially a suspected cybersecurity breach.
The first response portion in a cyber insurance contract provides companies with on-call emergency support services when a breach is detected.
Computer crime. Criminals fraudulently transfer funds from one financial account to another through electronic fund transfer fraud.
This portion of the insurance covers any financial loss related to this kind of activity and cybersecurity breach.
Telephone hacking. Online businesses face risks of telephone hacking as well as being hacked online. Criminals target telephone systems to call premium rate numbers, known as PBX dial-through fraud.
Cyber security insurance covers the unauthorised use of a business’s telephone system, no matter where the incident took place.
Goodwill restoration. A business’s reputation and customer relationships can be negatively impacted by cyber breaches.
Goodwill restoration helps to restore the reputation of the company and provides discounts for customers who were affected by the cyber incident.
Event management. It takes time and resources to recover from a cyber-attack.
This portion of the insurance helps to coordinate events and pays for expenses such as IT and PR services, data restoration, legal fees, and breach notification costs.
Network interruption. This portion of a contract covers losses of income and mitigation costs when businesses face interruptions in their operation due to a cyber security issue.
Electronic data incident. Not only do cyber security breaches cause the loss or corruption of personal data – vandalism, theft, natural disasters, and power surges also cause lost data.
This portion of the coverage covers accidental damage or destruction of electronic systems.
Cyber extortion (ransomware). Businesses are often targeted by cybercriminals who use ransomware to hold businesses hostage until they can pay to unlock their encrypted data.
This coverage helps businesses recover from losses after an extortion threat, including the cost of the ransom and specialist expenses for ending extortion.
Digital media. In today’s fast-paced information age, businesses run the risk of presenting misinformation as facts, trademark infringement, and sharing harmful content online.
This portion of a contract covers costs associated with negligence related to electronic content or a third-party intellectual property breach.
Network interruption – system failure. Network interruption losses and system failures can also be caused by outages.
Network interruption covers loss and mitigation costs that result from an internal system failure unrelated to a cybersecurity breach.
Network interruption (OSP – outsourced service providers). Outsourced service providers (OSPs) provide the platform for payment processing, online web hosting, and data storage.
This portion of the coverage extends network interruption to include costs associated with OSP security or system failures.
Data protection & cyber liability insurance coverage. This portion of the coverage responds to third-party liability claims resulting from network security failures.
Defence costs, liability claims, and PCI investigation fines are covered by data protection and cyber risk insurance.
What does cyber insurance not cover?
Most cyber insurance contracts in Cyprus do not provide the following coverage.
To read about the biggest cyber attacks in recent years, see our article here.
Cyber insurance Cyprus
To find out more about cyber insurance in Cyprus, see our article here.
As mentioned, business insurance contracts can include many coverages and components.
Business insurance cost in Cyprus
Below we will present the main factors that define the cost for each coverage of commercial insurance in Cyprus.
Business property insurance
Commercial car insurance
Employers liability insurance
General public liability insurance
Business interruption insurance
Business health insurance
Professional indemnity insurance
Directors & officers insurance
Cyber Insurance
Pitsas Insurances is the most renowned provider of business insurance contracts in the whole of Cyprus and also the biggest insurer of international companies.
Our company cooperates with the largest international underwriters (such as Munich RE, Zurich Insurance, Markel Insurance, and Swiss RE) and with all of the few local underwriters based in Cyprus.
Our experience level, the number of contracts we handle, and the excellent relationships with our underwriters put us in the best position to secure the most profitable deals for our clients.
Beneficially for our clients, we also provide discounts on the predetermined premiums that our underwriters set.
Cheap commercial insurance in Cyprus
If you are looking for cheap business insurance, we can use your budget constraints to find you the most affordable option.
Pitsas Insurances believe that all companies deserve the right to acquire an affordable business insurance product, regardless of their size.
Because of that, we have created special packages for small businesses to help insure those who find it challenging to get insured at decent rates.
Small Business Insurance in Cyprus
Our insurance for small business package includes:
The best business insurance in Cyprus is designed around the needs of the insured. In other words, there isn’t one business policy that is the best, but there is a policy best suited for you and your business.
Our experienced insurance consultants analyse your needs and budget constraints to guarantee you’re insured correctly.
We also guarantee that our contracts have fewer exceptions than similar contracts in Cyprus, and we boast the highest claim management satisfaction rate in the industry.
Pitsas Insurances cooperate with more international underwriters than any other insurance company in Cyprus, enabling us to find the best deals for our clients.
With our expertise, we are confident that we will find the best option for business insurance in Cyprus for your business.
Commercial insurance in Cyprus is a complex product that requires our underwriter’s expertise and careful assessment.
We make an otherwise complicated process into a hassle-free experience.
Operating since 1985, Pitsas Insurances is a reputable and prestigious insurance provider with over 35 years of experience in the industry.
We cooperate with the largest underwriters in the industry and can arrange the most desirable quotes for you directly by comparing the best offers around.
Business Insurance in Cyprus
For more information about what business insurance can do for you, and if you would like to compare business insurance quotes in Cyprus, visit our website and receive an offer.
Please complete our online questionnaire, and we will send you an offer within a few hours.
Pitsas Insurances Team