Car insurance in Cyprus in 2024. A complete guide to car insurance in Cyprus.

Car insurance Cyprus

Acquiring the correct car insurance contract in Cyprus can be difficult, especially if you are an inexperienced driver or not a Cypriot national.

In addition, there is a large spectrum of car insurance contracts to choose from, with significant differences in terms.

Cypriot insurance companies also have unique claim management procedures that differ from their competition. Therefore, the ability and willingness of these companies to pay claims vary significantly.

All of these factors combined lead to stark differences in premium rates and claim satisfaction ratios.

Throughout this guide, we aim to answer all of your questions about car insurance in Cyprus.

We will elaborate on the different coverages available to you in Cyprus and help you save money by picking your ideal plan.

Table of contents

Types of car insurance in Cyprus
What is excess in car insurance?
Car insurance for new drivers in Cyprus
Car insurance for young drivers in Cyprus
Temporary car insurance Cyprus
How much is car insurance in Cyprus?
Cheap car insurance in Cyprus
Best car insurance Cyprus
Online car insurance Cyprus

Types of car insurance in Cyprus

There are three primary types of car insurance in Cyprus.

Third-party insurance.
Third-party, fire and theft.
Comprehensive insurance.

Third-party insurance in Cyprus

This type of car insurance is required by Cypriot law.

Third-party liability insurance exclusively covers the other driver’s expenses if you are involved in a car accident that was your fault.

Insurance companies will compensate the other parties involved in the accident (driver, passengers, pedestrians, property owners) for property damages, injuries and death.

Your own damages will not be covered under this policy.

With third-party liability insurance, additional drivers can drive your vehicle and be fully covered if any of the below conditions apply:

If your insurance contract includes the term, each driver aged between 25 and 70 can drive your car.
If you declare specific individuals on your insurance contract who can drive your car. In this case, you should provide their names, date of birth, the date they acquired a driving licence, and their driving record (driving history).

Note: Third-party liability also allows you to drive other vehicles of the same type, even if their owner’s insurance contracts do not specify that each 25 to 70-year-old driver can drive the car.

In case of an accident that is your fault (or an at-fault accident), your insurance contract will be activated and compensate the third parties who were involved.

Depending on the contract, third-party insurance also provides roadside assistance for free 2 - 5 times yearly.

Furthermore, you are insured up to a certain amount for windscreen damages. Compensation for windscreen damage usually varies between €300 - €500.

Some insurance contracts in Cyprus additionally provide third-party insurance coverage if you drive your car to other countries in the European Union.

If you draw a trailer, third-party insurance can cover you and the loading is protected from any claims if there is an accident.

Third-party, fire and theft insurance in Cyprus

This type of insurance offers the same coverage as standard third-party liability insurance and covers any expenses relating to car damages if it is stolen or burned.

It is usually recommended for those who own a holiday home and a car in Cyprus but primarily live abroad.

Third-party, fire and theft coverage is slightly more expensive than standard third-party liability insurance. Specifically, it can be 15% more costly than standard third-party insurance.

Note: A home policy does not cover a car from theft and fire when parked in the garage. Vehicles are not part of the home’s content.

Comprehensive car insurance in Cyprus

Fully comprehensive car insurance offers identical coverage to third-party coverage and third-party, fire and theft, while it also provides coverage for other natural disasters and man-made disasters.

NATURAL DISASTER	MAN MADE DISASTER
Flood	Theft
Storm	Arson
Earthquake	Civil Disorder
Hail	Riot
Tempest	Malcious Act
Fire	Vandalism

In addition, it covers all the damages on any vehicle involved in a car accident, regardless of who was at fault.

Fully comprehensive insurance contracts in Cyprus always contain a deductible amount, known as an excess. This amount will be deducted from the total repair expenses of your vehicle.

You can read more about the excess further below.

It’s also important to remember that when you have fully comprehensive insurance, you will be compensated daily because you do not have access to your vehicle due to damages.

Specifically, the insurance company will either pay for your rental car or give you another car to use while your car is repaired.

Usually, insurance companies will compensate you around €20 - €30 per day for each day you cannot use your car.

If your car is stolen or damaged beyond economical repair, the insurance company will pay you for the market value of the car.

If your car is less than one year old and fully damaged, some insurance companies can replace your car with the exact same car.

A comprehensive insurance policy provides “personal possessions insurance”, which comes into effect if your belongings are damaged or stolen from your car. Generally, the amount of coverage can be between €100 - €300.

Furthermore, the coverage for windscreen damage is higher than that of third-party insurance, ranging from €700 - €900.

Regardless of the type of insurance you choose, you should register your car as a commercial vehicle if you are using your car for business activities because otherwise, you run the risk of not being covered.

Finally, you can choose premium comprehensive insurance contracts that cover car misfuelling (i.e., accidentally putting the wrong type of fuel in your vehicle’s fuel tank).

Summary of coverages

Here is a summary of the three types of car insurance contracts provided in Cyprus and what they cover.

Third-party insurance.
Third-party, fire and theft insurance.
Comprehensive car insurance.

Covers	Third-party only	Third-party, fire, and theft	Comprehensive
Third-party legal liability	–	–	–
Trailer liability	–	–	–
Emergency treatment	–	–	–
Personal accident to authorised driver	–	–	–
Medical expenses of authorised driver or passenger	–	–	–
Passenger liability	–	–	–
Driving of another car (only for individuals)	–	–	–
Road assistance	–	–	–
Accident assistance	–	–	–
Damage to windscreen	€500	€500	€800
Own damage from fire or theft		–	–
Own damage from accident or other non excluded cause, such as natural perils, riot and civil commotion, malicious act, vandalism.			–
New motor vehicle replacement (for vehicles less than a year old)			–
Lock replacement €250			–
Personal belongings €170			–
Loss of use €25 daily up to 10 days			–
No claim protection	Optional cover	Optional cover	Optional cover
Car misfueling	Optional cover	Optional cover	Optional cover

Car Insurance in Cyprus exclusions

Regardless of the type of insurance, most insurance contracts in Cyprus involve universal exclusions.

Dirt road accidents.
North Cyprus may not be covered.
Designated maximum number of passengers limits.
Intoxicated drivers.
Luxury vehicles and specialised road assistance.

Accidents are not covered in dirt roads. For example, people who drive to and have an accident in Akamas and Lara are surprised to find out their insurance contract is void in these areas.

Another example, suppose your car battery dies, or you get a tire puncture on a dirt road, and you cannot change your tire. Road assistance will charge you between €200 - €350 to come and change the tire or charge the battery.

Additionally, the vast majority of insurance contracts issued by Cyprus insurance companies do not cover the occupied areas of Northern Cyprus.

Furthermore, if your car carries more than the designated maximum number of passengers, it’s important to know that your insurance contract will be void.

In addition, the insurance will not cover intoxicated drivers for their damages due to reckless driving while under the influence.

Lastly, some luxury cars and motorcycles might require a specialised road assistant recovery vehicle to carry them away from an accident, and most insurance contracts do not cover this.

What is excess in car insurance?

As noted, all comprehensive car insurance policies in Cyprus should have an excess.

Also known as a deductible, the excess/deductible is the amount you must pay when filing an insurance claim.

For example, suppose you are involved in a car accident, and your damages cost €1,300, and you have an excess of €250. In that case, the insurance company will pay the car mechanic €1,050.

It is important to mention that the deductible never applies to the other party/drivers involved in the accident. For example, suppose you caused an accident; your damages are €5,000, and the other drivers are €10,000.

If your insurance excess is €300, the insurance company will fully pay the other driver (€10,000), and pay €4,700 for your damage.

It is important to mention that one insurance contract might have multiple deductibles depending on the driving insurance of drivers.

For example, the standard deductible for experienced drivers will be €250 for a car with a value of €20,000, but the deductible might be €700 for the inexperienced children of the main driver.

How is the deductible calculated?

The insurance deductible is calculated based on your car’s value. Therefore, a vehicle high in value equals a higher deductible.

In Cyprus, insurance deductibles range from 0.5% to 1% of the car’s declared value (with a minimum excess value of €200). If your vehicle is worth €40,000, the deductible may range between €200 and €400.

Car insurance for new drivers in Cyprus

Third-party car insurance in Cyprus is obligatory. Nevertheless, some categories of drivers find it extremely difficult to acquire insurance at a reasonable price or find insurance at all.

Specifically, the following group of drivers usually pay more than the average premium:

Drivers without experience in right-hand traffic countries.
Drivers with driving experience of less than two years in Cyprus.
Drivers under 25 or over 70, regardless of their driving experience.
Drivers with driving licences from their native country who do not possess Cypriot or an International Driving License.
Drivers with a car accident claim history (i.e., when they had accidents in the last five years for which they were at fault).

In addition, the following categories of cars will face significant loadings when obtaining insurance in Cyprus:

Left-hand cars.
Motorcycles and buggies.
Vehicles with high-horsepower.
Luxury cars with a value over €100,000.

Pitsas Insurances is among the most flexible insurance companies in Cyprus, with one of the lowest rejection rates for car insurance.

In addition, Pitsas Insurances is the only insurance company in Cyprus that treats all expatriates (European and non-European) as Cypriots if they have more than five years of driving experience in their country (regardless of whether it is a left-hand traffic country), and they have a clean accident record.

Nevertheless, there are some cases where car drivers cannot receive insurance at all.

For example, drivers with a student driving licence or multiple costly car accidents they were responsible for will find it difficult to obtain insurance.

However, drivers that cannot receive insurance from an insurance company can be insured by the Cyprus Hire and Rejected Risks Pool, see here.

Use the following tips when looking for insurance in Cyprus.

Take your time to know your options and apply for a Cyprus driving insurance licence.
Buy an easily importable used right-hand car from the UK.
Declare a small number of drivers on your car insurance (i.e., do not opt for the term that enables all drivers from 27 to 70 to drive your car).

Car insurance for young drivers in Cyprus

Drivers under 25 years old or drivers with a driving licence of less than two years (young drivers) can be insured in Cyprus.

Pitsas Insurances takes on all drivers’ insurance requests regardless of their age.

Temporary car insurance Cyprus

Few insurance companies in Cyprus provide temporary car insurance or short-term car insurance.

Insurance cover note in Cyprus

A “cover note for additional drivers” is an endorsement that provides insurance coverage to a driver not intending to use the car for more than 1 - 2 weeks.

Only the insurance company that has already insured the car can issue this cover note.

Any changes to the insurance policy will be made if the driver intends to use the car during the year consistently.

In that case, the driver should be declared on the insurance policy as a permanent driver, and the insurance premium should be adjusted.

Usually, more insurance policies have the term that any driver from the age of 25 to 70 and with a driving licence of a minimum of 2 years can drive the stated car. Therefore declaring a driver of average age and experience is an unnecessary action.

Temporary car insurance in Cyprus

On the other hand, temporary car insurance is a short-term contract of less than a year (usually for 3, 4, or 6 months.)

People who have a holiday home in Cyprus and visit the island for a few months consider it more profitable to only insure their car for the months they are visiting.

However, due to excessive bureaucracy, most insurance companies in Cyprus do not provide this option.

Therefore, most owners opt for annual car insurance and then cancel it when they leave.

This option is not a profitable long-term strategy for the following reasons:

The high cancellation fee.
They will never receive a non-claim discount.

Note: A non-claim discount is a document declaring that you had no accidents during a continuous driving period.

These documents are exclusively given to those who do not cancel their insurance.

After three years, a non-claim discount can reduce initial premium rates, sometimes up to 70%.

How much is car insurance in Cyprus?

How much does car insurance cost? The overall cost of car insurance in Cyprus varies based on several factors.

Some of the factors that affect Cyprus car insurance prices include the following:

Vehicle usage.
Type of vehicle.
Value of the vehicle.
Gross vehicle weight.
Driver’s driving record/s.
Driver’s experience level.
Vehicle make, model, and year.
How many drivers drive the vehicle.
Past and present insurance claims history.
Coverage options, including limits and deductibles.

Average car insurance cost in Cyprus

Car insurance costs in Cyprus vary significantly. Each insurance company provides different terms and premiums.

Minimum car insurance cost in Cyprus

Here are the minimum annual insurance costs in Cyprus for a driver aged 30 - 50 (with a clean driving record in the past five years) with a standard saloon car (with an engine size of 180 - 200 horsepower).

Cheap online insurance providers

€‎120 per month for third-party insurance.
€‎160 per month for fire and theft insurance.
€‎200 for comprehensive insurance.

Average insurance company

€‎180 per month for third-party insurance.
€‎250 per month for fire and theft insurance.
€‎320 for comprehensive insurance.

Cheap car insurance

The insurance market in Cyprus is highly competitive, so it’s not unusual to find comparable car insurance premium rates.

How to get cheap car insurance

If you want to save on your car insurance policy in Cyprus, you can use the following methods:

You can downgrade your policy from comprehensive to third-party insurance or third-party insurance, fire, and theft.
If you own comprehensive insurance, you can increase the excess on your policy.
You can ask for an increased excess for your young children and inexperienced drivers.
You can remove the term that enables all drivers from 25 to 70 to drive your car. Ask your insurance provider to declare only those who drive your vehicle on your contract.
Avoid insuring young drivers on expensive cars.
Buy all your car insurance policies with only one insurance company. In this case, you can get a discount for having insured more than one car with them.
Acquire a home or medical insurance contract with your insurance provider. You can receive another discount for having additional policies.
To avoid steep renewal premium increases in case of an at-fault accident, we recommend acquiring the “non-claim protection” coverage. This is additional coverage that protects you from increased premiums during renewal. You pay €20 for this coverage, but you are protected from a €100 premium increase in case of an accident.

Cheapest car insurance Cyprus

It’s important to beware of extremely low premiums, as cheap premiums can become extremely expensive in the long run.

Some online providers offer premiums up to 25% less than the average insurance premium.

However, consumers should be highly sceptical when acquiring this type of contract.

These companies provide extremely low premiums for the following reasons:

They won’t insure young and inexperienced drivers or those without a clean driving record.
They won’t insure drivers with local non-EU driving licences (e.g. Russian, Ukrainian etc.)
They charge an additional fee for any alterations or contract endorsements. For example, if you want to add an additional driver or change the type of insurance.
They have a limited number of free uses of road assistance. Most of the companies provide three free uses per year for road assistance.
Road assistance is limited to a maximum number of km. For example, a resident of Limassol goes on a trip to Larnaca. If his car breaks down in Larnaca, the road assistance of cheap insurance providers can only use an auto mechanic in Larnaca.
They might not reduce your insurance even for claims that are not so costly.
They don’t offer correspondence via phone and exclusively communicate through emails. Due to their permanent lack of employees, they usually answer emails after 3 - 4 days and are impossible to reach for consultation during an accident.
They don’t have insurance consultants responsible for each client, meaning you don’t have anyone to answer your questions or suggest ways to save money.
Cheap insurance providers do not provide an additional car if your vehicle is left at a mechanic for repair. They do not spare expenses easily and provide the minimum daily compensation for every day you don’t have access to your car.
If your car breaks down, cheap providers try to bargain the best deal for the mechanical parts you need for repairs. Therefore, you could be on a waiting list until those parts are delivered, meaning you won’t have access to your car for weeks.
In addition, cheap providers will also suggest to the mechanics not to use original car parts, as they try to reduce their costs at all costs.
They have high excess rates with the possibility of higher excess rates for young and inexperienced drivers.
Huge cancellation fee. Reliable insurance companies might charge a cancellation fee of €15 - €25. Cheap online providers might charge €50 - €75 to discourage you from cancelling the insurance.
They provide low windscreen coverage.
They don’t have personal belongings coverage. For example, even with comprehensive insurance, you will not be covered if someone steals your belongings from your car.

Best car insurance Cyprus

It’s worth reiterating that the best car insurance doesn’t exist. Nevertheless, there is a plan that is best suited for you.

Each individual has different needs, targets, and budget constraints, so the best car insurance comes down to what you need from your insurance.

Cyprus car insurance

For example, we strongly advise that the owner of a new car should acquire a comprehensive car insurance policy. In contrast, the owner of an inexpensive and old car should acquire third-party insurance.

In another case, Limassol residents, which have the highest accident frequency rates than any other city in Cyprus, are strongly recommended to buy comprehensive insurance.

Additionally, we recommend that the owners of unattended cars left in their garages buy a minimum of third-party, fire, and theft car insurance.

Unfortunately, thieves observe and attempt to steal cars that are left unattended.

The cars (or car parts) are stolen to sell in Northern Cyprus, where the Cypriot Authorities do not have the power to control them. 95% of stolen vehicles are sold in Northern Cyprus.

Best car insurance Cyprus

Communicate with one of our insurance specialists, and we will help you find the best car insurance suited to you.

Online car insurance Cyprus

Pitsas Insurances is one of the largest online car insurance providers in Cyprus.

Our insurance specialists can offer you a tailor-made car insurance offer.

Why insure your vehicle with Pitsas Insurances:

We reward our long-term clients who have a clean driving record with discounts.
All our clients have a dedicated insurance consultant who can advise and communicate with them via phone.
We provide large discounts for clients that acquire other insurance contracts with us.
We can insure non-EU citizens with their country’s local driving licences (e.g. Russia, Ukraine, Belarus).
We insure non-EU drivers with international driving licences without requesting additional premiums.
We have a large network of mechanics that provide the highest level of services in the shortest amount of time using exclusively original parts.
Pitsas Insurance’s third-party liability contract provides third-party coverage to other European Countries without additional cost.
Our comprehensive policies provide full comprehensive coverage for up to 30 days in other European Union countries.
Fast settlement of claims.
Flexible multiple drivers cover.
Low-cost commercial vehicle insurance.
Support in English, Russian and Greek language.
Special deals for British and Russian-speaking expats living in Cyprus.
Pitsas Insurances is one of the few companies that provide third-party coverage in Northern Cyprus for cars registered in the Republic of Cyprus (road assistance is not included).
We can insure young drivers in case their parents are existing clients of ours or if they are willing to acquire other insurance contracts with us (i.e. home insurance).
Our deductibles are 20% less than the average excess of insurance companies in Cyprus.
We don’t charge additional fees for alterations on the contract.

Car insurance quotes

Pitsas Insurances is the largest expatriate car insurance company in Cyprus. We cooperate with the largest international underwriters in Cyprus.

We can help you to detect the offer that corresponds best to your needs. We provide a guarantee of lower premiums for each insurance provider.

Compare car insurance quotes

The most effective way to find the best policy is to compare quotes with the help of one of our insurance specialists.

We will assist you in finding the best car insurance policy for you.

See here to learn more about our vehicle insurance plans, including Third-Party Liability, Third-Party, Fire & Theft, and Fully Comprehensive.

To receive a hassle-free quote, see here.

Pitsas Insurances Team