By Vangelis Dourakis

Double increase in vehicle insurance policies with the “good morning” of the new year: When renewing their policies in 2025, all car owners will find that the amounts they will be asked to pay will be “stung” by up to 40 euros for “simple” insurance policies, i.e. those that include only the basic coverages. Health insurance premiums will also be “inflated” as they have already registered an increase of close to 50% within 3 years

Starting with vehicles, from January 1 onwards, all the provisions of the law on the obligation to insure private and business cars against natural disasters were activated.

How much will the vehicle insurance premiums “inflate”.

This practically means that it becomes mandatory to insure all kinds of vehicles and for risks arising from natural disasters, an element which, as expected, will force its owner to pay … something more in insurance premiums.

The relevant provision in the law states that from 1-1-2025 for the renewal or conclusion of new insurance contracts for all vehicles for private or professional use there is an obligation to insure against natural disasters.

The additional amounts that vehicle owners are asked to pay in order to include the coverage of natural disasters in their policy vary between 7 and 20 euros.

However, to this amount should be added the increase – readjustment of the insurance premiums initiated by the companies themselves: The amounts resulting from this movement are between 15 and 20 euros.

In other words, combined from this double development in vehicle insurance contracts, their owners will be asked to pay this year with the renewal that they will need to make increased amounts from 22 to 40 euros, just for the basic coverages.

Expensive health insurance and hospitals like… Switzerland

The picture is similar in health insurance contracts where increases of 12% to 15% have already been adopted in the previous months. These are increases that were mainly imposed on old insurance policies (lifetime or long term).

It is even characteristic that in recent years they have “inflated” by over 50%.

Market experts point out that there are companies that want to get rid of old contracts that clearly provided more security to the insured. These are mostly lifetime and unlimited. The tactic of some companies that, through the large increases, seek the solution of these contracts – as the same executives point out – “damages the institution while at the same time making the insured feel cheated. A fact that will certainly have an impact on the market itself.”

The same people who have been active in the insurance market for years estimate that in some cases “oligopoly practices are applied in the field of private health, especially by 2-3 large private hospitals”, as a result of which hospitals are currently among the highest in Europe, behind only from those of… Switzerland: It is therefore imperative that there be a price list that will put a class and enable the insured to know exactly what is covered and what is charged for.

Another issue raised by market insiders is related to the laws in force. In particular, the law 4738/2020 gives the right to insurance companies to increase their premiums at the rate announced by IOBE and not the figures of the National Statistics Authority.

The same law also allows for further increases if companies have higher compensation.