Autosafe | Passenger cars

According to the Law, you are, in fact, obliged to take out insurance to cover your "civil liability" to third parties in the event of an accident caused by your car. The purpose of compulsory car insurance is to ensure, as fully as possible, the restoration of damages (bodily injury or material damage) that may be caused to third parties in the event of a traffic accident due to negligence of the driver of the car. However, you should be aware that there are other insurances (optional insurances), apart from the compulsory by law motor vehicle accident liability insurance, which aim to secure your own insurance as fully as possible, as well as to repair the damages of your own car, even if you are responsible for the accident. The basic laws governing the insurance contract of the Motor Vehicle Sector are Law 489/76, as codified by Presidential Decree 237/86 and subsequently amended and in force until today, which provides for the basic provisions "on compulsory insurance of motor vehicle accident liability" and Law 2496/1997 which regulates the insurance contract in general.

Third-party Liability is the obligation that each person has to compensate for the damage caused to third parties, illegally and culpably.

If you transfer ownership or possession of your vehicle in any legal way, the insurance contract you have concluded is automatically terminated after thirty (30) days from the date of the transfer, and your insurance company is obliged to refund any unearned premiums. The termination of the contract is valid for everyone, without any action being required on the part of the insurance company. If the new owner concludes before the expiration of the above thirty (30) days a new insurance contract for the vehicle in question, then the previous insurance contract you had concluded for the same vehicle ceases to be valid immediately.

In case of an accident you should:

• Call the "accident care" service at 210 9951501 & 215 5654010, in order to help you with the procedures you need to follow.
• Notify the police authority in order to deal with the accident and have it recorded in the incident book by its competent service. It is noted that the police authority, although obliged to come after every call, definitely comes and must in any case be called when there is an injury. 
• Fill in with the driver of the other vehicle involved the friendly declaration, which will in any case facilitate the implementation of the friendly settlement if the insurance company involved participates in it.

If you do not have or did not call "accident care", you should remember within eight (8) working days to notify your insurance company of the accident, as required by law. 
In any case, you should take special care to record the registration number of the other vehicle involved in the accident, its insurance company, as well as the identity and any other useful information of the other driver / owner (eg name of driver / owner, address, telephone numbers, etc.), as well as the details of any witnesses present at the scene of the accident. If there is an injury, you should definitely ensure that the necessary assistance is provided immediately. Remember that we do not move the seriously injured person and do not remove the helmet from the motorcycle rider. We stay at the scene of the accident until the Traffic Police deal with it. Also remember to record the identity of the injured person and the hospital he was transported to, as you will be asked by your insurance company.

According to Act No. 87/5.4.2016 of the Executive Board of Bank of Greece, the claim for compensation is submitted by any appropriate means [by letter, fax to 2155654029 number, e-mail to info@eclaim.gr, or submitted to the company itself and to the offices designated by the company and mentioned on the Euroins website, natural or legal persons who provide a relevant proof of delivery-receipt.

The following shall be considered as proof of delivery-receipt of a document:

• Email to the company and specifically to info@eclaim.gr address
• The Hellenic Post form with the signature of an employee of the insurance undertaking on receipt of a registered letter
• The proof of transmission of a fax to the number displayed by the insurance undertaking on the relevant website www.eclaim.gr.

The payment of compensation for any kind of damage requires the submission of an application for compensation accompanied by the collection of specific supporting documents. In general, it is advisable to contact the company in order to be informed about the supporting documents required in each case (e.g. in case of material damage or bodily injury). Indicatively, in case of material damage, the following are usually required: a copy of the Incident Report, if a police authority has been called on the scene, an accident report or a friendly statement form, an expert opinion, which is usually carried out by an expert appointed by our company (for this reason it is necessary to declare in time to the company the occurrence of the accident and wait for the expert report to be carried out before proceeding with the repair of the damage), authorizations / legalizations, where necessary (if you do not receive the compensation yourself), repair invoices and payment receipt.

According to the Law and Act No. 87/2016 of the Bank of Greece, the insurance company of the responsible driver is obliged to submit to the injured party, within three (3) months from the date of receipt of his claim for compensation, either a) a written reasoned offer of compensation in case the liability is not disputed and the damage has been assessed, or b) a written reasoned reply (refusal) on the points contained in the claim for compensation,  where liability is disputed or has not yet been clearly established or where the damage has not been fully assessed. HOWEVER, we should point out that our company takes care to reduce the time of processing damages and pay compensation in a shorter period of time than provided by law. Of course, this always depends on the timely collection of the supporting documents required to compensate for any damage.

The Instant Payment System (Friendly Settlement) is an agreement between insurance companies, which applies, under certain conditions, to compensation for motor vehicle accidents. It is a way of compensating and managing material damage and minor bodily injuries that achieves, primarily, speed and reduction of litigation.  With the Friendly Settlement, the one who is not at fault or, to the extent that he is not responsible for the accident, is compensated by his own insurance company.

Friendly Settlement applies to an accident that will occur within the Greek Territory, but also outside of it, provided that the vehicles involved are insured with insurance companies operating in Greece and participating in the Friendly Settlement system.

Of course. There are two (2) ways of compensation:
A. If the driver of an uninsured vehicle is responsible for causing the accident, then the person who suffered damage from this accident is entitled to claim full compensation for his damage from the Auxiliary Fund, which has been established, inter alia, to serve this purpose. It is worth noting that after the compensation has been paid to the third injured party, the Auxiliary Fund is entitled to take action against the owner, holder and driver of the uninsured vehicle and recover what it paid to the injured party. For more information, please contact the Auxiliary Fund (D. Aeropagitou & Makri 1, 117 42 Athens, tel. 210 332 7400, fax 210 332 7426-7, www.epikef.gr, e-mail: auxifund@epikef.gr).

B. There is also the possibility to be compensated by your insurance company, if you have chosen, in addition to the compulsory liability insurance, the coverage of "Material Damage from an Uninsured Car" and the conditions of this coverage are met.

You should be aware that if an unknown vehicle remains responsible for the road accident, the third injured party is compensated by the Auxiliary Fund by paying compensation for the bodily injuries suffered as a result of this accident. Compensation for material damage is paid by the Auxiliary Fund only if the bodily injuries suffered by the injured party require hospital treatment, which lasted at least five (5) days in a public or private hospital. It is also a prerequisite that the accident has been dealt with by a police authority. It is worth noting that according to our jurisprudence, the person responsible for the accident is considered an unknown person when it is objectively impossible to verify his identity by paying the usual diligence in transactions. For more information, please contact the Auxiliary Fund (D. Aeropagitou & Makri 1, 117 42 Athens, tel. 210 332 7400, fax 210 332 7426-7,  www.epikef.gr, www.epikef.gr, e-mail: auxifund@epikef.gr).

In addition to what is mentioned above and applies in any case of a traffic accident, those involved in an accident with a vehicle bearing foreign plates should also be aware of the following:

During data exchange, it is particularly important to correctly record the registration number, make & type of vehicle, country of origin of license plates and insurance coverage. The completion of the Friendly Declaration form by both parties involved is optional, but it helps significantly in the exchange of data, as the form is common to all countries. It is recommended, however, in any case to call the competent Police Authority in order for the Incident Report to be completed by the police officers. Obtaining a copy of the Green Card of the foreign vehicle is mandatory if the vehicle bears license plates of the following countries:  AZERBAIJAN, ALBANIA, BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA, BELARUS, MONTENEGRO, ISRAEL, IRAN, MOROCCO, MOLDOVA, FYROM, TUNISIA, TURKEY, UKRAINE & RUSSIA. If the foreign vehicle bearing plates of the above countries is not equipped with a green card, it is considered uninsured. On the other hand, for vehicles from EEA countries (the 28 Member States of the European Union, Norway, Iceland, Switzerland and Liechtenstein), Andorra and Serbia the Green Card is not mandatory and, if it does not exist, the name of the insurance company of the foreign vehicle, the number of the insurance policy and a copy of the insurance policy should be requested.  if possible. Also, the country of origin, registration number, make, type and details of the owner/driver of the foreign vehicle should be recorded.

In order not to face problems in case of involvement in a road accident outside Greece, you should know the following:

• A few days before your trip abroad, you will need to obtain a Green Card from your insurance company in Greece. Issuance of a Green Card is not required if you are going to travel to the EEA countries (the 28 member states of the European Union, Norway, Iceland, Switzerland and Liechtenstein), ANDORRA and SERBIA and if the insurance policy issued by your insurance company has your insurance details imprinted in Latin characters (English). It should be noted, however, that the green card is an internationally known form that facilitates the procedure for compensating victims, as it contains information necessary to settle the damage. 
• The Green Card covers your third party liability in case of a traffic accident and not the optional risks insurance (fire, theft, mixed insurance, etc.) that you may have in Greece. In case you wish to have coverage of optional risks abroad, you should request it and expressly agree it, before your departure, with your insurance company, possibly paying a premium.
• In case you cause an accident, the accident report must be submitted to the foreign International Insurance Bureau of the accident and to your insurance company upon your return to Greece. The contact details of the International Insurance Bureaux of all countries participating in the Green Card System can be found on the back of the green card form. 
• In case of involvement abroad in a traffic accident with a culpable vehicle coming from another EU and EEA country, you have the possibility to settle the dispute out of court upon your return to Greece through the claims representative of the foreign company in Greece, as well as the Compensation Organization, whose role in Greece is performed by the International Insurance Office. The Greek Information Centre, which is a service of the Auxiliary Fund for Motor Vehicles (tel. 210 332 7400), provides information on claims representatives in Greece of insurance companies based in EU countries.