Rental vehicle insurance and the excess in Greece

Is the CDW insurance?

No, and one Greek operator says so in the terms you are asked to accept. Alamo Rent A Car Greece states that its CDW reduces the driver's liability in the event of damage to or theft of the vehicle, on condition that the damage is not due to a breach of the Κώδικας Οδικής Κυκλοφορίας (Κ.Ο.Κ., the Greek highway code, now Ν.5209/2025); that without a CDW in the rental agreement the renter is liable for the full cost of the damage, or the value of the vehicle if it is lost or stolen; and then, flatly, that the CDW is not insurance.

The distinction decides who you would be arguing with. A policy is a contract between the rental company and its insurer. A waiver is a promise the rental company makes to you about how much of its own loss it will charge back. If the waiver falls away no insurer refuses you — the rental company charges you under the rental agreement, and at both companies whose deposit terms are quoted below the money is already blocked on your card.

Autohellas Hertz keeps the two apart on the page. Under its insurance heading it covers fire damage to the rented vehicle and third-party liability for death, injury and property, both subject to the general terms of its own contract with its insurer, while the waiver products sit under other headings and are priced by the day.

What does the compulsory insurance cover?

Other people. Greek law requires the owner or holder of a vehicle whose normal place of parking is in Greece to insure the civil liability towards third parties arising from its use, and states that the obligation runs continuously from the issue of the registration document and the plates. The instrument is Ν.5113/2024 (ΦΕΚ Α΄96 of 21 June 2024), transposing Directive (EU) 2021/2118 and amending π.δ. 237/1986, the codification of Ν.489/1976. The cover must contain liability towards third parties for death, bodily injury or damage to property, including compensation for mental anguish or moral damage.

Two further rules come from the statute rather than from anything anyone can tell you about your own rental:

• It must extend to the civil liability of the owner, the holder and every driver or προστηθείς (a person engaged to drive for another) of the insured vehicle, excluding a person who took the vehicle by theft or violence and a person who caused the accident intentionally (π.δ. 237/1986, άρθρο 6 παρ. 1).
• Property carried in the same vehicle is excluded from the compulsory insurance (άρθρο 6 παρ. 2). Your luggage is not a third party.

Both come from the consolidated text the Τράπεζα της Ελλάδος (the Bank of Greece) publishes, which carries amendments only as far as Ν.3746/2009. We checked that Ν.5113/2024 leaves them untouched, and not that nothing in between did.

The sums are a floor rather than a figure. From 1 January 2022 the minimum cover may not be lower than 1,300,000 euro per injured party for bodily injury and 1,300,000 euro per accident for property damage, irrespective of the number of injured parties. The same law says the cover must be at least what the Τράπεζα της Ελλάδος sets from time to time by decision, revised in line with the Εναρμονισμένος Δείκτης Τιμών Καταναλωτή (the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices), and we could not retrieve that decision, so read the figures as the statutory minimum rather than as the sum on a given policy. Alamo Greece publishes exactly those two limits as the third-party cover included in its rentals, describes it as required by Greek legislation, and states that both exclude the driver of the rented vehicle.

What is the difference between the excess and the deposit?

They are two different objects, and Greek rental terms use two different words. «Απαλλαγή» is the excess: a number in the contract, the amount you remain liable for once a waiver is accepted. The renter's share is also called «συμμετοχή». «Εγγύηση» is the security deposit: money, blocked on a card at pick-up, held rather than taken, released when the rental ends without charges.

Whether the two are the same number is a term of your agreement, and two Greek operators publish opposite answers.

• Autohellas Hertz states that the deposit pre-authorised at pick-up corresponds to the excess amount of the coverage included in the rental, as defined per vehicle category in its CDW and SCDW section — and then, in the very next sentence, that if the renter selects Super Cover the deposit ranges from 100 to 500 euro depending on category.
• Alamo Greece publishes deposits of 290 euro for Mini, Economy, Compact and Intermediate, 390 euro for Standard, Full-Size and VAN, and 1,000 euro for Premium, Luxury and Electric Elite. Its CDW excesses on the same page are 800, 1,000, 1,400 and 2,000 euro. An Intermediate car there carries an excess of 1,000 euro and a deposit of 290 euro.

So the relationship changes between companies, and inside one company it changes with the product you bought. Ask what the deposit will be, in euro, for the category and the cover you are booking. Alamo states the amount is pre-authorised on the renter's credit or debit card and is not charged but made temporarily unavailable until the end of the rental. Autohellas Hertz states its deposit is released in full on completion of the rental provided no additional charges arise, and that release may take up to 14 days depending on the card issuer's bank.

We looked for a Greek instrument regulating the size of a rental deposit, the kind of card it may be taken on, or how quickly it must be released, and found none. Do not assume a legal deadline for getting your money back.

Can you buy the excess down to zero?

At both companies whose price lists we read, the excess can be bought down by a second, separately priced step. What zero means when you get there is a matter of product design, and it is never zero liability.

Alamo Greece sells Excess Reduction on top of the CDW: buying ER requires buying the CDW, the covers and exclusions of the CDW apply, and the excess falls to 300 euro for Mini, Economy and Compact, 400 for Intermediate and Standard, 600 for Full-Size and VAN, and 1,000 for Premium, Luxury and Electric Elite.

Autohellas Hertz does it in two priced steps. Its CDW reduces liability to a charge of 650, 800, 1,000, 1,300 or 3,000 euro by group, at daily rates of 12, 15, 23, 44 and 80 euro. A separate Additional Coverage (SCDW), bought on top for its own daily charge, carries deductibles of 160, 200, 300, 400 and 800 euro. Its Super Cover states the renter can be fully covered with zero excess in case of total theft or damage, provided CDW, SCDW and theft protection have already been accepted or are included in the reservation.

Buying the excess down does not buy the exclusions away, and both companies say so in their own way. Alamo attaches the CDW's covers and exclusions to the reduced product. Autohellas Hertz, in the note under its zero-excess top product, states that damages caused to the underside and wheels of the vehicle are not covered by any insurance. That is the sentence to read twice before the unsurfaced track down to a beach.

An advertised zero excess is a ceiling on one thing rather than an absence of liability, and one company's page carries both halves: Rental Center Crete says it always includes fully comprehensive insurance with 0 euro excess in its rental quotes, and further down the same terms sets out when it is entitled to claim compensation from the renter up to the repair cost of the damage.

What cancels a waiver?

The terms of the three companies we read diverge on the circumstances and, more importantly, on the mechanism.

• Alamo Greece cancels the waiver outright. Its CDW «θα ακυρωθεί» — will be cancelled — where damage is caused by an unauthorised driver, by anyone using the vehicle without the correct licence or anyone under 21, by use for hire or reward or for unlawful purposes, by racing, testing or driving instruction, by use under the influence of drink or drugs, by overloading the vehicle with passengers or beyond the maximum legal weight, by use outside Greek territory without its written permission, by towing, by off-road use, by failure to report an accident, or by failure to lock the car.
• Rental Center Crete keeps the cover and claims the money: it is entitled to claim compensation from the renter up to the repair cost where the vehicle was operated on any unauthorised road, non-asphalt road, dirt road or off-road, naming Balos and covering the unintentional case as well as the intentional one; where it was driven by someone disqualified, never licensed for that vehicle or not registered on the rental agreement; and where the driver was under alcohol or drug influence affecting the ability to drive, or used the vehicle wilfully or recklessly, such as sitting or standing on the bonnet, boot or roof.
• Autohellas Hertz makes the reduction conditional from the start: its liability reduction applies on the condition that the Κ.Ο.Κ. is not violated, and Alamo attaches that same condition to its CDW.

The practical direction is the same in all three; the contractual route is not, which matters if you are ever disputing a charge. Rental Center Crete puts the general principle in a line: all insurance coverings and waivers are valid provided that the renter has complied with all terms and conditions.

Alcohol shows how the chain runs, and the order matters. Nothing in the Greek insurance law we read voids a waiver for drink-driving. Autohellas Hertz and Alamo condition their waivers on the Κ.Ο.Κ. not being breached, and Alamo and Rental Center Crete list drink and drugs directly. The Κ.Ο.Κ. supplies the threshold: under Ν.5209/2025, άρθρο 46 παρ. 1, a driver is treated as being under the influence of alcohol at 0.50 grams per litre of blood or above, or 0.25 milligrams per litre of exhaled air or above.

Ferries and land borders belong on the same list. Autohellas Hertz allows ferry transportation only with its prior written approval and only if the renter has accepted its Ferry Boat Cover, failing which the renter is liable for all damage caused for any reason during the transfer, regardless of any coverage and liability restrictions accepted and paid at the start of the rental. Alamo states that without its written authorisation the vehicle is not covered for damage or loss for the period it remains on a ship, and that outside Greece its vehicles carry only basic cover within the borders of the country for which the green card is issued. Rental Center Crete forbids ferrying the car to or from any island or mainland outright, and states that all insurances are voided and the renter is responsible for any damage if the vehicle is driven anywhere other than Crete.

If the waiver collapses, what happens to the other driver?

Nothing that happens between you and the rental company reaches the person you hit. Under π.δ. 237/1986 άρθρο 11 παρ. 1 the insurer cannot raise against an injured third party the defences arising from the insurance contract, and it does so expressly without prejudice to the right to sue the policyholder, the insured and the driver. Άρθρο 11 παρ. 4 adds that insurers do not set a deductible against the person entitled to compensation. That is the statutory reason an excess never appears in a victim's claim: it lives entirely inside your contract with the rental company.

At European level, Article 13(1) of Directive 2009/103/EC, as replaced by Directive (EU) 2021/2118 and applicable from 23 December 2023, requires that a statutory provision or contractual clause excluding from insurance the use or driving of vehicles by unauthorised persons, by persons without a licence for the vehicle, or by persons in breach of the statutory technical requirements concerning the condition and safety of the vehicle, be void in respect of claims by third parties injured as a result of an accident. The same provision keeps one exception: the unauthorised-driver clause may still be invoked against a person who voluntarily entered the vehicle, where the insurer can prove they knew it was stolen.

Read the reservation in άρθρο 11 παρ. 1 again, because it is the half people skip. The victim is paid, and the right to come after the driver is expressly preserved.

Are tyres, glass and theft inside the waiver?

Not necessarily, and where they sit is one of the sharpest differences between companies.

Alamo Greece lists what its CDW does not cover: tyres, lost keys, key fobs, transponders, damage caused by the wrong fuel, any damage or loss caused by a failure to take all reasonable measures to protect the vehicle or the keys or any other device that unlocks or starts it, and damage to the roof or the underside of the vehicle.

Autohellas Hertz sells tyres and glass separately as Tyre and Glass Protection, at 5.5 euro per day charged for a maximum of 17 days, and states that if TGI is not accepted the client is liable for the full value of damage to the tyres, windscreen, side windows and back window; its Prestige Collection publishes the same product in Greek. Rental Center Crete draws the line inside the tyre rather than around it: non-repairable or burst tyres are not covered, but if the tyre is repairable the customer may repair it and the company is obliged to refund the cost.

Theft is the divergence with the largest consequence. At Autohellas Hertz theft protection is a separate optional purchase, which reduces the renter's financial responsibility in case of total theft of the vehicle to 650 euro for groups A, B, J, Z and V2, by accepting a charge of 6, 9, 12, 18 and 40 euro respectively per rental day, and which excludes any theft of personal effects. At Alamo Greece theft sits inside the CDW, which by its own definition reduces the driver's liability in the event of damage to or theft of the vehicle. A renter who says they took the CDW has bought theft cover at one of those companies and has not at the other.

What to do if something happens, and the fees nobody waives

Reporting is a condition of cover rather than an administrative courtesy, and one company puts a clock on it. Rental Center Crete states that if the renter fails to report the damage within two hours he admits responsibility and is obliged to compensate the company for the repair costs, and that no accident or damage report is accepted on the return of the car without prior notification. Alamo states that the accident declaration must always be completed in order for the insurance covers to apply.

Some charges survive every product on the price list. Alamo charges a damage administration fee of 25 euro plus ΦΠΑ (VAT) and airport tax in the event of damage to or theft of the car, and states that this charge applies regardless of who is at fault. Autohellas Hertz charges a non-refundable incident administration fee of 30 euro in case of an accident regardless of the renter's liability. A renter who bought all the way down to a zero excess still pays these.

Where a third party was at fault, Alamo publishes a mechanism: if liability lies with a third party, the renter supplies a police report and a signed accident report during or at the end of the rental at the branch, and the third party's insurance company pays the owner in full, then the owner will refund the damage charges the renter paid, except the accident administration fees. That is one company's published term, not an entitlement.

Why this page will not tell you what Greek rental companies do

Because the source that would support it does not exist. In its case study on car rental, the European Commission records that five large rental companies gave the consumer protection cooperation network voluntary commitments: to disclose at booking the need to pre-authorise a specified amount on the consumer's card at the pick-up desk, to include more information at the booking stage about optional waiver and insurance products including their prices, exclusions and applicable excesses, and to ensure consumers are given a reasonable opportunity to challenge any damage and associated repair charges before any payment is taken. The same document then records that the action did not have a domino effect on the smaller national traders, who for the most part did not modify their practices to conform with those commitments. The same document identifies the five as Avis Budget Group Inc., Enterprise Holdings Inc., Europcar, The Hertz Corporation and SIXT SE.

The study also notes what happens when the cover is bought from an intermediary rather than at the desk: in case of an accident, even where the consumer has taken an insurance policy with the intermediary, they would still be required to pay the trader and then claim the money back. The CarTrawler and Inter Partner Assistance regulated product document says the same in its own words — the policy operates on a reimbursement basis, and all deposits held by the supplier must be held on a credit card with the appropriate limit. A second such document, from Strategic Insurance Services, states separately that drivers not named on the rental agreement are not insured. Both are United Kingdom regulated products, one of them restricted to permanent UK residents, so read them as evidence of how such a policy is built rather than as products available here.

Rentrium is a marketplace and is not your rental company. The four sets of terms quoted on this page belong to three named companies — the fourth set is Autohellas Hertz's separate Prestige Collection price list — read on the date shown above, and they disagree with each other on ferries, on tyres, on theft, on whether the deposit tracks the excess and on what a breach does to a waiver. The document that answers the question for your rental is your rental agreement. Ask for the excess and the deposit in euro, and for the exclusions list, before you pay.