Homeowners Risk Losing 10% Property Tax Discount due to ‘Fine Print’

Thousands of individuals who have purchased homeowners’ insurance in Greece in hopes of getting a 10% reduction on their annual property taxes (ENFIA), which is an incentive announced by the Greek government to help close the country’s insurance gap against natural disasters, will miss out because they have not read the “fine print.”

In order to be eligible for the program, homeowners must file the relevant application on the Greek government’s myPROPERTY by February 22, 2024.

The biggest issue, according to reports at OT.gr, is the fact that owners have obtained insurance coverage for earthquakes and fires but not for floods. In many cases this is due to the fact that apartments located on the upper floors of apartment buildings are considered at very low risk for flooding and therefore have not obtained coverage.

Homeowners may also be excluded from the 10% discount because they have not met the minimum limit of total insured value of main-auxiliary spaces, or they did not follow all procedures for the filing of jointly owned properties. Reports at OT.gr reveal a host of other technical and procedural issues that filers may encounter while uploading contracts.

In an effort to facilitate homeowners in interpreting the fine print of the program, the Hellenic Property Federation (POMIDA) has released a guide, in Greek, which highlights the key points homeowners and applicants should not miss.

Earlier this month the Association of Insurance Companies of Greece (EAEE) released figures showing that only 17% of homes are insured and that more than half of the existing insurance contracts are connected to mortgage insurance.