Filenews 28 April 2025 - by Vasos Vassiliou
One in 27 elderly people over the age of 70 is rejected by insurance companies and resorts to the consortium of insurance companies, according to a survey by the insurance companies themselves.
As the general director, Association of Cyprus Insurance Companies, Mr. Andreas Athanasiades, told Filenews, out of the approximately 73,000 drivers over 70 years of age, who have a driver's license, only 2,700-2,800 are insured with the insurers' consortium.
Asked about this, in view of today's discussion on the issue of premiums before the Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights, Mr. Athanasiadis said that the position that insurance companies do not insure drivers over 70 years of age does not apply. The vast majority of them are insured, he added.
Regarding reports and complaints about the imposition of premiums of €700-€800, the insurers observe that the consortium (which insures drivers when they are not insured by the insurance companies) starts with €500 premiums per year and in the following years, provided that the driver is not involved in an accident, gradually the insurance fee is reduced to about €400-€450 where it is stabilized. The reduction of the premium from €500 to €400 is done gradually with reductions of 5%-10% per year.
However, when someone is involved in an accident, the premium increases. Especially when someone is involved in a second accident, it is considered that the driver passes into the "high-risk" group, so the premium goes up.
In addition to the consortium, insurance companies impose increased fees (compared to younger insured persons) but as they argue, this also depends on the history of each candidate.
Some drivers over 70 pay premiums of around €300, although this cannot be considered the norm. The fact remains, however, that after the age of 70, an increase in premiums is imposed.
Some insurers are also fortified behind the fact that the state itself, upon the completion of the 70th year of drivers, asks for a medical certificate for the renewal of the driver's license, which, as they indicate, is an indirect recognition that human reflexes are reduced and the risk of involvement in accidents is increased.
What seems to be true, as they say, is that every time the driver's license is renewed (every three years) the premium increases by about €35.
However, the increase in the premium is also related to whether someone insures only the car or whether he insures with an insurance company, e.g. the house or business or other assets. In other words, when someone only insures their vehicle, they do not receive special treatment.
The issue of increasing vehicle premiums for elderly drivers was recently discussed at the Session of the House of Elders, where during the debate the discrimination in the amount of premiums for drivers over 70 years of age became apparent.
