Portugal news in English.

Subscribe

The Portugal Brief
Subscribe
Guides

Getting Home Insurance in Portugal

Researched and written with AI tools from official sources. How we make our guides

Which home insurance is compulsory in Portugal, what a multi-risk policy covers, how to set the sum insured, how to claim, and how to switch or complain.

The Portugal Brief 6 min read

Getting Home Insurance in Portugal

Last verified: October 2026.

Who this is for

  • You own a flat or a house in Portugal, with or without a mortgage.
  • You are buying with a bank loan and the bank wants insurance.
  • You rent and want to protect your belongings, or you let a property.

Not for you if: you want to know about your building's shared costs and meetings. Read How a Condominium (Condomínio) Works in Portugal instead.

Only one kind of home insurance is compulsory in Portugal: fire insurance for buildings split into separately owned units, such as blocks of flats. If you take a mortgage, your bank will also require insurance on the home and usually life cover. You can buy both from any insurer, not only the bank's. Most people choose a multi-risk policy (seguro multirriscos habitação), which adds water damage, storms, theft, and liability. Policies usually run for a year and renew automatically.

What the law requires

If you own a flat. Fire insurance on the building is compulsory. It must cover each flat and the shared parts, such as the roof and stairs. The owners take it out. If they have not done so by the deadline set by the owners' meeting, the building manager must, and then charges the owners. The cover must be updated every year.

If you own a house outright, with no mortgage and no shared building, no law makes you insure it.

If you let a holiday home (alojamento local), you need liability insurance with at least €75,000 of cover per claim. If the unit is in a building with several owners, you also need fire insurance. See Registering a Holiday Let (Alojamento Local) in Portugal.

Fire cover protects the building, not your furniture or your liability to neighbours. For those you need your own policy.

What your bank will ask for

If you buy with a mortgage, the bank can require:

  • home insurance on the property, covering at least the risks the bank sets; and
  • life insurance, so the loan is paid off if you die, and often if you become permanently disabled.

You can choose your own insurer. The bank must accept a policy from another insurer if the cover is equivalent to what it asks for. The bank's own policy may come with a lower spread on your loan. Work out whether that saving beats a cheaper policy elsewhere. If you later drop the bank's product, the spread can go up.

See Getting a Mortgage in Portugal.

What a multi-risk policy covers

The cover depends on the insurer and the level you choose. Read the policy, not only the summary. A typical multi-risk policy can include:

  • fire, lightning, and explosion;
  • water damage (danos por água), such as burst pipes and leaks;
  • storms and floods;
  • theft (furto e roubo), and damage from a break-in;
  • broken glass;
  • electrical damage to appliances;
  • liability (responsabilidade civil), if you damage a neighbour's property, for example by flooding the flat below;
  • home assistance, such as an emergency plumber or locksmith.

Earthquake cover. Check whether the policy includes it. If it does not, ask whether you can add it.

By law, fire cover includes damage from the fire, the smoke and heat, and the efforts to put it out, even if you were careless. Unless the policy says otherwise, it also covers lightning and explosion without a fire.

Building, contents, and the sum insured

A policy can cover the building (imóvel), the contents (recheio), or both.

The most important figure is the sum insured for the building (capital seguro). Set it at what it would cost to rebuild your home, not at the price you paid. The price includes the land and the location, which a fire cannot destroy.

Too low, and claims are cut. Unless the policy says otherwise, if the sum insured is below the real value, the insurer pays only in proportion. Insure for half the value, and you get about half of any claim.

Too high, and you overpay. The insurer never pays more than your actual loss, up to the sum insured. If you find you are over-insured, you can ask to reduce the policy.

Yearly update. Unless the policy says otherwise, the building's sum insured rises each year in line with an index the insurance regulator publishes. The insurer must tell you the sum insured and how it is updated, when you sign and at each renewal. Check it every year, especially after building work.

What it costs

No official price list exists. The premium depends on the rebuild value, the size and location of the home, the contents value, and the cover you choose.

It also depends on the excess (franquia), the part of each claim you pay yourself. A higher excess lowers the premium, but small claims then come out of your own pocket. Ask several insurers for written quotes with the same cover and excess.

How to make a claim

  1. Limit the damage. Turn off the water or power and stop things getting worse. The law requires you to take reasonable steps.
  2. Tell the insurer quickly. Report it within the time set in your policy. If the policy sets no time, the law gives you eight days from when you find out.
  3. Explain what happened. Say when and how it happened, the likely cause, and what was damaged. Answer any questions the insurer asks.
  4. Report a theft to the police. Go to the PSP or GNR, and give the insurer the report number.
  5. Keep evidence. Take photos and videos. Keep receipts or other proof of what you owned.
  6. Wait for the loss adjuster (perito) before you throw out damaged items or start major repairs, unless they are urgent.

If you report late, the policy may let the insurer reduce the payment by the extra damage the delay caused. It cannot do so if the insurer already knew, or you could not reasonably have reported sooner.

The payment is your loss, up to the sum insured, minus the excess.

Switching or cancelling

A one-year policy renews automatically for another year, unless the contract says otherwise.

To stop it renewing, send the insurer a written notice at least 30 days before the renewal date. For a policy with no end date, or one that first ran for five years or more, the notice is 90 days.

If you bought the policy online or by phone, you can usually cancel it within 14 days of receiving the policy, without giving a reason.

If your home is mortgaged, arrange the new policy first. Make sure it meets the bank's conditions and is linked to the loan, then cancel the old one.

If you rent or let

If you rent, the building is the owner's responsibility. Your own belongings and your liability to others are not covered by the owner's policy. A contents and liability policy covers them. Check your lease, as it may ask for insurance. See Signing a Rental Lease in Portugal.

If you let a home, tell your insurer the property is let. A policy for a home you live in may not match a let property.

If you need to complain

  1. Complain to the insurer in writing. Every insurer must have a complaints department.
  2. Go to the insurer's customer ombudsman (provedor do cliente) if the complaints department does not solve it. Each insurer must appoint one.
  3. Complain to ASF, the insurance and pensions regulator. It checks whether the insurer followed the rules.

This guide is general information, not legal or financial advice. It does not recommend any insurer. Check your policy and the official sources before you act.

Sources

This guide is written from official sources and, where relevant, organisations' own websites.

Last verified October 2026. Rules and fees change; check the official source before acting.

Read next