Most home policies in Portugal and Spain are written for the average house. They work well for it. A villa in Quinta do Lago, a quinta in Sintra or a house in La Zagaleta is not the average house, and the standard multirriscos or seguro de hogar shows its limits exactly when the loss is large: the sum insured has drifted, the proportional rule cuts the claim, the garden walls and the pool are capped at a token figure, and the family spends months in a rented flat.
Chubb Masterpiece Signature, one of the three high-value wordings we place, is built the other way round. This article goes through its conditions clause by clause — the house, the contents, the claim itself — so that you can compare them with the policy you have today.
High-value homes: Hiscox, Liberty and Chubb
For a main residence of real value, we place cover with Hiscox, Liberty Mutual and Chubb. All three settle on rebuild cost rather than a cadastral figure; they differ on minimum sums, on alarm conditions and on how far beyond the sum insured they will go.
Hiscox — home insurance for residents
For residents of Portugal or Spain, with contents from €150,000.
- All-risks extension, with art and antiques and valuables and personal possessions in their own sections; personal possessions covered worldwide.
- Rebuild cost, with flexibility by agreement up to the sum insured; alternative accommodation for up to two years; architects' and engineers' fees and demolition up to 15% on top of the sum insured.
- Liability of €7,500,000; no deductible on claims above €10,000, except earthquake, which carries its own excess of €7,500 or 2.5% of the buildings and contents sums insured, whichever is greater.
Watch: Theft cover can require an alarm connected to a monitoring centre (or to keyholders), installed within 30 days and serviced every year.
Liberty Mutual Home Insurance Plus, through Innovarisk
For a main residence or a house under permanent supervision, with contents from €150,000.
- All risks; the wording applies no proportional rule, which appears only in the compulsory fire cover of a flat in a condominium.
- Rebuild cost and, if rebuilding is not reasonable, an agreed amount up to the sum insured; alternative accommodation for up to two years; fees and demolition up to 15% on top.
- Contents replaced new for old; leak detection and repair up to €25,000.
- Liability of €7,500,000; a three-year Long Term Agreement on renewal terms; Portuguese law.
Watch: Alarm and safe conditions can be set as subjectivities, depending on the contents and valuables declared. Personal liability does not cover the USA or Canada for residents there, or after more than 90 days there in the year.
Chubb — Masterpiece Signature
For homes with a building sum insured from €1,000,000: house, contents, valuables, family liability and family protection in one policy.
- After a total loss, the rebuild is paid even above the sum insured, as long as the appraised sums have been kept.
- All risks of physical loss, with no exclusion tied to construction materials; outbuildings not attached to the house covered up to 20% of the house sum insured, at replacement cost.
- No sub-limits for accidental damage, theft from cellars or garden furniture, and replacement cost up to 25% above the contents sum insured; unlisted jewellery and watches are limited to €25,000 in total and €7,500 per piece, so pieces of value are listed. Contents and valuables covered worldwide.
- Alternative accommodation with no monetary limit while the house cannot be lived in; lock replacement and leak detection with no limit.
- Liability up to €10,000,000 worldwide, and family protection after events such as a violent home intrusion or a carjacking.
- €1,000 deductible, waived on claims above €10,000; cash settlement or repair by a provider you choose.
Watch: Acceptance can depend on security conditions set for each home, such as a safe certified to EN 1143-1, an alarm connected to a monitoring centre and smoke detectors. If the house stands empty for more than 30 days without notice to the insurer, the deductible rises to 5% of the sum insured.
What we need to quote
- Address, year of construction and gross area.
- Rebuild value: we calculate it with the APS SCRIM simulator and round it up for walls, pools and outbuildings.
- Contents and valuables to insure, and how they are kept.
- Alarm and security, and any claims in the last five years.
- The mortgage lender, if it has to be named on the policy.
Conditions summarised from each insurer's wording and the proposals we place; the policy issued and its schedule always prevail, and cover is subject to the insurer's acceptance.
The sum insured: appraisal and guaranteed rebuild
- An appraisal at no cost. For higher-value homes the insurer sends its own risk consultant to establish the rebuild cost, advise on the contents and valuables sums insured, and recommend risk-management measures.
- Extended replacement cost. If the appraisal’s recommendations are accepted, the house is rebuilt after a total loss even if the cost exceeds the buildings sum insured.
- No proportional rule. The underinsurance rule of the Portuguese Insurance Contract Law (article 134) is expressly disapplied. A partial loss is paid in full, not in the proportion of the sum insured to the true value.
- Index-linked every year. The buildings sum insured is updated automatically at each renewal by the index the supervisor publishes.
- Rebuild cost means the real thing: the same design and the same quality of materials and workmanship, architects’, surveyors’ and legal fees, the cost of complying with new building regulations, and debris removal.
The house and its grounds
- Other permanent structures — guest houses, garages, pool houses, walls — are covered for an additional 20% of the house sum insured, with no separate cap on boundary or retaining walls.
- Trees, shrubs, plants and lawns up to 10% of the house sum insured, after fire, storm, theft, vandalism or impact — and fallen trees removed after a storm.
- Land. If rebuilding needs excavation or stabilisation of the ground, a further 10% of the covered loss is paid for it.
- Trace and access without a sub-limit. Finding and repairing an escape of water, gas or heating oil, opening and making good walls and floors — plus the water or oil that was lost.
- The modern house. A contribution towards a water-leak detection system after a significant water claim, towards solar or geothermal generation when part of the house is rebuilt, towards a generator after a long storm power cut, and cover for lost solar income and for alternative water systems.
- Locks replaced without limit and without excess if the keys are lost or stolen.
- Disability alterations. If a family member becomes permanently disabled through illness or injury, the alterations that let them go on living in the house are paid for.
When the house cannot be lived in
After a serious fire or flood, the question that matters most to a family is where they will live, and for how long.
- Comparable accommodation — a house of the same standard, including room for pets and horses — for the whole time it takes to make the house habitable, with no excess and no fixed time limit for the house itself.
- Loss of rent on any part of the property that is let.
- Forced evacuation when the authorities close the area because of damage next door — including essentials bought because the family cannot get back in.
Does your current policy contain these clauses?
Send it to us. We read it against this list and reply in writing.
The contents, at home and away
- All risks, worldwide. Contents are covered against accidental loss and damage wherever they are, so there is no separate personal-effects policy for travel.
- Up to 25% more than the contents sum insured if replacement costs more than expected, provided the agreed sum has been maintained.
- New for old, with no deduction for wear and tear.
- Guests’ and staff belongings in the residence are included.
- Newly acquired contents covered automatically for 90 days, up to a quarter of the contents sum insured.
- Events at home: cancellation costs of a private celebration and hired marquees.
- Family extras: students’ course and residence fees lost after an accident or long illness, cyberbullying support, golf carts and quad bikes used on the grounds.
One point needs attention: unscheduled contents carry special limits for cash, jewellery and watches, silver, collections, guns and wine. Anything valuable in those categories should be listed separately as a valuable article, at an agreed value.
The claim itself
- Excess waived on large losses. The basic excess does not apply to any covered loss above €10,000 — precisely when it would weigh most.
- Your choice of settlement. A cash payment, or repair by the suppliers and craftsmen you choose, with no penalty either way.
- Emergency repairs to protect the house are paid on top of the sum insured.
- Endangered property moved out of the house to protect it is covered where it is taken.
- Claims handled in-house by the insurer, with the appraisal already on file — which is what makes settlement quick.
Liability and the family
The same contract usually carries worldwide personal liability for the whole household, in limits of several million euros with defence costs paid on top, and a family protection section for risks that follow people rather than buildings — kidnap expenses, carjacking, home invasion, stalking, child abduction. We cover those in a separate article on family protection in a home policy.
A short checklist
- Was the rebuild cost set by an on-site appraisal, and were its recommendations accepted?
- Is the proportional rule expressly disapplied in your wording?
- Are walls, pool, annexes and gardens covered in proportion to the house — or capped at a token figure?
- Is alternative accommodation limited to a few months or to a fixed amount?
- Is the excess waived on large losses, and can you choose cash or your own craftsmen?
- Are jewellery, watches, silver and wine listed as valuables, or left inside the contents limits?
Talk to us
Adler & Rochefort is an insurance intermediary registered with Portugal’s ASF, with its head office in Lisbon, placing private-client household cover for homes in Portugal and Spain. We read your current policy against this list and reply in writing, clause by clause, with what changes if you move. See also what you must tell the insurer, the waiver of average and our Private Clients page.
Adler & Rochefort is a commercial brand of Ownizo, Unipessoal Lda., registered with the ASF under no. 425591790/3. General information from an insurance intermediary, not personalised advice; what a policy covers depends on its wording and on the insurer’s acceptance of the risk.