A private-client home policy is generous where a standard policy is mean. In return it asks the owner to keep the insurer informed. Most declined or reduced claims at this level are not about exclusions; they are about something that changed and was never declared. Under the Portuguese Insurance Contract Law, an increase in risk must be reported, and a failure to do so can reduce or void a claim. This is the practical list.
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.
Tell the insurer before it happens
- A change of occupancy — for example, letting the house, long or short term.
- A change of use — a business run from the property, or paying guests.
- Building works expected to cost more than €250,000. Losses caused by undeclared works may not be covered, and the insurer usually wants to see the contractor’s own insurance.
- Lending art or valuables to a gallery, museum, art fair or exhibition.
Tell the insurer as soon as it happens
- Any deterioration of the property, including signs of subsidence, landslip or heave.
- Any change to the security arrangements — an alarm disconnected, a contract with the monitoring company ended, a safe removed.
- A significant change of profession of a family member.
- A criminal charge or conviction (other than motoring), or bankruptcy, of a family member.
Changes that increase the risk should be reported within 14 days; the insurer may then propose new terms.
Empty months
Many high-value homes in Portugal and Spain are second homes. Two clauses deserve attention:
- Vacancy. If the house has been substantially empty of furniture and contents for more than 30 consecutive days and the insurer was not told, the excess on a claim rises to 5% of the sum insured.
- Freezing pipes. Damage from water freezing in pipes or appliances is not covered if the house is unoccupied for more than 60 days, unless it was kept heated or the system drained. In the Serra da Estrela or in the Pyrenees, that matters.
A house that is lived in for part of the year but fully furnished is not “vacant”. The answer is to describe the pattern of use at the start, and to keep the alarm and the house-sitting arrangements as declared.
Planning works, a let or a long absence?
Tell us before it starts. We tell the insurer, in writing, and confirm the terms.
After a loss
- Report it quickly to us and the insurer and, for theft, accidental loss or a family protection event, to the police.
- Protect the property from further damage and keep the receipts for emergency work; non-emergency repairs need the insurer’s prior agreement.
- Keep the damaged items until the insurer has seen them.
- Prepare an inventory with invoices, photographs and valuations, and a signed proof of loss within 60 days of the insurer’s request.
- Start the repairs within 180 days of a partial loss; otherwise the policy pays the rebuild cost less depreciation. Rebuilding elsewhere changes the basis of settlement to replacement cost.
- Do not admit liability to a third party without the insurer’s written consent.
Maintenance and the usual exclusions
The owner must keep the property in good repair. Wear and tear, gradual deterioration, rot, mould, faulty design or workmanship, coastal or river erosion, frost and damage by pests are excluded — although a sudden loss that follows from them may still be covered. A house on a cliff in the Algarve or an old finca with original timber deserves a maintenance file as much as an alarm.
A short checklist
- Letting, paying guests or a business at home declared in writing.
- Building works over €250,000 notified before they start.
- Pattern of occupancy described, and long absences notified.
- Heating kept on or water drained when the house is closed in winter.
- Security arrangements unchanged from what was declared, or changes reported.
- Loans of art or valuables declared before they leave the house.
Talk to us
Adler & Rochefort handles these declarations for its clients in writing and keeps the record. Tell us what is changing; we tell the insurer and confirm the terms back to you. See also the conditions, clause by clause and holiday home insurance in Portugal.
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.