What a Portuguese multi-risk home policy actually covers, clause by clause

Part of our complete guide to home insurance in Portugal — read the pillar for the full picture on cover, valuation and how to choose.

Almost every owner in Portugal ends up holding a seguro multirriscos habitação, and almost nobody reads it. That is understandable: the wording runs to forty or fifty pages of Portuguese legal prose, and the part that actually decides what you get paid is a single dense page at the front called the condições particulares. This article is a translation of that page — cover by cover, what is typically paid, what is typically excluded, what sub-limit usually applies and what excess to expect.

It is deliberately technical. If you want the case for having the policy at all, the mistakes owners make and what it costs, that is the pillar guide and the cost article. What follows assumes you already have a policy, or a quote in front of you, and want to know what it will do when something goes wrong.

How to read a Portuguese schedule of cover

If your instincts were formed by a British or American home policy, four things about a Portuguese schedule will trip you up. Get these straight and the rest of the document becomes readable.

• Capital seguro (sum insured) — the ceiling for that heading. Portuguese policies carry separate sums insured for the building (edifício) and the contents (recheio), and a claim on one does not draw on the other. A UK-style single “buildings and contents” figure does not exist here.
• Sub-limite (sub-limit) — a smaller cap that sits inside a sum insured and applies to a particular cover or a particular class of property. Your contents sum insured may be €60,000 while jewellery is sub-limited to €3,000 and property in outbuildings to €2,500. The sub-limit, not the sum insured, is what you will actually be paid.
• Franquia (excess) — the amount you bear. Portuguese policies frequently set it as a percentage of the loss with a euro minimum — “10% do sinistro, mínimo €150” — rather than the flat figure most British policies use. On earthquake cover it is normally a percentage of the sum insured, which is a much larger number than it first appears.
• Âmbito (scope) — whether the cover sits inside the building, inside the dwelling, anywhere on the plot, or worldwide. This is the clause that decides whether the garden furniture, the pool pump and the bike in the garage are in or out.

One further point of structure. A Portuguese multi-risk policy is built as a compulsory fire base with elective covers bolted on. Anything not named in the condições particulares is not covered, however reasonable it sounds. There is no residual “accidental damage” catch-all unless you have specifically bought an all-risks wording, which in practice means a high-value product rather than a retail one.

The premium tells you what the policy costs. The sub-limits and the excesses tell you what it is worth.

Fire, lightning and explosion — the compulsory base

Typically covered: damage to the structure from fire, direct lightning strike and explosion, plus the cost of demolition, debris removal and, usually, damage caused by the fire brigade putting the fire out. This is the cover made compulsory for autonomous fractions under Article 1429 of the Civil Code, and the cover your mortgage lender insists on.

Typically excluded: scorch and smoke damage without actual flame (a cigarette burn on a worktop is not a fire claim), damage to electrical equipment from the current passing through it — that belongs to the electrical damage heading — and any fire arising from work in progress that was not declared.

Sub-limit: none as such; this heading runs to the full building sum insured. Demolition and debris removal is often capped at 5% of it.

Excess: commonly nil or low on the fire base, because it is the compulsory cover.

Water damage (danos por água)

The single most common claim on Portuguese home policies, and the one where wordings diverge most.

Typically covered: sudden and accidental escape of water from fixed pipework, tanks, boilers, plumbed appliances and heating systems; overflow from baths, sinks and cisterns; and water entering from a neighbouring fraction. Better wordings also pay pesquisa e reparação de fugas — the cost of breaking into walls or floors to find the leak and making good afterwards — which on a villa with underfloor pipework can dwarf the damage itself.

Typically excluded: gradual infiltration and condensation damp; water penetrating through the roof, terrace or façade because of poor maintenance; damage to the failed pipe or appliance itself; leaks from swimming pools and their circulation plant unless specifically added; and anything arising during works.

Sub-limit: leak detection and making good is almost always sub-limited, commonly €1,000 to €5,000. Water damage to contents is usually a separate, smaller sub-limit than water damage to the building.

Excess: typically 10% of the loss with a minimum around €100–€250. Some insurers apply a higher excess to leak-detection costs specifically.

If you are dealing with an actual leak now rather than reading in the abstract, our step-by-step guide to a Portuguese water damage claim sets out the notification deadlines, the documents and the loss-adjustment process.

Theft, burglary and vandalism (furto ou roubo)

Typically covered: contents stolen after forced entry, damage caused to doors, windows, locks and frames in the course of that entry, and vandalism accompanying it. Cover normally extends to theft with violence or threat against occupants.

Typically excluded: theft with no sign of forced entry — the classic problem where a key was left with a cleaner or an agency; theft from open terraces, gardens, garages or outbuildings unless the scope specifically includes them; theft while the property is unoccupied beyond the period stated in the unoccupancy clause; and theft of cash beyond a token amount.

Sub-limit: this is where theft cover is won or lost. Jewellery, watches, cash and valuables carry their own sub-limit, commonly 20–25% of the contents sum insured or a hard cap such as €3,000–€5,000. Anything worth more than that has to be specified item by item, with a valuation. Contents in outbuildings and annexes are usually sub-limited far lower again.

Excess: often nil for the building damage and a fixed amount, frequently €100–€250, on the contents.

Security requirements: nearly every Portuguese insurer conditions theft cover on stated security — a certain lock standard, security doors, sometimes shutters or a monitored alarm above a value threshold. These are conditions precedent, not suggestions. If you told the insurer there was an alarm and it was not set, expect the claim to be declined.

Storm and atmospheric phenomena (fenómenos da natureza)

Typically covered: wind, hail, torrential rain, snow and the collapse of trees or masts caused by them. Portuguese wordings usually define the trigger objectively — wind above a stated speed at the nearest IPMA station, or rainfall above a stated intensity within a stated period.

Typically excluded: damage to awnings, canopies, pergolas, solar water heaters, aerials and swimming pool covers, which are almost always carved out or given a token sub-limit; water entering through openings left open; damage to property in the open air; and anything attributable to a defect or to deferred maintenance rather than to the storm.

Sub-limit: the intensity threshold functions as a de facto limit — a persistent Algarve winter gale below the stated wind speed produces no claim at all. Outdoor items, where covered, are commonly capped between €500 and €2,500.

Excess: typically 10% of the loss with a minimum in the €150–€300 range.

Coastal and clifftop properties bring a further layer — erosion, subsidence and cliff instability are a different question from storm damage, and are dealt with in our article on coastal and clifftop exposure.

Civil liability (responsabilidade civil)

Typically covered: two distinct things that are easy to confuse. Liability as owner or occupier of the building covers damage your property causes to third parties — a leak reaching the flat below, a balcony rendering falling onto a parked car, a wall collapsing onto a neighbour’s plot. Family (private life) liability covers damage caused by you, the people who live with you and your pets, in daily life. Many owners assume they have both and in fact have only the first.

Typically excluded: liability arising from any professional or commercial activity carried on at the property — which is exactly why a standard home policy does not answer for Alojamento Local guests; liability towards people you employ, which requires separate workers’ compensation cover for domestic staff; damage to property in your custody; and contractual liabilities you have voluntarily assumed.

Sub-limit: commonly €50,000 on the building liability and anywhere from €25,000 to €150,000 on family liability. For a villa with a pool this is often materially too low, and it is usually cheap to increase.

Excess: frequently nil for bodily injury, with a small fixed excess on property damage.

Electrical damage (danos eléctricos)

Typically covered: damage to wiring, switchgear, motors and appliances from short circuit, overvoltage, power surge and the electrical effects of a nearby lightning strike — the damage the fire heading specifically excludes.

Typically excluded: equipment beyond a stated age, commonly eight or ten years; damage covered by a manufacturer’s warranty; gradual deterioration; and, importantly, equipment that was never declared. Heat pumps, solar inverters and EV chargers are the current flashpoint — see our article on how insurers treat modern home energy equipment.

Sub-limit: almost always. Something in the region of €1,500–€5,000 is typical, sometimes expressed as a percentage of the contents sum insured. Given that a single inverter can cost more than that, the limit deserves a look.

Excess: typically 10% of the loss with a minimum around €100.

Glass breakage (quebra de vidros)

Typically covered: accidental breakage of fixed glazing, glazed doors, shower screens, mirrors, glass hobs and worktops, including the cost of refitting.

Typically excluded: scratching, chipping and surface damage without actual breakage; breakage during works, moves or installation; and glass in furniture and light fittings, which sits under contents instead.

Sub-limit: commonly €500–€2,500. On a modern Algarve villa with large sliding walls of glass, a single unit can exceed the whole sub-limit, so it is worth pricing an increase.

Excess: often nil on this heading, which is one reason it is claimed on so freely.

Home assistance (assistência ao lar)

Typically covered: an emergency plumber, electrician, locksmith or glazier dispatched by the insurer’s helpline, plus emergency accommodation, removal and storage if the home becomes uninhabitable after an insured event. Better wordings add pest control, boiler breakdown and a limited number of general call-outs a year.

Typically excluded: the cost of the parts and materials as opposed to the call-out and labour; anything that is a maintenance job rather than an emergency; and second and subsequent call-outs once the annual count is used up.

Sub-limit: expressed as a euro cap per call-out (often €150–€300 of labour) and a maximum number of call-outs a year. Temporary accommodation is capped per day and in total, commonly for up to 30 days.

Excess: normally none — this is a service, not an indemnity.

It is worth knowing that the helpline operates in Portuguese. Where we place the cover, we take the call and run the dispatch for you in English, which is generally the difference between a resolved Saturday-night leak and a very long evening.

Earthquake and seismic phenomena (fenómenos sísmicos)

Typically covered: damage to building and contents from earthquake, seismic tremor, tidal wave and, in some wordings, volcanic action. Where the cover is bought, it usually attaches to both the building and the contents sums insured.

Typically excluded: it is excluded in its entirety unless specifically purchased. Portuguese multi-risk policies do not include it as standard, and a great many owners in Lisbon and the Algarve are unaware of that.

Sub-limit: normally none — it follows the sums insured — but some insurers cap it at a percentage of them.

Excess: the important number. The excess on earthquake cover is a percentage of the sum insured, not of the loss, typically 2% to 10%. On a €400,000 building that is €8,000 to €40,000 borne by you before anything is paid. It is still worth having, but it is worth understanding. Our article on earthquake cover in the Algarve works through the arithmetic.

The exclusions that catch owners out

Five exclusions account for most of the declined claims we see, and none of them is hidden. They are simply in a part of the document nobody reads.

• Gradual infiltration and condensation damp. Multi-risk cover responds to sudden and accidental events. Damp that has been advancing quietly through a wall for two winters is a maintenance issue in the insurer’s eyes, however sudden it was for you.
• Works and construction defect. Damage occurring during building work, or attributable to how the property was built, sits outside the policy. New-build defects belong to the contractor’s ten-year liability — the seguro decenal — not to your home policy, and works above a certain value need to be declared before they start.
• Wear, tear and deferred maintenance. A roof that finally gives way after ten years of neglect is not a storm claim. Insurers routinely instruct loss adjusters to look at the condition of the building, and the report decides the claim.
• Undeclared property in the open air. Garden furniture, barbecues, awnings, pool equipment, outdoor kitchens and anything in a shed or annexe are outside the scope of standard contents cover unless the schedule brings them in. On an Algarve villa this can be tens of thousands of euros sitting entirely uninsured.
• Unmet security requirements and undeclared occupancy. If the schedule says a monitored alarm, there must be a monitored alarm. If the schedule says permanent residence and the property has been empty for five months or let to holidaymakers, the insurer can reduce or decline. The unoccupancy clause is the one most second-home owners breach without ever realising it.

Reading your own schedule this week

You do not need us to do the first pass. Find the condições particulares — the two or three pages that came with your policy, not the booklet — and check five figures: the building sum insured against what it would actually cost to rebuild; the contents sum insured against what is really in the house; the jewellery and valuables sub-limit; the electrical damage sub-limit; and whether fenómenos sísmicos appears at all. Those five lines tell you most of what you need to know.

If any of them looks wrong, or if the document is simply impenetrable, send it to us. We read Portuguese schedules for a living, we will tell you in English what your current policy would and would not pay, and we will compare it against Zurich, Allianz, Hiscox and Liberty Mutual so you can see the difference in writing.

Adler & Rochefort is a commercial brand of Ownizo, Unipessoal Lda., registered with the ASF under no. 425591790/3. General guidance only; conditions, premiums and cover vary by insurer and profile.