Our complementary therapies liability guide covers why this cover matters in practice. This page is the regulatory reference specifically: which seven professions Lei n.º 71/2013 actually regulates, the licence that makes insurance compulsory rather than optional, and the figure the law sets as the floor.
The seven regulated professions
Lei n.º 71/2013 recognises seven non-conventional therapeutic professions:
- Acupuncture
- Traditional Chinese Medicine — the broader discipline acupuncture sits within, recognised separately
- Osteopathy
- Chiropractic
- Naturopathy
- Phytotherapy
- Homeopathy
Practices outside this list — yoga, Pilates, massage and spa therapy among them — are not regulated under this law, whatever the liability exposure of practising them. See our guides to yoga instructors, Pilates and Tai Chi instructors and massage and spa therapists for how liability works for those specifically.
The cédula profissional: the licence that makes insurance compulsory
Practising one of the seven regulated therapies in Portugal requires a cédula profissional, the professional licence issued by ACSS — the Administração Central do Sistema de Saúde, the body responsible for regulating these professions. Holding professional liability insurance at the level the law requires is a condition of that licence, not a separate recommendation sitting alongside it. Practising without the cédula, or with lapsed insurance behind it, is a compliance failure in its own right, independent of whether any claim is ever made.
The legal basis and the €150,000 minimum
Article 10.º, paragraph 1 of Lei n.º 71/2013 establishes the insurance requirement itself. Article 5.º of the same law governs a different subject — the qualification needed to access the profession — and is not the source of the insurance obligation, a distinction worth being precise about since the two are sometimes conflated. The law delegates the specific minimum to Portaria n.º 200/2014, which sets it at €150,000 per annuity and per claim. That figure is the statutory floor for these seven professions specifically — it does not apply automatically to a therapy or profession outside this list.
What the cover needs to actually include
A policy that only nominally satisfies the €150,000 floor is not the same as one that actually protects the practice. Confirm the policy covers professional acts, errors and omissions in the specific therapy practised, not a generic liability wording that happens to mention the profession; that it responds on a basis (claims-made or occurrence) you understand, since the two behave differently once a claim arrives after the policy has lapsed or changed insurer; and that the limit is genuinely €150,000 per claim and per annuity, not an aggregate figure dressed up to look like it.
What we actually do
We confirm which of the seven professions applies to your practice, check the policy against the Article 10.º/Portaria 200/2014 minimum and against what the cédula renewal actually requires, and set it out in writing before you sign anything.
Need cover that meets the €150,000 minimum?
Tell us which of the seven therapies you practise. We will confirm what the policy needs to include.
Adler & Rochefort is a commercial brand of Ownizo, Unipessoal Lda., registered with the Portuguese Insurance and Pension Funds Supervisory Authority (ASF) under no. 425591790/3. General information only, not legal advice; confirm current licensing and insurance requirements directly with ACSS and against the policy wording before relying on this summary.
More on this subject: Why complementary therapists need liability cover · Psychologists and nutritionists: a different regime · Which Portuguese professional bodies require cover