Some property does not fit a Portuguese off-the-shelf policy. A contents section caps any single item at a few thousand euros. A buildings sum insured set from a purchase price triggers the proportional rule. A motor policy settles on a depreciated market value. None of that is a defect in the product — it is what the product was built for.
The alternative is individually underwritten cover: an underwriter looks at the specific risk, agrees a value in advance, schedules the items that need scheduling, and writes the conditions into the contract before anything happens. It takes days rather than minutes, and it requires paperwork from you. This page sets out how it works and what it needs.
The single-article limit. A Portuguese multirriscos policy insures contents to a total sum, then caps what it will pay for any one item within that total. The cap is typically a few thousand euros, or a stated percentage of the contents sum with a per-item ceiling on top. A watch worth €60,000 inside a €150,000 contents figure is not insured for €60,000; it is insured for whatever the single-article limit says, and the rest of the contents sum is irrelevant to it.
The proportional rule. Where the sum insured is below the true value at risk, Portuguese wordings reduce every settlement in the same proportion, including partial ones. Declare €700,000 on a building that costs €1,100,000 to rebuild, suffer a €120,000 fire, and the arithmetic produces roughly €76,000. Above a certain rebuild value this stops being a technicality and starts being the whole outcome of a claim, because construction costs move and a sum insured set at purchase drifts every year it is not revisited.
Settlement on depreciated market value. A standard motor policy pays what the vehicle was worth on the day of the loss, calculated from a trade table. For a car that has appreciated — a restored example, a limited series, a car with more spent on it than a price guide will ever show — that figure is not the car. The same logic applies to a painting settled at what a comparable one fetched, or a piece of jewellery settled at scrap and stone value rather than what it would cost to have it made again.
Rebuild value rather than market price, all-risks rather than named perils, and gardens, walls, pools and outbuildings written into the schedule instead of capped at a token figure.
Read the guideScheduled works on agreed values, restoration cost and loss in value after partial damage, cover in transit and on loan, and inventories for collections with no catalogue price.
Read the guideItems listed individually rather than sharing one generic limit, safe rating and alarm grade agreed in advance, and worldwide cover for pieces that are worn rather than stored.
Read the guideHull on an agreed value, third-party liability at the limit the marina requires, crew cover, navigation limits that match where the boat actually goes, and the lay-up period.
Read the guideAgreed value instead of a depreciated settlement, limited-use rating, marque repair networks, storage conditions, and a single schedule where there is more than one car.
Read the guidePossessions carried, worn, travelled with and left in hotel safes — worldwide all-risks on scheduled items, and the geographical limits that quietly apply to everything else.
Read the guide| Off-the-shelf policy | Individually underwritten | |
|---|---|---|
| Basis of value | Market value at the date of loss, depreciated, decided by the insurer after the event | Agreed value fixed at inception against a valuation, paid without a depreciation argument |
| Single-article limit | A fixed cap per item, typically a few thousand euros, applied whatever the item is worth | Scheduled items carry their own sums insured; unscheduled contents keep a separate, higher blanket limit |
| Proportional rule | Applied in full to partial and total claims alike | Frequently waived outright, or applied only beyond a stated tolerance — confirmed in writing before placing |
| Geographical scope | The insured address, with a small, time-capped extension for possessions temporarily away | Worldwide cover available on scheduled items, including in transit, on loan and in third-party storage |
| Repair and restoration | The insurer’s general network; parts and methods chosen for cost | Marque specialists, conservators and restorers, with restoration cost and any residual loss in value both addressed |
| Underwriting process | Rating table, instant quote, few questions asked and few answers checked | An underwriter reads the file: photographs, valuations, security, survey, claims history — days rather than minutes |
Household cover written on an all-risks basis, with art, jewellery, watches and collections scheduled on agreed values, cover for possessions away from home and worldwide, and family liability.
Property the retail market handles badly: non-conventional construction, mixed use, short-term letting and Alojamento Local, and property with a prior claims record.
Where no off-the-shelf product exists, the risk goes to a specialist underwriting agency and is underwritten individually rather than rated from a table. How that placement works.
We are an independent, ASF-registered mediator. We are not tied to any of these underwriters, and where a properly built retail policy does the same job for less, we say so. How a specialist risk is actually placed explains the mechanics, including what an underwriting agency is and where the capacity comes from.
No client names appear anywhere on this site or in any other channel. No photograph of an insured item is published, used in marketing, or shown to anyone other than the underwriters approached on your instructions. There are no testimonials from this part of the book.
Everything runs in writing — email or WhatsApp — so there is a dated record of what was declared, what was asked and what was answered. That record is what a claim turns on. One person handles the file from the first enquiry through renewal and, if it comes to it, the claim; you do not restart with somebody new.
This is an operating method rather than a promise. It exists because information about what somebody owns, where it is kept and how it is protected is itself a risk, and the fewer places it sits the better.
None of this is a formality. An underwriter pricing a specific risk rather than a category needs to see it, and what you supply at inception is what the claim is later measured against.
Tell us what you own and where it is kept. We reply in writing, in English, within 24 hours. No call is required at any stage.
By sending this form you agree to us using your details to prepare and discuss the cover, in line with our privacy policy. We never sell your data, and we do not publish client names or photographs of insured items.
We will reply in writing within 24 hours.