Portugal: Insurance

Overview

An important aspect of owning a home in Portugal is insurance, not only for your home and its contents, but also health insurance for your family when visiting Portugal. If you live in Portugal permanently you will require additional insurance. It’s unnecessary to spend half your income insuring yourself against every eventuality from the common cold to being sued for your last euro, although it’s important to insure against any event that could precipitate a major financial disaster, such as a serious accident or your house being demolished by a storm. The cost of being uninsured or under-insured can be astronomical.

As with anything connected with finance, it’s important to shop around when buying insurance. Simply collecting a few brochures from insurance agents or making a few telephone calls can save you a lot of money. Note, however, that not all insurance companies are equally reliable or have the same financial stability, and it may be better to insure with a large international company with a good reputation rather than with a small (e.g. Portuguese) company, even if this means paying higher premiums. Read all insurance contracts carefully and make sure that you understand the terms and the cover provided before signing them. Some insurance companies will do almost anything to avoid paying out on claims and will use any available legal loophole, therefore it pays to deal with reputable companies only (not that this provides a foolproof guarantee).

In all matters regarding insurance, you’re responsible for ensuring that you and your family are legally insured in Portugal. Regrettably you cannot insure yourself against being uninsured or sue your insurance agent for giving you bad advice! Bear in mind that if you wish to make a claim on an insurance policy, you may be required to report an incident to the police within 24 hours (which may also be a legal requirement). The law in Portugal may differ considerably from that in your home country or your previous country of residence and you should never assume that it’s the same. If you’re unsure of your rights, it’s best to obtain legal advice for anything other than a minor claim. Under EU rules an insurance company registered in an EU member country can sell its policies in any other EU country.

© Survival Books Limited 2002

“Buying a Home in Portugal” 2nd Edition, David Hampshire.

Reproduced with the permission of Survival Books Limited.

Further information on this topic can be found in “Buying a Home in Portugal” 2nd edition, by David Hampshire.

For extensive information about buying a property in Portugal, you can purchase this book at www.survivalbooks.net