Mandatory Insurances in Portugal: Car, Home, and Condominium Policies

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You’ve just bought a used Renault, or signed for a T2 in Almada, and someone at the café warns you that “everything here has to be insured.” Then you get a letter from the condominium administrator asking for proof of a fire policy you never knew existed. This guide explains which insurances Portuguese law actually requires for your car, home and building, which ones banks and landlords add on top, and how to buy and manage each one without surprises.

What “Mandatory” Really Means for Insurance in Portugal

When I first moved here, I assumed “mandatory” meant a government inspector would knock on my door. It doesn’t work that way. Portuguese insurance obligations come from three different places, and confusing them is how newcomers end up overpaying or underinsured.

Legal Obligation Versus Contractual Requirement

Some policies are required by law, and you can be penalised for not having them. Third-party car liability is the obvious one. Fire insurance for apartments in a building under the horizontal property regime, called propriedade horizontal, is another. Workers’ accident insurance for employers and most self-employed people is a third.

A separate category of policies isn’t required by any statute but becomes compulsory because someone you’re signing a contract with demands it. Your mortgage bank will almost always insist on a multirisk home policy, the seguro multirriscos, and a life policy linked to the loan. Your landlord may write a contents or liability insurance clause into the lease. Neither is legally required, but if you’ve signed the contract, you’re bound by it.

This matters because the two categories behave differently. You can’t negotiate your way out of a legal obligation. With a contractual one, you can often shop around, choose a different insurer from the one the bank pushes, or negotiate the clause before signing. If you’re reviewing a rental agreement, see Portuguese Lease Contracts (Contrato de Arrendamento): What to Look For before agreeing to any insurance clause.

Who Supervises Insurers and Where to Check Facts

The insurance supervisor in Portugal is the ASF, the Autoridade de Supervisão de Seguros e Fundos de Pensões. It licenses insurers, publishes the legal minimums for compulsory policies, and runs a consumer portal in Portuguese with plain-language explanations of each mandatory insurance. If an insurer or broker tells you something that sounds wrong, check it there first.

The ASF also keeps a register of authorised insurers and intermediaries. That sounds dull until you meet the “broker” in an expat Facebook group offering cheap car cover through a company nobody has heard of. Before you pay anyone, confirm that the insurer and the intermediary both appear in the ASF register. It takes a few minutes and is a sensible check before any first purchase.

A Quick Overview of the Main Policies

The table below summarises the policies this guide covers, who has to hold them, and where the obligation comes from.

Policy	Required by	Who must hold it	What it mainly protects
Car third-party liability	Law	Owner of any vehicle used on public roads	Other people injured or property damaged by your vehicle
Fire insurance for apartments	Law	Each owner of a unit in a propriedade horizontal building	The unit and its share of the common parts against fire
Multirisk home insurance	Usually the mortgage bank	Borrowers with a home loan	The building against fire, water, storms and more, plus liability
Life insurance on a mortgage	Usually the mortgage bank	Borrowers with a home loan	Repayment of the loan if a borrower dies or becomes disabled
Contents insurance	Optional, sometimes the lease	Tenants or owners who want it	Furniture, electronics and personal belongings
Workers’ accident insurance	Law	Employers, including households with domestic staff, and most self-employed workers	Medical costs and lost income after a work accident

Compulsory Car Insurance in Portugal

Every motor vehicle that circulates on a public road in Portugal must have third-party liability insurance, the seguro de responsabilidade civil automóvel. This applies to cars, motorbikes, scooters and trailers. The obligation sits with the person who has to insure the vehicle, normally the owner, and the cover attaches to the vehicle rather than to one driver.

The Legal Minimum and What It Covers

As of October 2026, the ASF consumer portal states that compulsory motor liability insurance must cover at least €6,450,000 per accident for bodily injury and €1,300,000 per accident for property damage, which together make a total of €7.75 million. These minimums are revised every five years, so check the ASF portal whenever you renew.

Type of damage	Minimum cover per accident, as of October 2026
Bodily injury to third parties	€6,450,000
Property damage to third parties	€1,300,000
Total minimum	€7.75 million

In practice, every licensed insurer sells policies that meet these minimums, and many offer higher liability limits as standard or for a small extra premium. A higher limit is worth considering if you regularly drive in Spain or France, or if you’d lose sleep over a serious multi-vehicle crash on the A1 near Coimbra. Ask the insurer for the exact limit in writing and compare it against the legal floor.

Third-party liability pays for harm you cause to others. That includes the other driver, your passengers, pedestrians, cyclists, and other people’s property, such as a parked car, a shop window or a municipal lamp post. It does not pay for your own car.

What Third-Party Cover Leaves Out

Most expats get caught out here. Basic Portuguese car insurance, often sold as “danos a terceiros,” doesn’t cover damage to your own vehicle, theft, fire, broken windscreens or roadside breakdown. It also usually doesn’t cover the driver’s own injuries when the driver caused the accident. Passengers are protected; the person behind the wheel often isn’t, unless you add personal accident cover for the driver, usually called proteção do condutor or seguro de ocupantes.

Insurers sell these extras as add-ons or in bundled packages. The common ones are:

• Quebra isolada de vidros, covering windscreen and window breakage.
• Assistência em viagem, covering towing, breakdown help and sometimes a replacement car.
• Proteção do condutor, covering the driver’s own injuries.
• Furto ou roubo, covering theft.
• Incêndio, covering fire.
• Danos próprios, the comprehensive-style cover for damage to your own car, usually with a deductible called a franquia.

Here’s an example. Sarah, a British retiree in Caldas da Rainha, bought a ten-year-old Toyota and took the cheapest third-party policy. Months later a storm brought a pine branch down onto her bonnet. Nobody else was involved, so her third-party policy paid nothing. For an older car worth relatively little, that was arguably the right gamble. For a newer car bought on finance, it would have been a serious mistake. The decision is yours, but make it knowingly. For the wider costs of owning a car here, see Buying a Car in Portugal: IUC Tax, Inspections (IPO), and High Vehicle Costs.

Driving Uninsured and the Guarantee Fund

Driving without valid insurance is a serious offence in Portugal. The police can fine you and immobilise or seize the vehicle, and roadside checks by the GNR and PSP routinely include an insurance check. Insurers report policies to a shared database, so officers can often verify cover electronically, but keep your proof of insurance in the car anyway.

If an uninsured or unidentified driver hits you, the Fundo de Garantia Automóvel, known as the FGA, steps in to compensate victims within the limits the law sets. The fund then pursues the uninsured driver to recover what it paid. If you were the one driving uninsured, you’d face that claim personally, and serious injury claims can be financially ruinous.

An insurance gap is also easy to create by accident. A cancelled direct debit after you closed a foreign bank account, or a payment reference you never received because your insurer still had an old address, can leave you uninsured. Most insurers cancel the policy after a missed payment once a grace mechanism has run its course. Set premiums up as a SEPA debit on a stable euro account. For a step-by-step on doing that, see Paying utility bills automatically: Setting up SEPA Direct Debits on your bank app.

Buying Car Insurance as a Newcomer

Getting a quote in Portugal is quick. Getting a fair quote as someone with no Portuguese driving history takes a bit more work. Insurers price heavily on claims history and how long you’ve held your licence, and a blank record usually means paying more.

Proving Your Claims History From Abroad

Before leaving your home country, ask your current insurer for a written claims history letter, often called a no-claims certificate. It should cover the period you were insured, the policy holder’s name, the vehicles insured and any claims. Portuguese insurers call this a declaração de sinistralidade or declaração de tomador de seguro.

Not every Portuguese insurer will accept a foreign letter, and those that do may want it in Portuguese or English and on letterhead. It’s worth phoning several companies, including the large traditional insurers such as Fidelidade, Tranquilidade, Ageas and Allianz, plus the direct online insurers, and asking each the same question: will you recognise my foreign claims history, and how will it affect my premium? The answers vary more than you’d expect.

Your driving licence matters as well. Insurers often ask how many years you’ve held it, and some are nervous about non-EU licences that haven’t been exchanged. Sorting the exchange early helps with both the law and your premiums; see Driving in Portugal: Exchanging Your Foreign License to a Portuguese One.

Foreign-Plated Cars and Proof of Cover Abroad

If you’ve driven a car into Portugal on foreign plates, your home policy may cover you here for a limited time, depending on its terms. That doesn’t replace the process of legalising the vehicle in Portugal, and once the car is registered here it needs Portuguese insurance. Ask your home insurer in writing how long its cover lasts in Portugal and under what conditions.

When you drive a Portuguese-insured car elsewhere in Europe, your policy normally extends the compulsory liability cover across the EU and certain other countries. Insurers issue an international insurance certificate, still known to many people as the green card or Carta Verde, for countries where proof is needed. Check which countries your policy includes before a road trip to Morocco or the Balkans, because coverage outside the EU depends on the policy.

Accidents and the Friendly Report

If you have a minor collision, Portuguese drivers usually fill in a declaração amigável de acidente automóvel, a standardised European accident report form. Keep a blank copy in your glovebox. Each driver gets a copy, and both sign it at the scene.

1. Make the scene safe, switch on hazard lights and put on the reflective vest that Portuguese law requires you to keep within reach.
2. Call 112 immediately if anyone is hurt or if the other driver is aggressive or refuses to cooperate.
3. Photograph the vehicles, number plates, road position and any damage.
4. Complete the declaração amigável together, ticking the boxes that describe each car’s manoeuvre and drawing a simple sketch in the space on the form.
5. Don’t sign anything you don’t understand. If you need translation, use your phone, or note “não concordo” (I don’t agree) beside the sections you dispute.
6. Send your copy to your insurer promptly, along with your photos.

Between them, Portuguese insurers run a direct claims settlement arrangement, so in many simple cases your own insurer handles the claim and settles with the other company behind the scenes. That spares you from chasing a stranger’s insurer in a language you’re still learning.

Home Insurance: Fire Is the Law, Multirisk Is the Norm

Home insurance confuses almost most newcomers. People hear “home insurance is mandatory” and assume it applies to everyone. It doesn’t.

Fire Insurance in Apartment Buildings

If you own an apartment, called a fração autónoma, in a building constituted under propriedade horizontal, the Civil Code requires you to insure your unit against fire. The policy has to cover your fraction and your proportional share of the common parts, including the roof, staircases, façade and lift shaft.

The sum insured should reflect the cost of rebuilding, not the market price you paid. A flat in Príncipe Real may sell for a fortune, but much of that price is the land and location. Reconstruction value is what the insurer would pay to rebuild the structure. Insure for too little and the insurer can apply the proportional rule, the regra proporcional, which cuts any payout in line with how underinsured you were. Insure for far too much and you’re paying for cover you could never claim.

Most owners don’t buy a standalone fire policy. They buy a multirisk policy, which includes fire along with other cover, and that satisfies the legal requirement. If you buy a flat outright without a mortgage, you still have this obligation, even though no bank is checking.

Detached Houses and Mortgage Requirements

If you own a standalone house, the moradia, outside the horizontal property regime, there’s generally no legal duty to insure it. Many foreigners buying a stone farmhouse in the Alentejo with cash choose to go without, and it’s a gamble they can legally take.

Banks see it differently. If you take a mortgage, the bank will require a multirisk policy, often naming the bank as beneficiary, and life insurance covering the loan. Banks usually offer their own partner policies first, but in Portugal you generally have the right to choose an insurer from the open market, provided the policy meets the bank’s stated conditions. Comparing that external quote against the bank’s partner offer can make a real difference over the life of a loan, and the bank must not use your choice to punish you on the loan terms. Read more in Mortgages in Portugal for Non-Residents: Rates and Deposit Requirements.

When you compare multirisk quotes, check whether earthquake cover, called fenómenos sísmicos, is included or offered as an add-on. Lisbon and the Algarve have a well-documented seismic history, and this cover is often sold separately with its own deductible. Read the deductible clause carefully, because it’s frequently expressed differently from the rest of the policy.

Tenants and Contents Cover

Tenants have no legal obligation to insure anything. The landlord’s fire or multirisk policy covers the building, but it doesn’t cover your laptop, bicycle, clothing or the sofa you bought at IKEA in Alfragide.

A contents policy, the seguro de recheio, covers your belongings, and a good one also includes personal civil liability. That liability cover is the part I’d never skip. If your washing machine hose bursts and floods the flat below, you could be personally liable for the neighbour’s ruined ceiling and furniture. Some landlords now write a contents or liability insurance requirement into the lease. Whether that’s normal and enforceable is covered in Do Portuguese landlords require renters insurance (Seguro de Recheio)?.

Condominium Policies and Shared Buildings

Apartment life in Portugal is governed by the condominium, the collective of owners in a building. It has its own rules, budget, administrator and responsibilities, insurance included.

How the Building Gets Insured

There are two common arrangements. In the first, each owner takes out their own fire or multirisk policy covering their unit and share of the common parts, then shows proof to the administrator. In the second, the owners’ assembly decides to take out a single collective policy for the whole building, and each owner pays their share through the condominium budget.

A collective policy has advantages: one insurer, consistent sums insured across all units, and no arguments about whose policy pays for damage to the roof. It also has a catch. Owners often forget it exists and buy their own multirisk cover on top, paying twice for the structural portion. Before you buy home insurance, ask the administrator whether a building policy exists and exactly what it covers.

The condominium also has to keep a common reserve fund, the fundo comum de reserva, for works on the common parts. It isn’t insurance, but it absorbs many costs that insurance won’t, such as wear and tear on the façade. For the mechanics of the quota and reserve fund, see Garbage, Recycling, and Condominium Fees (Quota de Condomínio).

When the Administrator Insures for You

If you own a flat and haven’t provided proof of fire insurance, the law allows the condominium administrator to take out the policy on your behalf and recover the premium from you. Many owners discover this only when an unexpected charge appears in their condominium accounts.

Administrators normally ask owners each year to show proof of current insurance and confirm the sums insured. If a letter arrives in Portuguese asking for a “comprovativo do seguro contra o risco de incêndio,” that’s what it means. Send a copy of your policy’s particular conditions and the latest payment receipt. If you live abroad part of the year, give the administrator a working email address so these requests don’t pile up unanswered.

Insurance often comes up at the annual owners’ assembly: whether to switch to a collective policy, raise sums insured, or claim for storm damage to the roof. If you want a say in those decisions, it’s worth showing up; see What is a Condominium meeting (Reunião de Condomínio) and should I attend?.

Leaks Between Neighbours

Water damage is the most common home insurance claim in Portuguese apartments, especially in older buildings in Porto’s Bonfim or Lisbon’s Arroios with ageing pipes. The usual question is where the leak came from. A leak from a private pipe inside your flat is generally your responsibility, while a leak from a shared column or the roof is the condominium’s.

A typical sequence goes like this:

1. Stop the water if you can, and photograph the damage and the source.
2. Tell the neighbour involved and the condominium administrator in writing.
3. Report the claim to your insurer, giving them the neighbour’s details and, if known, the neighbour’s insurer.
4. Allow the insurers’ assessors, the peritos, to visit both flats.
5. Keep receipts for emergency repairs, such as calling a plumber.

Insurers usually settle these claims between themselves, but delays are common, and there can be long waits for the perito to visit. Patience helps, and so do clear dates and photos.

Other Compulsory Policies That Catch Expats Out

Beyond cars and homes, some mandatory insurances catch newcomers off guard because they don’t exist, or work very differently, in their home countries.

Workers’ Accident Insurance for Freelancers and Households

If you work as a self-employed trabalhador independente issuing recibos verdes, Portuguese law generally requires you to hold your own workers’ accident insurance, the seguro de acidentes de trabalho para trabalhadores independentes. This applies even if you work from a laptop at home in Setúbal and the most dangerous thing you do is carry coffee up the stairs. Some exemptions apply in specific circumstances, so confirm your situation with your accountant. The setup process is explained in Freelancing in Portugal (Recibos Verdes): Taxes, Social Security, and Setup.

Employers must also hold workers’ accident insurance for their staff. That includes households employing a cleaner, nanny or gardener directly. Many expats hire a weekly cleaner informally without realising that a direct employment relationship brings both Social Security registration and this insurance obligation. Many insurers sell a simple domestic-worker policy for exactly this purpose. Before hiring, see Hiring a cleaning service in Portugal: Typical hourly rates for maids.

Other specialised obligations exist too. Owners of dogs classed as dangerous or potentially dangerous must hold civil liability insurance, and hunters and some professionals have their own compulsory policies. If any of these apply to you, check the ASF consumer portal’s list of compulsory insurances.

Paying, Renewing and Switching Policies

Portuguese insurers usually let you pay annually, every six months, quarterly or monthly. Splitting the premium into instalments, called fracionamento, often costs more overall, so compare the total annual cost for each payment option. Payment is usually by SEPA direct debit, Multibanco reference or bank transfer.

If your income arrives in dollars or pounds, you’ll pay premiums in euros. Using Wise to convert and send money to your Portuguese account before the debit date avoids the poor exchange rate a home bank might apply to a cross-border payment. You can also pay a Portuguese insurer’s IBAN directly from a Wise euro balance. For a wider look at moving money, see Transferring Money to Portugal: Saving on Exchange Rates and Fees.

Deductibles on comprehensive car cover or earthquake cover can mean a sizeable bill at a stressful moment. Some expats keep a small claims cushion in an interest-bearing euro account, such as the cash account at Trade Republic, so the money is there without dipping into investments. If your savings mostly sit in crypto on an exchange like Binance, convert part of them to euros ahead of time. An insurer won’t wait while you move funds during a crypto price dip.

Policies in Portugal usually renew automatically. If you want to switch, send your insurer written notice of non-renewal in good time before the renewal date, as your contract’s general conditions specify. Registered mail through CTT or the insurer’s online area both work. Never cancel the old car policy before the new one starts.

Complaints and Disputes

If an insurer refuses a claim or delays unreasonably, you have several escalation steps:

1. Complain in writing to the insurer’s customer service and keep the reference number.
2. Escalate to the insurer’s customer ombudsman, the provedor do cliente, which every insurer must have.
3. File a complaint in the Livro de Reclamações, physical or electronic, which also reaches the ASF; see What is the ‘Livro de Reclamações’ and how does it solve consumer disputes?.
4. Submit a complaint directly to the ASF through its consumer portal.
5. For a binding decision without going to court, consider CIMPAS, the arbitration and mediation centre specialising in insurance disputes.

Many expats give up after the first “no” from a call centre. Don’t. A written complaint with dates, photos and the policy clause you’re relying on changes the conversation surprisingly often.

Disclaimer

This article is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice. Laws, prices and regulations vary by location and change over time. Consult a qualified professional for guidance on your specific situation.