INSIGHTS · BUYING · JUNE 2026
Condomínio insurance vs your own home insurance: who covers what
The condomínio collective policy covers the building and common parts and the mandatory fire risk; your own multirriscos covers your contents and liability. Where the line falls, and the gap most new owners miss.
Key findings
- 01Fire insurance on a condominium fraction is legally mandatory under the Código Civil (art. 1429.º n.º 1), covering both the autonomous fractions and the common parts — it is a hard legal fact, not a sales line
- 02The condomínio commonly arranges 1 collective fire or multirriscos policy on the whole building, with the cost split by each fraction's permilagem (millage share); the administrator must take it out if the owners do not (art. 1429.º n.º 2)
- 03The condo's collective policy covers the building and common parts, NOT your contents — furniture, finishes and valuables are only protected by your own multirriscos; this is the gap most new owners miss
- 04Your own multirriscos adds water damage, theft, natural events, glass, electrical damage and civil liability on the fraction; indicative annual cost runs ~30 to 300 euros for basic cover and 500+ euros for complete cover, but the real figure is broker-gated
- 05The honest limit: exactly what each condomínio policy includes varies by building — read your own policy, confirm the statute against Diário da República, and have a broker set the insured value of your contents
Why it matters: Most new owners assume the condomínio's policy covers their flat. It does not. The collective policy insures the building and common parts, and satisfies the Código Civil's mandatory fire cover on the structure — but your furniture, finishes, valuables and your civil liability inside the apartment are not in it. That gap is invisible until a burst pipe or a theft, when the owner discovers the condo policy stops at their front door. Knowing which of the 2 policies covers what is the difference between a covered claim and an uncovered loss.
Buy a Privilege Gardens fraction and you inherit 2 separate insurances, not 1. The condomínio's collective policy insures the building and the common parts — and the fire cover on the structure that the Código Civil (art. 1429.º) makes mandatory. It does NOT cover the contents of your apartment or your civil liability inside it. Condomínio policy = building + common parts; your multirriscos = contents + liability. For that second one you take out your own multirriscos on the fraction plus contents.
I'm Inês, the accountant for Privilege Gardens, and I see this gap surprise buyers more than almost any other cost. The condo policy feels like "the insurance is sorted." It is not — it stops at your front door. Below is exactly where the line falls, cover by cover, with the one euro range we will publish kept clearly indicative.
The split that matters: 2 policies, not 1
There are 2 distinct policies around a condominium apartment in Porto, and they do not overlap where most owners think they do. Privilege Gardens sits in Antas, in the Paranhos parish of eastern Porto, but the rule is the same for any fraction in horizontal property anywhere in Portugal.
The first is the condomínio's collective policy. The condomínio commonly arranges 1 fire or multirriscos policy on the whole building, covering the structure and the common parts — roof, stairs, lifts, garage. By law the fire element is mandatory: the Código Civil (art. 1429.º n.º 1) states "É obrigatório o seguro contra o risco de incêndio do edifício, quer quanto às fracções autónomas, quer relativamente às partes comuns" — mandatory fire cover on both the fractions and the common parts. The cost is split by each fraction's permilagem (millage share) and appears in your monthly condominium charge.
The second is your own multirriscos on the fraction. This is the one that covers the inside of your flat — your contents, and your civil liability if something from your apartment damages a neighbour's. As a Porto press explainer put the common confusion, "Seguro do condomínio: afinal, cobre a sua casa ou só as partes comuns?" — the answer is: only the common parts. Your furniture and finishes are yours to insure.
Who covers what: the line, cover by cover
Here is the same split as a table. The left column is what the condomínio's collective policy typically carries; the right is what only your own multirriscos protects.
| Condomínio policy | Your own multirriscos | |
|---|---|---|
| Building structure (fire) | Covered — mandatory, art. 1429.º | Optional add-on on the fraction |
| Common parts (roof, stairs, lifts, garage) | Covered, split by permilagem | Not your policy's job |
| Your contents (furniture, finishes, valuables) | NOT covered | Covered — this is the gap |
| Your civil liability inside the flat | NOT covered | Covered |
| Water damage, theft, glass, electrical | Not for your unit | Covered (typical add-ons) |
| Who pays | All owners via condominium charge | You, directly |
Source: Código Civil art. 1429.º (Informador.pt) for the fire mandate; cover split per Sabseg and Postal explainers, June 2026
Read the table top to bottom and the logic is clean: the condomínio insures the shared building, you insure what is yours inside your four walls. The fire mandate is the only part the law compels; the rest of your multirriscos is a choice — water damage, theft, natural events, glass breakage, electrical damage and civil liability are the usual additions, per the broker explainer at Sabseg.
Who arranges and who pays the condomínio policy
The Código Civil is specific about the mechanics. Art. 1429.º n.º 2 says the owners must take out the cover, and "o administrador deve, no entanto, efectuá-lo quando os condóminos o não hajam feito dentro do prazo e pelo valor que… tenha sido fixado em assembleia" — the administrator must step in if the owners fail to, for the value set in assembly, and recover the premium. In practice this is why most condomínios carry 1 collective policy on the building and bill it through the monthly charge, rather than every owner producing a separate fire certificate each year.
For you, the practical reading is simple. You almost never buy the building's fire cover yourself — it is in your condominium charge. What you do buy is the multirriscos on your fraction and its contents. That is the policy your front door opens onto.
What your own multirriscos costs — indicative only
I will give you a market range, not a quote, because the real number depends on your flat, its insured value and the options you pick. Treat every figure here as indicative and confirm it with a broker on the actual apartment.
As a market range, the comparator HelloSafe puts basic cover — fire and civil liability on a small home — at roughly 30 to 300 euros a year, and complete cover with theft and electrical damage at more than 500 euros a year. And the spread between insurers is real: per Doutor Finanças, proposals for similar protection "pode chegar a 30%" apart on price. So compare several, or use a broker, and have them set the insured value of your contents rather than guessing it. Portugal's home-insurance market is led by Fidelidade, which held a 30.5% share of the non-life market in 2024 per the ECO ranking; add Grupo Ageas at 14.2%, Generali at 13.2%, then Allianz and Zurich, and those top 5 groups cover about 80% of the market. Bank-linked options like Santander and direct brands such as LOGO, Ok! and MAPFRE compete underneath, so there is no shortage of quotes for your Antas flat.
If you finance the flat with a mortgage, the lender will add its own requirement: a multirriscos on the property (its collateral) and, almost always, a life insurance on the borrowers — per Doutor Finanças on credit-habitação insurance. Neither has to be the bank's own product; Portuguese law lets you place both with an independent insurer.
The honest limits
A few things I cannot promise from a webpage. Exactly what your condomínio policy includes varies by building — some collective policies are bare fire-only, others are full multirriscos on the common parts; read your own condomínio's policy and the assembly minutes before assuming what is covered. The statute should be confirmed against the official source: the verbatim art. 1429.º text above comes via a legislation aggregator, so cross-check it against the consolidated Código Civil on the Diário da República before treating it as gospel. And the insured value of your contents is your call — under-insure and a claim is cut proportionally; over-insure and you pay for cover you cannot use. That valuation is a conversation with a broker, not a number I should invent.
Portugal's insurance market is supervised by the ASF (Autoridade de Supervisão de Seguros e Fundos de Pensões), which has issued guidance on multirriscos claims handling — useful to know exists if a claim ever turns difficult.
This piece is the who-covers-what split; the wider picture — what each cover type is, when it is mandatory, what a mortgage adds — is set out in the guide on home insurance in Portugal. And for the narrower legal question on its own, see the companion measurement on whether home insurance is mandatory in Portugal.
A note on our interest
We develop and sell Privilege Gardens apartments, so we have an interest in how this reads. That is exactly why the load-bearing claim — the fire mandate — is anchored to the Código Civil text itself, every euro figure is a labelled indicative range routed to a broker rather than a quote, and where the honest answer is "your condo policy does not cover your contents," I have said so plainly.
Does the condomínio insurance cover the inside of my apartment?
No. The condomínio's collective policy insures the building and the common parts — roof, stairs, lifts, garage, structure — and satisfies the mandatory fire cover on the fractions under the Código Civil (art. 1429.º). It does not cover the contents of your apartment (furniture, finishes, valuables) or your civil liability inside it. For those you take out your own multirriscos on the fraction plus contents. The condo policy stops at your front door.
Is insurance on a condominium apartment in Portugal mandatory?
Fire insurance is. The Código Civil (art. 1429.º n.º 1) makes it obligatory for every fraction in horizontal property, covering both the autonomous fractions and the common parts. The broader multirriscos (multi-risk) cover that adds water damage, theft and liability is optional but standard — unless you take a mortgage, in which case the lender requires it. So the structure's fire cover is compelled by law; everything beyond that is a choice or a loan condition.
What is the difference between condomínio insurance and my own home insurance?
They cover different things. The condomínio's collective policy covers the building and common parts, paid by all owners via permilagem, and meets the legal fire mandate on the structure. Your own multirriscos covers your fraction's contents and your civil liability inside the flat, and you can add water damage, theft, natural events, glass and electrical cover. One protects the shared building; the other protects what is yours inside your four walls. You need both.
Who pays for the condomínio insurance?
All the owners, through the condomínio. The Código Civil (art. 1429.º n.º 2) says the owners must take out the cover; if they do not within the deadline and for the value set in assembly, the administrator must do it and can recover the premium from them. In practice the condomínio arranges 1 collective policy on the whole building and splits the cost by each fraction's permilagem (millage share), so it appears in your monthly condominium charge rather than as a separate bill.
How much does my own multirriscos cost in Portugal?
It depends on the flat, its insured value and the options, so treat any figure as indicative, not a quote. As a market range, a basic policy covering only fire and civil liability for a small home runs roughly 30 to 300 euros a year, while complete cover with theft and electrical damage can exceed 500 euros a year. Quotes for similar cover can differ by up to about 30% between insurers, so compare several or use a broker — and have them set the insured value of your contents.
Sources & method
- Código Civil art. 1429.º — mandatory fire insurance for fractions and common parts; owner-first, administrator-backstop (via Informador.pt; confirm against Diário da República)
- Diário da República — official consolidated Código Civil (confirm the statute text here before relying on it)
- Postal — explainer: does the condomínio policy cover your home or only the common parts?
- Sabseg — multirriscos vs fire insurance: what each cover type protects, fire mandatory for fractions in horizontal property
- HelloSafe — indicative annual home-insurance ranges (basic ~30–300 euros, complete 500+ euros); confirm with a broker
- Doutor Finanças — premium drivers and up-to-30% quote spread; mortgage insurance (multirriscos + life)
- Doutor Finanças — credit-habitação insurance: multirriscos protects the lender's collateral, life on the borrowers
- ECO — 2024 non-life insurer ranking: Fidelidade 30.5%, Grupo Ageas 14.2%, Generali 13.2%, Allianz, Zurich; top 5 ≈ 80% of the market
- ASF (Autoridade de Supervisão de Seguros e Fundos de Pensões) — insurance regulator; multirriscos claims-handling guidance