A stain on the ceiling, a pipe that burst, a wall that has smelled of mould for months. If you have home insurance (seguro multirriscos), the first question is whether the insurer pays for the repair and the repainting. The answer turns on one word: sudden or slow. This guide explains what the law says about reporting a claim, what consumer sources say about exclusions, how the loss adjuster’s visit works and where to complain. Liability between neighbours is in our guide to a leak from the flat above.
Updated on 4 November 2026. General information, not a substitute for legal advice or for reading your own policy.
The essentials
- Sudden water damage is usually covered, slow damp is not. DECO PROteste, the Portuguese consumer body, writes that the policy only pays for unexpected, sudden events. Slow leaks, damp and condensation are normally excluded.
- Water damage cover may be optional. In the Mapfre product sheet we read, it is an optional cover. Check your policy.
- Tell the insurer quickly. If the contract sets no deadline, the law gives eight days from when you learn of the loss (article 100 of the insurance contract law).
- Do not repair or hunt for the fault before the inspection, says DECO PROteste. Keep photos and invoices.
- If they refuse, you can complain: first to the insurer, then to the ASF or to CIMPAS.
Water damage and damp: the difference
| Situation | What the sources we read suggest |
|---|---|
| A pipe or joint bursts suddenly | Covered, if the policy includes water damage |
| A slow leak over months or years | Excluded (DECO PROteste) |
| Condensation and mould | Normally excluded (DECO PROteste) |
| Poor maintenance or deficient insulation | Excluded in the Mapfre sheet we read |
| Heavy rain or flood | Separate storm or flood cover, not “water damage” |
DECO PROteste (22 May 2025) adds that a visibly corroded pipe or a tap left running is also left out. To find the cause of your damp, see the three types of damp. The cause decides whether there is a claim at all.
There is also damage you cause to others. If your leak ruins the neighbour’s ceiling, what the neighbour receives depends on the third-party liability cover in your policy. The law defines this insurance as covering the duty to compensate third parties (article 137).
The deadline to report
Article 100 of the insurance contract law (Decreto-Lei 72/2008) says the loss must be reported within the period set in the contract or, if there is none, within eight days of learning of it. The report should explain the circumstances, the likely causes and the consequences. Mapfre states the same eight days in its product sheet.
What if you are late? Article 101 lets the contract provide for a reduction of the payout, in line with the harm the delay caused the insurer. Loss of cover entirely can only be provided for if the failure was intentional and caused significant harm. None of this applies if the insurer learned of the loss another way within the deadline, or if you prove you could not reasonably have reported sooner. DECO PROteste sums it up: the insurer may reduce or refuse only if it shows the delay harmed its assessment.
Step by step after a loss
- Contain the damage without destroying evidence: turn the water off and photograph everything.
- Read the policy: covers bought, exclusions, excess, sum insured.
- Report in writing (form, email) and keep the receipt.
- Wait for the inspection before opening walls or searching for the fault. Some policies pay for leak detection; in the Mapfre sheet we read it is part of the optional water damage cover, with its own limit.
- Gather quotes. DECO PROteste says many insurers ask for three, and that after a storm you may need an IPMA (weather institute) certificate, which costs money.
- Receive the decision, which must give reasons.
- Paint only afterwards. With the wall dry and the cause fixed, see peeling paint and stains.
Excess, value and payment times
The excess (franquia) is the part of the loss you bear. In Mapfre’s sheet of 25 February 2026, the water damage excess depends on the age of the plumbing: none up to 20 years, 5% of the loss (minimum 150 EUR) from 21 to 30 years, 7% (minimum 180 EUR) from 31 to 40, 10% (minimum 250 EUR) above 40. That is one insurer’s example, not a general rule.
Property insurance pays the value of the insured interest at the time of the loss (article 130), up to the sum insured (article 128). If the sum insured is below the value of the property, the insurer pays only in proportion (article 134, underinsurance). The contract may agree another way to calculate (article 131).
The insurer’s duty to pay falls due 30 days after the facts are established (article 104). ASF Recommendation 2/2025 of 8 April suggests times for home insurance: first contact within four working days and a decision within 25 working days for the building and 40 for contents, according to a third-party summary and the table published by Fidelidade. The recommendation is not binding. Times may double with many simultaneous claims, condominium insurance, fire or earthquake.
If you disagree with the insurer
- Complain in writing to the insurer, through the complaints channel in the policy.
- You may complain to the ASF, the insurance supervisory authority.
- CIMPAS (the insurance information, mediation, ombudsman and arbitration centre) offers mediation and arbitration of insurance disputes, including home insurance. Its page has a costs section that we could not see.
- Rights under an insurance contract expire after five years from when the holder learned of the right (article 121).
If the cause is a common part of the building, see also damp in the building: common parts. The block’s insurance is a different contract.
What we could not confirm
- The current text of Decreto-Lei 72/2008 in the Diário da República. We read a copy published by the Madeira regional government (publisher Datajuris) with no consolidation date. Article numbers may have changed.
- ASF Recommendation 2/2025. The ASF website asked for a robot check and we did not bypass it. The times come from a summary and from one insurer’s table.
- The clauses of your policy. We read one insurer’s product sheet. Every contract differs.
- CIMPAS fees and limits, and the ASF complaint procedure: we could not read them.
Sources (read on 4 November 2026)
- Decreto-Lei 72/2008, insurance contract law, copy from the Região Autónoma da Madeira: articles 99 to 104, 121, 122, 128 to 135 and 137 to 140.
- DECO PROteste, Cano roto ou teto a pingar: o seguro paga?, 22 May 2025.
- DECO PROteste, Como acionar o seguro multirriscos-habitação, 19 February 2026.
- Mapfre, Casa insurance information document (DIPS), 25 February 2026.
- Fidelidade, home insurance claim-handling times, 2025 (table referring to Recommendation 2/2025).
- Conselhos do Consultor, Seguro Multirriscos Habitação: prazos para regularização dos sinistros, summary of the ASF recommendation (secondary source).
- CIMPAS, home page: what it is and which disputes it handles.
- ASF, Recommendation 2/2025: cited through the summaries above, not read directly.