About car insurance and homeowner's insurance

A silly question, but does Portugal have a lot of earthquakes that cause a lot of damage?

@sandraawilliams153,

1. If a member of your family uses your vehicle on a recurring basis and is therefore the usual driver, this information must be communicated to the insurance company at the time the contract is signed.

https://www.acp.pt/veiculos/condutor-em … -e-seguros

2 Houses with earthquake insurance are not the majority, quite the contrary. This is an additional insurance coverage (Seguro Multirrisco Habitação com a cobertura de fenómenos sísmicos), which you should have if you can afford it.

As it happens, I was in the insurer's local office this afternoon with the same question, about listed driver.  I'm the sole owner and the policy was drafted listing only me as the habitual driver.  I've asked online, and with the agent, who all of course ignored me, and this morning I went to the office to get an answer.

According to the office, the car is covered;  whoever may be driving, doesn't matter.  They needed someone's name in order to make up the policy, that's all.  This more or less agrees with the linked Auto Club info.

The part where they say you'd better mention if someone else is driving all the time, is not real clear to me.  "... sendo assim o condutor habitual"?  No, if there's only one, as the phrase implies, I'm it, and in any case, should there be a claim, I don't see any way that the insurer is going to be able to make some distinction based on how often she drives it vs. myself, having no way to know that.  At any rate, at the office they didn't make any mention that this might need to be corrected in the contract, if that's even possible.

@JohnnyPT

Thank you very much for your reply!

@donn25

Thank you for letting me know that.

Can you reveal which insurance company it was?

That was Ageas.  I expect everyone plays by the same rules;  the real variation is going to be the stories you get from individuals, or offices at least, and the one who counts will be the "adjuster" or whatever that would be in Portugal who decides whether to pay off.

@sandraawilliams153 Hi Sandra.

I think above you will find the reply to Question 1. It is no problem adding additional drivers, especially if they are under 70 years old. The prices for car insurance in Portugal vary a lot. By changing the insurance I reduced my premium by almost 50%. It is worth comparing different insurers.

My home insurance includes coverage for damages caused by earthquakes an landslides and so on. It didn't make a huge difference in the premium. Insurance is a risk management tool. History tells us that Portugal is prone to earthquakes and one day it will happen. It is just a matter of how you see likelihood and severity.

Hi all. Not directly related to above but any tips/advice on getting a competitive car insurance for a new car whose annual insurance was is due after 11 months and not 12. The policy was taken with my Bank BPI after getting a quote from insurance broker. Is there an insurance comparison site like the UK? I have always had comprehensive insurance without making a claim in last 20 years. I live in madeira and use the the car during my trips there for 5-6 weeks at a time every 2 months. Would it be more financially advantageous to take periodic insurance for my visits or annual policy still the best?

The recent earthquake of strength 5.4 might be a good reminder that earthquake cover in the home insurance can be a good idea. I don't even want to think of an earthquake of maybe 7.4 ...