Insurance for your property

*Which policies are mandatory, which are strongly recommended — and the most important pitfall (infraseguro + regla proporcional).*

Legend: ✅ legal requirement / corroborated by multiple sources · 🟡 market-dependent (premiums are indicative).

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Seguro de hogar (buildings & contents insurance)#

In Spain this is usually a single multi-risk policy (buildings + contents combined), unlike in Germany:

• continente = building fabric (rebuild value ~800–1,200 €/m² 🟡 — not the purchase price/land value!)
• contenido = contents (replacement value)
• responsabilidad civil = private liability (usually included)

Mandatory? In general no; with a mortgage, only the seguro de incendios (fire) is mandatory (Art. 8 Ley 2/1981, reaffirmed by Ley 5/2019) — sum insured = rebuild value. The bank may not dictate the provider ✅. Premiums 🟡: apartment ~200–350 €/year, villa from ~400 €/year.

Seguro de comunidad#

Insures the communal areas (façade, stairwell, roof, the community's liability). Nationally not mandatory (LPH); 🟡 for the Balearics no specific mandatory rule was found (🔴 cross-check via the administrador de fincas where applicable). Pitfall: double insurance with the hogar policy on the continente → coaseguro dispute; practical tip: insure the continente privately only “a primer riesgo" with a small sum.

Seguro RC for ETV holiday rentals ✅ — mandatory#

Requirement for the Balearic ETV licence (DRIAT): minimum cover 300,000 €, max. deductible 600 €, covering personal injury/property damage to guests (under propiedad horizontal also damage to the community). Legal framework Ley 8/2012 / Ley 6/2017. Premium ~80–120 €/year 🟡. (→ Ch. 11)

Seguro decenal & aval (new build) ✅#

• seguro decenal (LOE Art. 19): mandatory for new builds, 10 years of structural cover from completion;

Policyholder = promotor. Without it, no Land Registry entry of the obra nueva. Exception: a single self-builder (autopromotor) of their own home. (→ Ch. 10)

• aval/seguro de caución for off-plan (sobre plano) deposits (LOE Disp. adic. 1ª): covers all instalments

+ interest — do not pay a deposit without it.

Seguro de impago de alquiler & squatter (okupas) protection#

For long-term lettings (not ETV): covers rent default (often up to 6–12 months) + eviction (desahucio) costs. Premium ~3.5–6 % of the annual rent 🟡. Dedicated seguro anti-okupas policies for vacant second homes ~200–600 €/year. (→ Ch. 13)

Seguro de vida with a mortgage — NOT mandatory ✅#

Ley 5/2019 (Art. 17) prohibits forced bundling (venta vinculada): the bank may not make the loan conditional on a specific life/contents policy; an external policy is permitted (possibly a 0.10–0.30 % rate discount if combined 🟡).

Consorcio de Compensación de Seguros (CCS) ✅#

State cover for extraordinary risks — works automatically through a mandatory recargo in every damage policy (RD 300/2004). Covers, among other things, flooding (inundación, including torrent/flash flooding), earthquake, volcano, storms > 120 km/h, terrorism. Not covered: damage from burst man-made pipes (→ hogar policy).

Mallorca natural hazard: Palma is considered the most flood-prone (development over filled-in torrents). “Ordinary" rain damage is often only covered by the hogar policy above > 40 l/m²/h 🟡; extraordinary flooding → CCS. For properties near a torrent, check the location classification carefully (→ Ch. 10, APR inundación).

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Pitfalls ✅#

• infraseguro (underinsurance) + regla proporcional (Art. 30 Ley 50/1980): if the

sum insured is < the true value, the insurer pays only proportionally. *Example:* insured 120,000 €, value 200,000 €, claim 25,000 € → payout only 15,000 €. → ~30 % of Spanish homes are underinsured 🟡.

• continente confused with purchase price/land value; exclusions (aesthetic damage, lack of maintenance).

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❓ FAQ#

As an owner-occupier, do I absolutely need home insurance? No — without a mortgage there is no requirement; with a mortgage, only the fire component (seguro de incendios). A comprehensive hogar policy is nonetheless strongly recommended.

Must my holiday rental be insured? Yes — an RC policy ≥ 300,000 € (max. 600 € deductible) is mandatory for the ETV licence.

Does my policy cover torrent flood damage? Extraordinary flooding is covered automatically by the Consorcio (via the recargo in every policy).

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Sources (selection)#

• Ley 2/1981 Art. 8 + Ley 5/2019 (seguro incendios/forced bundling) · Ley 8/2012 + Ley 6/2017 (ETV RC)
• LOE Ley 38/1999 Art. 19 + Disp. adic. 1ª · RD 300/2004 (CCS) · Ley 50/1980 Art. 30 (infraseguro)