Building Insurance in Spain
Most people are familiar with the concept of buildings insurance and to be honest building insurance in Spain is really very much the same principle as in the United Kingdom or any other country. Whether or not your property in Spain is going to be let out and treated as a holiday home or whether it is your permanent residence, decent buildings insurance and coverage in Spain is critical as your property is bound to be your most valuable personal asset.
This article on buildings insurance in Spain is designed to help you get the lowest and cheapest quote for your buildings insurance.
If you already have buildings insurance in Spain and you are looking to renew then obviously you want to renew your buildings insurance for the lowest and most affordable price. Try going to an insurance broker who will be able to compare quotations from many different companies and providers of buildings insurance in Spain as this will potentially save you enormous amounts of time (as well as money) contacting each insurance company directly yourself.
Try also find an online buildings insurance price comparison search engine which will take your specifications and instantly search online and compare prices for the cheapest buildings insurance on the market. Always shop around as buildings insurance in Spain varies greater between providers. Don’t just choose the cheapest buildings insurance quote – check the policy and the small-print to ensure you have adequate levels of cover for your property. Leading providers of buildings insurance in Spain include: Schofields, Asset Sure, Intasure and Abbeygate Insure.
The potential financial impact of something happening to your property in Spain be it your villa, apartment or a commercial building could be catastrophic. The worst case scenario is your property in Spain being completely destroyed – perhaps by fire, flood or storms – if you are not insured or you find out your buildings insurance is invalid then you stand to lose everything you have worked so hard for.
It is normal for a sensible buildings insurance policy to cover the whole cost of rebuilding a home from the ground, should it be destroyed – unlikely yes but it does happen of course. It also protects against a wide variety of other possibilities such as loss or damage from more minor disasters such as burst pipes.
Is Building Insurance Compulsory in Spain?
Buildings insurance is not compulsory if you buy your property in Spain outright. Clearly for most people buying property in Spain, they would get a loan or mortgage either in their home country such as the UK or in Spain. Wherever the lender is based, they will require you obtain adequate buildings insurance in case anything happens to the property, which until you pay it off completely remains in their control.
If you are buying an apartment in Spain then you will usually find your community fees include what is known as community insurance – this covers the exterior of the building as well as common parts of the complex as well as water damage from community pipes and third-party personal liability insurance. So you will simply need to take out home contents insurance to protect your personal possessions, for a more detailed explanation please see our dedicated community insurance in Spain page.
What Does Building Insurance in Spain Cover?
Buildings insurance in Spain covers the actual structure of the building and the fixtures and fittings inside. This will usually mean the roof, walls, doors, windows, kitchen, bathroom installations and fitted wardrobes.
Items that are movable such as furniture and all your personal possessions will not be covered under your buildings insurance in Spain. Basically the house and anything that doesn’t go with you if you moved house would come under the buildings insurance, anything else should be put under your Spanish home contents insurance.
Buildings cover normally protects against damage to the villa or apartment in Spain caused by theft, storms, vandalism, fire, flood and subsidence. However this does vary from each Spanish insurance policy and company, so do check carefully whether the policy protects against flood or subsidence or if you can get cover for these for an additional premium.
Some Spanish buildings insurance policies do also cover things that are outside the actual building yet on the plot such as swimming pools, sheds, outbuildings, walls, fencing, gates, garages and stables but this is something that you need to be clear on depending on your situation, so do check your policy carefully.
The amount of cover you can insure for is the cost of rebuilding your home from scratch – not how much the current market value of your property is. This is known as the sum insured and it is the absolute maximum a policy will pay, even if the house is destroyed completely. Usually you can work out the sum insured yourself by knowing the approximate market value less about 30% but if in doubt get a Spanish surveyor or a builder to give you a professional assessment of rebuilding costs to use as an insurance valuation.
Another way to estimate the rebuild cost of your property is to know the square metres you have. For example at the moment rebuild costs from builders in Spain is typically around 800 Euros to 1000 Euros per square metre. So if you have a villa which is 200 square metres, then you can estimate 200,000 Euros to rebuild it from scratch.
Third-party liability cover
An often overlooked aspect of buildings insurance in Spain is third-party liability coverage which is often included although the level of cover does vary significantly from one policy to the next. This extra insurance covers you in case someone suffers damage whether material or physical on your property. If they then make a claim against you, you will have insurance. This is especially important because if for example a visitor to your property in Spain slips and breaks their back (maybe by the pool for example) the medical claims and costs could be absolutely huge and could wipe you out financially for the rest of your life.
Related Pages: This article on buildings insurance in Spain comes under the main section of home and house insurance in Spain.