Does home insurance cover damp and mould in Spain?

Does home insurance cover damp and mould in Spain? Condensation, rising damp and leaks explained

Many people who move to Spain are surprised by their first winter indoors. Tiled floors, thin walls and homes built for the heat can feel cold and damp from November onwards, and black mould starts to appear behind the wardrobe or around the windows. The natural question is: will my Spanish home insurance pay for it? It depends almost entirely on where the water comes from.

Quick answer: Spanish home insurance generally does not cover condensation or rising damp, nor the mould they cause, because insurers treat them as ventilation, insulation or building problems, not accidents. It can cover damp caused by a sudden, accidental event: a burst pipe, a leak from the flat upstairs or, depending on your policy level, rainwater coming in through the façade or roof. In every case you need to show the origin of the water.

In this guide:

1. Four types of damp and which one insurance covers

2. What your policy pays for and what it does not

3. Façade, roof or ground: when the comunidad pays

4. If you rent

5. What to do when damp appears

6. FAQs

Four types of damp and which one insurance covers

• Condensation. Moisture from showers, cooking and drying clothes indoors settles on cold walls. It shows up in winter, in corners, behind furniture and around windows, usually with black mould. It is very common in Spanish homes with little insulation and no central heating.

• Rising damp (humedad por capilaridad). Water from the ground climbs up the walls, leaving white salt marks and flaking paint near the floor. Typical of ground-floor flats, village houses and older buildings, including many traditional homes around Murcia.

• Water ingress (filtración). Water gets in from outside or from another property: rain through a wall or roof, a badly sealed terrace or a leak in the flat above.

• Leaks (fuga or escape). A pipe in your own home breaks, often inside the wall, and the stain slowly spreads.

What your policy pays for and what it does not

Spanish home insurance is built around sudden and accidental damage, not problems that develop slowly. Here is how it works with Allianz Hogar, which comes in three levels (Estándar, Completo and Superior):

• Condensation and rising damp are excluded in all three levels. The policy wording states that “simple and repeated” humidity or condensation, and seepage through the ground by capillarity, do not count as water damage. Mould caused this way is excluded too.

• Burst pipes are covered in all levels. If the pipe is hidden inside a wall and you could not have known it was corroded, the repair of the faulty section is paid.

• Leaks from the flat above or next door are included in Completo and Superior, not in Estándar. Without that cover, your neighbour’s liability insurance is the one that should pay.

• Bath and shower seals. Completo and Superior cover water damage from failed joints or poor sealing of baths and shower trays, up to a sub-limit and after the cause has been repaired. These levels also include a handyman service that can reseal joints with silicone; you supply the materials.

• Rain through walls and roofs is covered in Completo and Superior, up to a sub-limit, if the building itself is insured and once the cause is repaired. It is excluded in Estándar. Water coming in through a window left open or that does not close properly is not covered. Penthouse owners will find more detail in our guide to roof terrace leaks.

• Lack of maintenance is a general exclusion. A visibly corroded pipe or a seal you never got round to fixing can lead to a claim being turned down, and a second claim from the same unresolved cause is not covered.

• If water from your home damages a neighbour’s, your policy’s third-party liability (responsabilidad civil) responds, because you are liable as the owner or occupier.

Not sure which level you have? It is shown on your policy schedule (condiciones particulares). On damp, the difference is big: Estándar only covers burst pipes, overflowing drains and taps left running.

Façade, roof or ground: when the comunidad pays

If you own a flat, you are part of a comunidad de propietarios, the owners’ association that runs the building. Under the Horizontal Property Act (Ley de Propiedad Horizontal) it must carry out the work needed to keep the building in good repair. So when damp comes from the façade, the roof, downpipes or walls touching the ground, fixing the cause is the comunidad’s job.

The damage inside your flat (paint, plaster, flooring) may be paid by your own policy, if it covers that type of ingress, or by the building’s insurance, depending on what it includes. With rising damp or construction defects, it is common for neither policy to treat it as a claim, and the fix becomes building work voted at the owners’ meeting.

Tip: report it in writing to the building administrator (administrador de fincas) or the president as soon as you see it, with dated photos. If the cause is not fixed, insurers will not pay twice for the same damage.

If you rent

Under Spain’s Urban Tenancies Act (Ley de Arrendamientos Urbanos), the landlord must carry out repairs needed to keep the home habitable, unless the tenant caused the damage. Rising damp, ingress or a burst pipe are usually the landlord’s responsibility. Condensation is more disputed: if it comes from poor insulation, it points to the property; if it comes from not ventilating or drying clothes indoors, the landlord may argue it is down to use. More in who pays for repairs in a rented home in Spain.

A tenant’s policy will not cover belongings ruined by mould from condensation either, but it does cover them when the damage comes from a covered leak or ingress. See our tenant home insurance, and if you let out a property, landlord home insurance.

What to do when damp appears

1. Find the cause before you paint. Winter stains in corners that improve with ventilation suggest condensation; salt marks at floor level suggest rising damp; stains that grow fast, drip or appear after rain suggest a leak or ingress.

2. Suspect a pipe? Turn off every tap and check the water meter. If it still moves, there is a leak: close the stopcock (llave de paso) and call your insurer’s assistance line.

3. Take dated photos and repeat them every few days to show whether the stain is growing.

4. Talk to your upstairs neighbour or the building administrator if the stain is on the ceiling or an outside wall.

5. Report the claim within seven days of discovering it, and do not repair or repaint until the loss adjuster (perito) has seen it.

6. If it is condensation, ventilate daily, use bathroom and kitchen extractors, keep furniture away from cold walls and avoid drying clothes indoors without airflow. A dehumidifier helps in ground-floor and older homes.

If the boiler or heating is involved, our guide to boiler breakdowns and home insurance explains what is and is not covered.

FAQs

Does home insurance in Spain cover black mould?

Not when it is caused by condensation or poor ventilation, which is the usual case. If it appears after a covered leak or ingress, the water damage can be repaired under the policy.

Is rising damp covered?

No. It is expressly excluded because it comes from the ground and the building’s construction. In a block of flats, fixing the wall is normally a matter for the comunidad.

Who pays if water comes from the flat above?

Your neighbour’s liability insurance. If your policy also covers leaks from neighbouring properties, your insurer can repair the damage and then claim from them.

Does it cover rain leaks through the roof?

It depends on the policy level. In Allianz Hogar Completo and Superior, rainwater ingress through façades and roofs is covered up to a limit once the cause is fixed; in Estándar it is not.

How we can help

Damp claims often involve your policy, your neighbour’s and the building’s, and Spanish policy wording is not easy to follow if it is not your first language. At AMB Seguros we check what your policy covers and whether a higher level would protect you against ingress and leaks. Bring your photos to our office in central Murcia, or send them on WhatsApp and we will go through them on a video call, in English. See our home insurance options.

Damp at home and not sure you are covered?

Get in touch and we will review your policy with no obligation.

Sources

• Law 50/1980 on Insurance Contracts (Ley de Contrato de Seguro), BOE.

• Law 49/1960 on Horizontal Property (Ley de Propiedad Horizontal), art. 10, BOE.

• Law 29/1994 on Urban Tenancies (Ley de Arrendamientos Urbanos), art. 21, BOE.

• Spanish Technical Building Code, Basic Document HS on Health and Hygiene (protection against damp), Ministry of Housing.

• Allianz Hogar: general conditions and cover brochure, Allianz Seguros.