Sérgio is a plumber on green receipts. He fell off a stepladder at a client’s home and broke his wrist: six weeks unable to work. He went to sort out the paperwork convinced Social Security would cover it - after all, he contributes every month. He got the worst of news: a self-employed worker’s work accidents are not covered by Social Security.
This is one of the least-known gaps in protection - and one of the most expensive. The good news is that there’s a net for this; the bad news is that you have to arrange it, and many people don’t even know they’re required to.
Social Security doesn’t cover freelancers’ work accidents
It’s worth separating things clearly. Social Security, through your contributions, covers illness, parenthood and retirement. But work accidents are a separate regime - and, for the self-employed, they fall outside Social Security.
For employees, a work accident is covered by insurance the company is obliged to hold. As a freelancer, you have no company above you - so the law transfers that obligation to you.
It’s mandatory by law - and most people don’t have it
Work-accident insurance is mandatory for self-employed workers: the obligation comes from Decreto-Lei n.º 159/99 (art. 1.º), and the compensation regime is Law 98/2009. It’s not optional nor a “recommended extra”: it’s a legal requirement.
You take it out with an insurer (not with Social Security or the tax office), like any other insurance. And it’s not only for those doing risky work: a designer working at a desk is also, technically, covered by the obligation.
What it covers - and what you risk without it
The insurance guarantees you, in the event of a work accident, compensation and benefits on terms similar to an employee’s: treatment costs, compensation for incapacity, support for the family.
Without it, two problems land on you at once:
- You pay for treatment and recovery yourself
- You're left with no income during the incapacity
- You cover the accident's costs out of your own pocket
- The insurer covers treatment and compensation
- You have compensation for the incapacity
- You meet the legal obligation
Sérgio, with no insurance, paid the doctor, the physiotherapy and the six weeks off out of his own pocket. He was lucky it was just a broken wrist - in a serious accident, the costs he’d have to cover alone could be far higher. Insurance that would have cost him little a year would have covered it all.
Warning: don’t confuse this insurance with Social Security or with health insurance. It’s a specific work-accident insurance, mandatory by law for the self-employed, taken out with an insurer. Contributing to Social Security does not cover you here - they’re different things. And going without is punishable as an administrative offence - but the worst part isn’t the fine: with no insurance, you cover the accident’s costs out of your own pocket (treatment, incapacity, family support), which in a serious accident can be very high. If you don’t have it yet, it’s one of the first gaps to plug.
✅ In summary
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Social Security does not cover self-employed workers’ work accidents. You contribute for illness, parenthood and retirement - but not for work accidents.
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You need your own work-accident insurance, mandatory by law (Law 98/2009), taken out with an insurer. It covers green receipts and sole traders (and managing partners only when classified as self-employed - not those already covered by the company’s policy); the only exception is those producing solely for their own and family consumption. Not having it is punishable as an administrative offence - and, with no insurance, you cover the accident’s costs out of your own pocket, which in a serious accident can be very high.
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FIZ handles your tax and Social Security life - invoices, VAT, contributions. Work-accident insurance is a separate piece, which you arrange with an insurer: don’t forget it, because it’s the protection Social Security doesn’t give you. See the plans.
