In force since 4 July 2013,  Law n.º 44/2013 published on 3 July in Official Gazette, carried-out the third amendment of Decree-Law n.º 158/2002 of July 22 (Savings Plans Act), and allows the reimbursement of savings plans values (retirement savings, education savings and retirement/education savings) for payment of housing loan contracts, namely, the payment of housing loan contract installments when it is entered into to buy a personal and permanent residence for the financial products holder.

The said reimbursement only involves (i) payments made by the holder at least five years ago or (ii) the totality of the amounts deposited in the savings if it has already elapsed five years since the time of the first delivery or if the amount of the deliveries made in the first half of the contract's execution correspond to at least 35% of the entire amount delivered. 

The reimbursement shall only be made available to pay past-due installments, including capital, interest and charges, commissions and other expenses connected with the housing loan contract or the payment of each installment at the date of its maturity. 

In a reimburse scenario, the lending bank and the insurance carrier cannot unilaterally modify the terms and conditions of the housing loan contract neither may charge any additional commissions regarding the processing and effective implementation of the reimbursement.