A seguradora reembolsou o cliente.

Reembolsou is the 3rd person singular of the pretérito perfeito of reembolsar.

In this sentence, it means a completed action in the past: the reimbursement happened and is viewed as finished.

• reembolsar = to reimburse
• ele/ela/você reembolsou = he/she/you reimbursed

So A seguradora reembolsou o cliente means that the insurer reimbursed the client at some specific point in the past.

Seguradora is a feminine noun, so it takes the feminine singular definite article a.

Here, seguradora usually means insurance company / insurer. Even though in English insurer can sound more abstract, in Portuguese seguradora is a very common noun for the company itself.

Compare:

• a seguradora = the insurance company / the insurer
• o segurador = the insurer, but usually a male insurer or, in more technical/legal language, the insuring party

In everyday Portuguese, a seguradora is the normal choice for a company.

Portuguese uses definite articles much more often than English.

So where English may say:

• The insurer reimbursed the client

Portuguese naturally says:

• A seguradora reembolsou o cliente

In this sentence, both nouns are specific:

• a seguradora = a particular insurer
• o cliente = a particular client

Leaving out the articles here would sound unnatural in standard Portuguese.

Because o cliente is the direct object of reembolsar.

The verb reembolsar normally takes a direct object:

• reembolsar alguém = to reimburse someone
• reembolsar algo = to reimburse something

So:

• A seguradora reembolsou o cliente = The insurer reimbursed the client

If you used ao cliente, that would imply an indirect object, which is not the normal structure with reembolsar in this meaning.

You may also see longer structures such as:

• A seguradora reembolsou ao cliente as despesas

But in standard modern usage, reembolsou o cliente is the most straightforward structure.

It is very close, but not always identical in use.

Reembolsar means to reimburse: to pay someone back for money they have spent.

That fits very well with insurance contexts:

• medical expenses
• repairs
• travel costs
• damage-related costs

English refund is often used when a seller returns money for a purchase. Portuguese would often use devolver o dinheiro or fazer um reembolso in that situation.

So:

• reembolsar = reimburse, pay back expenses
• devolver o dinheiro = return the money
• fazer um reembolso = issue a refund / make a reimbursement

In an insurance sentence, reembolsou is exactly the kind of verb you would expect.

Yes. Cliente can be used for both male and female clients.

The noun itself often stays the same, and the article shows the gender:

• o cliente = the male client
• a cliente = the female client

So if the client were a woman, the sentence could be:

• A seguradora reembolsou a cliente

This is completely normal.

The normal word order here is:

• Subject + verb + object
• A seguradora reembolsou o cliente

That is the most neutral and natural order.

You can change the order for emphasis, but then the sentence becomes less neutral. For example:

• O cliente foi reembolsado pela seguradora = The client was reimbursed by the insurer

That version shifts the focus to the client and uses the passive voice.

So yes, word order can change, but the original sentence is the standard, uncomplicated way to say it.

In European Portuguese, reembolsou is pronounced with the stress on the final syllable: re-em-bol-SOU.

A few useful points:

• the ending -ou is a single stressed sound
• unstressed vowels in European Portuguese are often reduced
• the word may sound more compressed than an English speaker expects

Very roughly, you can think of it as something like:

• rren-bol-SOH

But that is only an approximation. The key thing is that the stress is at the end: reembolsOU.

Yes, you could, but Portuguese often prefers an explicit noun when it is useful to identify the subject clearly.

So:

• A seguradora reembolsou o cliente = names the subject directly
• Ela reembolsou o cliente = means She/it reimbursed the client, but only works if the context already makes it clear that ela refers to the insurer/company

Because seguradora is feminine, the pronoun referring back to it would be ela.

In isolation, the full noun phrase is clearer.

Yes. Both are possible, but they are not exactly the same in style.

• A seguradora = more compact and very common
• A companhia de seguros = more descriptive, slightly longer

In many contexts they can mean the same thing:

• A seguradora reembolsou o cliente
• A companhia de seguros reembolsou o cliente

The first version is often more natural in modern business or administrative language.

Yes, reembolsar is a regular -ar verb.

Its preterite forms follow the normal pattern:

• eu reembolsei
• tu reembolsaste
• ele/ela/você reembolsou
• nós reembolsámos
• vós reembolsastes
• eles/elas/vocês reembolsaram

For a learner, the main thing to notice is that reembolsou is exactly what you would expect for a regular -ar verb in the preterite.

Yes, it sounds natural and correct in European Portuguese.

It has a very standard, formal-neutral tone and would fit well in contexts such as:

• insurance documents
• customer service
• news reports
• everyday explanations about a claim or payment

It is not slangy or unusually literary. It is a normal, useful sentence pattern.