Abstract
As elsewhere in the world, the Latin American region and its diverse economies have been heavily affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, and, particularly, by the different government measures adopted by each country. The region’s insurance and reinsurance markets have not been exempted from these effects, notwithstanding their less developed nature compared to the large world economies. The smaller extent of insurance coverage offered, the regulatory and legislative features of each country, and the uninsurable nature of the pandemic, are some of the aspects to be considered when studying the market in the region and, together with this, account for the impossibility of applying, in most cases, the caselaw criteria of the more developed markets in the Latin American region.
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Notes
- 1.
First quarter of 2022.
- 2.
Silva (2021).
- 3.
Idem.
- 4.
Kahneman (2018), p. 20.
- 5.
Castellano and Chaz Sardi (2012).
- 6.
Silva (2021).
- 7.
Mapfre Economics - Fundación MAPFRE (2021), p. 9.
- 8.
Mapfre Economics - Fundación MAPFRE (2021), p. 13.
- 9.
Idem.
- 10.
INDEC technical reports, available at https://www.indec.gob.ar.
- 11.
An insurance contract exists when the insurer undertakes, by means of a premium or contribution, to compensate a damage or to fulfil the agreed obligation if the foreseen event occurs.
- 12.
Any false declaration or any misrepresentation of circumstances known to the insured person, even made in good faith, which in the opinion of experts would have avoided the contract or modified its conditions if the insurer had been aware of the true state of the risk, renders the contract null and void.
- 13.
Any aggravation of the risk assumed which, if it had existed at the time of conclusion, would, in the opinion of experts, have avoided the contract or modified its conditions, is a special cause for termination of the contract.
- 14.
The policyholder, or beneficiary if applicable, will notify the insurer of the occurrence of the loss within three days of becoming aware of it. The insurer cannot allege the delay or omission if it intervenes in the same period in the operations of salvage or verification of the loss or damage.
Information. In addition, the insured is obliged to provide the insurer, at its request, with the information necessary to verify the loss or the extent of the indemnity for which it is responsible, and to allow the insurer to make the necessary enquiries for this purpose.
Documents. Prohibited requirements. The insurer may require instrumental proof in so far as it is reasonable for the insured to provide it. It is not valid to agree to limit the means of proof, nor to make the insurer’s performance subject to an acknowledgement, transaction or judgement that has become res judicata, notwithstanding the application of the legal dispositions on pre-judicial matters.
- 15.
Actions based on the insurance contract are time-barred within one year from the date on which the corresponding obligation becomes due.
- 16.
The insurer may, in turn, (re)insure the risks assumed, but is the sole party obliged towards the policyholder. The insured has no claim against the reinsurer. In the event of voluntary or compulsory dissolution of the insurer, all the policyholders have a special privilege on the credit balance of the insurer’s account with the reinsurer.
- 17.
Joint stock, cooperative and mutual insurance companies; branches or agencies of foreign companies of the types listed previously; and official or mixed, national, provincial, or municipal bodies and entities.
- 18.
The premiums must be sufficient to meet the insurer’s obligations and its ongoing economic and financial capacity.
- 19.
National joint stock, cooperatives and mutual companies, whose exclusive purpose is to operate in reinsurance, and branches of foreign reinsurance entities that are established in Argentina.
- 20.
Foreign entities authorised to do so in their country of origin in accordance with the provisions of this Annex.
- 21.
According to statistics by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística – IBGE).
- 22.
Susep (2021), p. 3.
- 23.
Brazilian Law No. 10,406/2002.
- 24.
Brazilian Law No. 8,078/1990.
- 25.
Brazilian Law No 13,105/2015.
- 26.
Brazilian Law No. 13,709/2018.
- 27.
This authority has powers to, among others: (i) request information regarding the processing of personal data by companies; (ii) receive and process data breach notifications; and (iii) impose administrative penalties for violations of the BDPL. Penalties or fines arising from breaches to the BDPL might reach fifty million Brazilian reais per violation. Such penalties can also have retroactive effects.
- 28.
Brazilian Law No. 13,874/2019.
- 29.
Brazilian Civil Code, Section 104: “The requirements for the validity of a legal transaction are: I – a capable agent; II – a licit, possible and determined or determinable object; III – a form that is prescribed (or not prohibited) by law.”
- 30.
Tzirulnik et al. (2016).
- 31.
Franco (2014), p. 340.
- 32.
Under SUSEP DETEC Letter No. 07/2008.
- 33.
According to the daily update available from the World Health Organization, https://covid19.who.int/region/amro/country/br.
- 34.
First quarter of 2022.
- 35.
Or Seguro garantia in Portuguese.
- 36.
Provisional Measure No. 951/2020.
- 37.
An example was a decision issued in Process No. 1016257-17.2021.8.26.0562, by the judge of the 11th Civil Circuit of São Paulo.
- 38.
Luque and Bonina (2021).
- 39.
Luque and Bonina (2021).
- 40.
Idem.
- 41.
Luque and Bonina (2021).
- 42.
Idem.
- 43.
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) brought before the courts a case on how the insurance policies should be interpreted, as there were many claims under business interruption policies, many of which only provided for basic cover for BI as a consequence of property damage. As insurers position on those cases was not unanimous, FCA proposed a lawsuit (a “test case”) to clarify issues of contractual uncertainty, selecting a representative sample of twenty-one types of policies issued by eight major insurers.
- 44.
Lloyd’s (2020).
- 45.
Lloyd’s (2020).
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Argañaraz Luque, M.G., Bonina, S., de Novaes da Silva, A.C. (2023). Impact of COVID-19 on the Latin American Insurance and Reinsurance Market. In: Muñoz Paredes, M.L., Tarasiuk, A. (eds) Covid-19 and Insurance. AIDA Europe Research Series on Insurance Law and Regulation, vol 7. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-13753-2_7
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