2015-05-20 | JB-2015-3433The Banking Board of Ecuador issued Resolution JB-2015-3433 to clarify the application of a 15% monthly penalty surcharge on SOAT death benefits owed to the family of Grace del Pilar Correa Contreras. The Board determined that the surcharge must be calculated starting from April 18, 2012, which was the expiration of the statutory 30-day payment deadline, until the date of effective payment. This ruling resolves a dispute regarding the temporal scope of the penalty imposed by the previous Resolution JB-2014-3104.
Banking Board of Ecuador
RESOLUTION No. JB-2015-3433
THE BANKING BOARD
CONSIDERING:
THAT by a document submitted to the Superintendency of Banks on December 12, 2012, Mrs. Lupe de Lourdes Contreras Pérez filed a complaint against the Road Accident Fund FONSAT, requesting that the regulatory body order the payment of benefits for the death of her daughter, Grace del Pilar Correa Contreras, as a result of a road accident covered by the Mandatory Road Accident Insurance;
THAT by letter No. DNAE-SAU-2013-05423 dated September 20, 2013, the then Deputy Director of User Service ordered FONSAT to pay the indemnification for the death of Miss Grace del Pilar Correa Contreras, plus the surcharge in the amount and manner established in Article 365 of the General Regulation for the Application of the Law on Land Transport, Traffic and Road Safety;
THAT by communication received at the Superintendency of Banks on October 1, 2013, Engineer Carlos Emanuel Véliz, Executive Director of the Road Accident Fund FONSAT, with the sponsorship of Dr. Cristian Chimbo Muriel, filed an appeal before the Banking Board against letter No. DNAE-SAU-2013-05423;
THAT by Resolution No. JB-2014-3104 dated September 17, 2014, the Banking Board resolved: "Confirm letter No. DNAE-SAU-2013-05423 of September 20, 2013, by which the then Deputy Director of User Service ordered the Road Accident Fund FONSAT to pay the corresponding indemnification for the death of Miss Grace del Pilar Correa Contreras, along with the surcharge provided for in the Regulation of the Mandatory Road Accident Insurance SOAT, and order the Road Accident Fund FONSAT to comply with said provision within a period of fifteen days, counted from the date it is notified of the aforementioned resolution, under legal warnings.";
THAT by documents submitted to the regulatory body on October 14, 2014, both Engineer Carlos Emanuel Véliz and Dr. Cristian Chimbo Muriel in their capacities as Executive Director and Legal Director of the Road Accident Fund FONSAT, respectively, as well as Mrs. Lupe de Lourdes Contreras Pérez through her lawyer Ramón Intriago Z., requested clarification on from which date and until when the surcharge referred to in Resolution No. JB-2014-3104 of September 17, 2014, must be paid;
THAT Articles 33 and 34 of the Regulation of the Mandatory Road Accident Insurance issued by Executive Decree 1767, published in the Official Register Supplement 613 of June 16, 2009, in force at the date of the accident, provided:
"Article 33.- (...) In the case of indemnifications for death and funeral expenses, the maximum deadline for payment to beneficiaries shall be 30 days after receiving the necessary documentation. (...)"
Banking Board of Ecuador Resolution No. JB-2015-3433 Page 2
"Article 34.- When indemnifications are not paid by the insurance companies within the deadline established in this regulation, it shall give rise to the insurers paying the claims with a surcharge of 15% per month or fraction of a month of delay, and they may be claimed before the Superintendency of Banks and Insurance, which after obtaining explanations from the insurer will order, if appropriate, the payment of the indemnification.";
THAT Article 8 of the aforementioned Regulation of the Mandatory Road Accident Insurance, in force at the date of the accident, provided:
"Article 8.- (...) Indemnifications for bodily, functional or organic damages, including death, produced as a consequence of accidents related to the circulation of a motor vehicle, shall be subject to the following coverages, conditions, limits and amounts of liability:
1) An indemnification of USD 5,000.00 per person, for death occurring within the twelve months following the accident and as a consequence thereof;
(...)
4) An indemnification, for each accident, of up to USD 400.00 for funeral expenses, and
(...))";
THAT the road accident that caused the death of Miss Grace del Pilar Correa Contreras occurred on December 20, 2011. The necessary documentation for the claim of benefits covered by the SOAT was received by FONSAT on March 19, 2012;
THAT in accordance with Article 33 of the aforementioned Regulation of the Mandatory Road Accident Insurance, the 30 days that the Road Accident Fund had to pay the benefits for death and funeral expenses for the death of Grace del Pilar Correa Contreras as a result of a road accident covered by the Mandatory Road Accident Insurance, expired on April 18, 2012;
THAT the National Intendancy of the Private Insurance System, through memorandum INSP-2015-00401 dated May 7, 2015, recommended to the Banking Board to clarify Resolution JB-2014-3104 of September 17, 2014; and,
IN exercise of its legal powers,
RESOLVES:
SINGLE ARTICLE.- CLARIFY, that the surcharge of 15% per month or fraction of a month of delay in the settlement of benefits for death and funeral expenses, for the death of Miss Grace del Pilar Correa Contreras as a consequence of a road accident that occurred on December 20, 2011, covered by the Mandatory Road Accident Insurance SOAT, provided for in Article 2 of Resolution No. JB-2014-3104 of September 17, 2014, shall be calculated from April 18, 2012 until the date of effective payment.
COMMUNICATE.- Given at the Superintendency of Banks and Insurance, in Quito, Metropolitan District, on the twentieth of May of the year two thousand fifteen.
(Signature) Econ. Rodrigo Landeta Parra GENERAL INTENDENT (S) PRESIDENT OF THE BANKING BOARD SESSION (E)
I CERTIFY.- Quito, Metropolitan District, on the twentieth of May of the year two thousand fifteen.
(Signature) Lcdo. Pablo Cobo Luna SECRETARY OF THE BANKING BOARD