REPEALED BY SBS RESOLUTION N° 14283-2009

Lima, 27 February 2007

S.B.S. Resolution
N 215 -2007

The Superintendent of Banking, Insurance and Private Pension Fund Administrators

WHEREAS:

That, in accordance with article 345º of the General Law of the Financial System and the Insurance System and Organic Law of the Superintendency of Banking and Insurance, Law Nº 26702 and its amendments, hereinafter General Law, it is the purpose of the Superintendency to protect the interests of the public in the field of the financial and insurance systems;

That, for the economic and social development of the country, it is necessary that the less favored sectors can access the benefits of insurance in order to guarantee the continuity of their activities and the protection of their families;

That, by virtue of the foregoing, the Superintendency, within the scope of its powers, must establish conditions for the adequate use of insurance in order to increase its penetration and development in said sectors under the microinsurance modality;

That, it is necessary to have a special regulation on this type of insurance;

Having regard to the opinion of the Deputy Superintendencies of Banking and Microfinance, Insurance, Risks and Legal Advisory and of the Economic Studies Management; and,

In use of the powers conferred by numerals 2, 7 and 9 of article 349º of the General Law;

RESOLVES:

Article One.- To approve the Microinsurance Regulation that forms an integral part of this Resolution.

REPEALED BY SBS RESOLUTION N° 14283-2009

Article Two.- To modify article 12° of the Regulation for the Payment of Premiums of Insurance Policies approved by SBS Resolution N° 225-2006, in the following terms:

“Insurance with special characteristics Article 12°.- The insurances indicated below that, due to their special characteristics, cannot be subject to any of the provisions referred to the payment of premiums indicated in this Regulation, must observe the following:

a) Life, surety and export credit insurances shall be governed by the conditions established in the respective policies.

b) The insurances issued under the framework of the Private Pension System that have disability, survival and funeral expense coverages, as well as retirement, disability and survival pensions, shall be governed by their respective rules.

c) Compulsory insurances shall be subject to the provisions established in their creation laws.

d) Microinsurances shall be governed by their respective rules.”

Article Three.- This Resolution enters into force on the day following its publication in the Official Gazette El Peruano.

Register, communicate and publish.

JUAN JOSÉ MARTHANS LEÓN
Superintendent of Banking, Insurance and Private Pension Fund Administrators

REPEALED BY SBS RESOLUTION N° 14283-2009

MICROINSURANCE REGULATION

Definitions

Article 1°.- For purposes of this Regulation, the following definitions must be considered

a) Simplified policy: Document that accredits the contracting of the individual coverage, which must be signed by the insurance company.

b) Periodic client of a fund transfer company: Person who, as receiver, during the last six (6) calendar months has received on a monthly basis, money transfers through the same Fund Transfer company.

c) Fund transfer company: The fund transfer companies referred to in this Regulation are those whose main business is to operate in said activity.

d) Minimum and general exclusions: Those that are not related to the individualized risk.

e) Collective or group insurance: Modality of contracting insurance, which grants coverage, through a single contract, to multiple insured persons that make up a homogeneous collectivity. The policyholder of the insurance is an entity with which the insured maintains a relationship, with a purpose other than the contracting of an insurance.

f) Individual insurance: Modality of contracting through which coverage is granted through a simplified policy issued by the insurance company.

g) Application-Certificate: Document that accredits the contracting of a group policy, which must be signed by the policyholder and the insured.

h) Superintendency: Superintendency of Banking, Insurance and Private Pension Fund Administrators.

Concept

Article 2°.- Microinsurance is a mass insurance, of low cost and reduced coverage, by which it seeks to provide effective protection to natural persons and microentrepreneurs, against the occurrence of human or patrimonial risks, that affect them, with the limits established in article 3º of this Regulation.

The coverage is granted by an insurance company authorized by the Superintendency and contracted under the individual or collective insurance modality.

Characteristics of microinsurance

Article 3°.- Through microinsurances, insurance companies offer coverages that do not exceed ten thousand nuevos soles (S/. 10,000.00) or its equivalent in foreign currency, or a monthly premium that does not exceed ten soles monthly (S/. 10.00) or its equivalent in foreign currency, with the following characteristics:

a) Policy of indefinite validity that does not require annual renewal.

b) Parties involved in the microinsurance:

b.1) The insurer is an insurance company authorized by the Superintendency.

b.2) The policyholder, in the cases of collective insurances is a company of the national financial system, a cooperative not authorized to take deposits from the public,

REPEALED BY SBS RESOLUTION N° 14283-2009

with respect to its members, a fund transfer company in relation to its periodic clients, a company supplying goods and services, with respect to its clients, or a trade and/or communal and/or social organization, with respect to its members. In the case of an individual insurance, the policyholder is the insured person himself or a third party.

b.3) The Insured is a natural person or a microentrepreneur.

b.4) The beneficiary is the insured person himself or the policyholder. For death coverage, the beneficiaries shall be those designated by the insured in the application-certificate or in the simplified policy; failing that, the provisions for legal heirs in the Civil Code shall apply.

c) The marketer is a natural or legal person, with whom the insurance company has entered into a marketing contract for the contracting of individual insurances, within the framework established in article 15 of this Regulation; by virtue of which, it acquires the status of facilitator of the insurance company vis-à-vis the insured.

d) The simplified policy and the application-certificate must be drafted in simple and plain language and contain the minimum requirements established in article 7 of this Regulation.

e) No special conditions or prior verifications may be established in relation to the insurable persons and goods, and the subscription of the application-certificate or the simplified policy by the insured shall be sufficient for the coverage to take effect.

f) The payment of the premium shall be made within the term established in the simplified policy or the application-certificate; notwithstanding, the insured shall enjoy a grace period of thirty days, after which, in the event of non-compliance by the insured, the contract shall be terminated.

g) The term of the coverage shall occur only due to non-payment of the premium or, voluntarily, upon thirty (30) days' notice by the insured.

h) Deductibles, copayments and franchises are not applicable.

i) Expenses related to the issuance of the policy must be incorporated into the premium amount.

j) Upon the occurrence of the loss, the claim must be submitted to the policyholder or marketer of the insurance, who shall process the payment of the corresponding indemnity before the insurance company.

k) The payment of the indemnity shall be due within ten (10) days of receipt of the supporting documentation of the claim indicated in the application-certificate or in the simplified policy, which must refer only to the verification of the occurrence of the covered loss.

l) The payment of the indemnity by the insurance company may be made through the contracting company, the marketer or directly to the insured.

m) In cases of claims made by the insured for non-payment of the indemnity, the corresponding procedure may be carried out through the policyholder, or the marketer. For such purposes, the insurance companies have a maximum term of fifteen (15) days to resolve the claim submitted.

Forms of Marketing

Article 4.- The marketing of microinsurance shall be carried out through the modality of direct sale to the insured, through the intermediation of insurance brokers or the subscription of marketing contracts as indicated in the following paragraphs.

REPEALED BY SBS RESOLUTION No. 14283-2009

In the cases of individual insurances, the insurance companies shall enter into a marketing contract with a natural or legal person who shall be responsible for facilitating the contracting of the product, under the terms set forth in article 15 of this Regulation.

In the cases of collective insurances, the insurance companies shall use the marketing and distribution services of the product, provided by companies of the financial system, mainly by Microfinance Institutions (MFIs), Money Transfer Companies (MTCs), with respect to their regular clients, Savings and Credit Cooperatives not authorized to operate with public funds, with respect to their members, companies supplying goods or services, with respect to their clients, and by trade and/or community and/or social organizations, with respect to their members; which, without prejudice to their status as policyholders, must enter into a marketing contract under the terms set forth in article 15 of this Regulation.

Registry of microinsurance

Article 5.- Insurance companies that market microinsurance must keep a registry containing information on the policies contracted, the marketing contracts entered into, the application-certificates and the simplified policies issued by them.

The contracting entities thereof shall keep a copy of the documents indicated in the preceding paragraph, for up to five (5) years after the expiration of their term. The same obligation shall be maintained by the companies that facilitate the contracting of individual coverages.

In the event that the contracting entity is not supervised by the Superintendency, the insurance company must take the pertinent actions in order to comply with the provisions of the preceding paragraph.

Proof of the microinsurance contract

Article 6.- The insured may prove the contracting of the microinsurance by presenting the application-certificate, in the case of collective insurances, and the simplified policy, in the case of individual insurances.

In said documents, the signature of the policyholder or of the representative of the insurance company, respectively, must appear, which shall be delivered to the insured at the time of contracting the microinsurance, and the respective copies must be collected, for the necessary monitoring of the coverage.

Likewise, the payment receipt showing the payment of the premium shall constitute additional proof.

Minimum information

Article 7.- The simplified policy and the application-certificate that the insurance company or the policyholder deliver to the insured as proof of the granting of the coverage must have the following minimum content:

a) Identification of the insurance company and of the policyholder,

b) Identification of the insured, with the following minimum information:

REPEALED BY SBS RESOLUTION No. 14283-2009

b.1) Full name

b.2) Age

b.3) Identity Document

b.4) Address

c) Detail of the policy coverages

d) Detail of the policy exclusions, in accordance with the provisions of subsection d) of Article 1 of this Regulation.

e) Procedure for making the benefit payment

f) Term for the benefit payment

g) Procedure for handling complaints and claims

h) Clarification that communications, claims and payments to the policyholder and the marketer, for the coverages granted, have the same effect as if they had been addressed to the corresponding insurance company.

i) When coverage for the death of the insured is offered, the designation of beneficiary(ies) constitutes minimum information, for which the full name of the beneficiary and their identity document or the relationship they have with the insured must be recorded.

Registration of microinsurance policies

Article 8.- The models of microinsurance policies shall be submitted to the Superintendency prior to their commercialization, as provided by Article 15 of the Regulation of Insurance Policies and Technical Notes, approved by SBS Resolution No. 1420-2005, specifying that it is a microinsurance, governed by the provisions of this Regulation. Likewise, they must be registered in the Registry of Insurance Policies and Technical Notes referred to in SBS Resolution No. 1136-2006. The registration procedure determines that the general conditions of the policy are available on the Superintendency's website.

Insurance companies must keep the complete texts of group policies available to the insured, directly or through the policyholders, so that the insured may become fully aware of the insurance conditions, a summary of which is set forth in the application-certificate.

Insurance companies must accompany the application for registration of an individual microinsurance policy with the following information regarding the marketer:

a. Name, denomination or corporate name of the person with whom the commercialization contract will be entered into.

b. Commercialization contract to be entered into with the Policyholder or with the insurance marketer.

c. Detail of the marketer's establishments where the insurance will be contracted,

Modification of the microinsurance conditions

Article 9.- If it is necessary to make modifications to the policy conditions, insured, the insurance company must substantiate before the Superintendency, in accordance with the provisions of the Regulation of Insurance Policies and Technical Notes, the need to make the proposed changes and shall use the necessary means so that each and every one of the insured becomes aware of such modifications, at least thirty (30) days in advance. In this regard, at the time of payment of the premium, the

REPEALED BY SBS RESOLUTION No. 14283-2009

insured shall be given a detail of the modifications to the coverage, prepared by the insurance company, so that the insured may express their conformity with the new terms of the coverage. The insurance company must keep evidence of the communication made and, in the event of the insured's silence, it shall be understood that they have accepted the new insurance conditions.

Likewise, the insurance company must inform the insured that, in the event of non-acceptance of the modified contract conditions, the coverage will terminate within the term provided in the preceding paragraph or, failing that, when the grace period corresponding to the moment in which the insured stops paying the premium expires.

Information on microinsurance to insureds linked to credit operations

Article 10.- When the policyholder of the insurance is an entity of the financial system or a savings and credit cooperative, it must inform its clients or members when a credit operation is linked to a microinsurance, so that the insured become aware of the need to contract the corresponding coverage.

Likewise, in the case of microinsurances that are not linked to credit operations, the policyholders must inform potential insureds of their benefits and the cost of the premium.

Dispute resolution

Article 11.- Insurance companies must address complaints and claims arising from a microinsurance operation within a maximum term of fifteen (15) days from their submission by the insured.

If the claim or complaint persists, the insured may opt for the dispute resolution mechanisms they consider appropriate to assert their rights, in case they consider they have been violated.

Information to the Superintendency

Article 12.- Insurers that commercialize microinsurances must submit to the Superintendency, on a quarterly basis, information about the microinsurance operations they carry out, in accordance with the format attached to this Regulation.

Requirements of the Marketer

Article 13.- The marketer with whom the insurance company enters into the commercialization contract must have commercial establishments that provide customer service, with physical infrastructure and adequate human resources to provide services under safe conditions.

Responsibility of the insurance company

Article 14.- The insurance company remains liable to the insured and to the Superintendency for the provision of the contracted coverage, the administration of the related risks and regulatory compliance related to insurance operations carried out through the contractors and/or marketers of the insurance subject to this Regulation; and must ensure that in every insurance operation the insured has information on the identification of the insurance company providing the coverage and the address and contact telephone number for handling claims and answering inquiries.

REPEALED BY SBS RESOLUTION No. 14283-2009

Marketing Contract

Article 15.- The marketing contract entered into by the insurance company with the contractor, or with the marketer, must contain at least the following aspects:

a. The commitment of the contractor or marketer to offer the insurance to potential insureds, in strict compliance with the instructions indicated by the insurance company.

b. The commitment that communications and claims submitted by insureds to the contractor or marketer, regarding aspects related to the contracted insurance, will have the same effects as if they had been submitted to the insurance company.

c. The commitment that payments made by insureds to the contractor or marketer will be considered as paid to the insurance company.

d. The liability of the insurance company for errors or omissions arising from the marketing of insurance incurred by the contractor or marketer and for damages that may be caused to insureds and/or beneficiaries.

e. The specific detail of the microinsurance products subject to the marketing contract, which must be defined and developed in the terms indicated in this Resolution.

f. The commitment of the contractor or marketer to comply with the provisions of Article 5 of this Regulation.

g. The commitment by the insurance company to properly guide the personnel of the contractor or marketer on the insurance contracting procedure.

h. The commitment of the contractor or marketer to distribute among potential insureds the informational brochures of the microinsurance products provided by the insurance company, so that potential insureds have appropriate knowledge of the insurance offered

Infractions

Article 16.- Non-compliance with the provisions of this Regulation constitutes an infraction whose classification is explained below, and will be sanctioned in accordance with the Sanctions Regulation approved by this Superintendency:

a) Applicable to insurance companies

a.1) Serious Infraction:

    a.1. Making late payment beyond the term established in Article 3, subsection h) of this Regulation, of the indemnity owed to the insured or beneficiary of the microinsurance.

    a.2. Failure to keep updated the Registry referred to in Article 5 of this Regulation.

    a.3. Failure to deliver the application-certificate, in the case of collective insurance and/or the simplified policy, in the case of individual insurance, to the insured, or delivering it without the minimum information indicated in Article 7 of this Regulation.

    a.4. Failure to inform or failure to fully update the information related to the marketer, required in Article 8 of this Regulation.

REPEALED BY SBS RESOLUTION No. 14283-2009

b) Applicable to financial system companies and money transfer companies

b.1) Serious Infraction:

    b.1. Failure to keep updated the Registry referred to in Article 5 of this Regulation.

In the event that the infraction is committed by savings and credit cooperatives not authorized to operate with public funds, it will be communicated to the Federation that supervises it, for the purpose of applying the sanctions to which such non-compliance may give rise.

FINAL PROVISIONS

First.- The provisions of Article 3, literal a), 6, 7, 8 and 9 of the Insurance Policies and Technical Notes Regulation, approved by SBS Resolution No. 1420-2005, are not applicable to microinsurance policies.

Second.- The thirty (30) day term established in numeral 4.1 of Circular No. G-110-2003, referring to the User Service, does not apply to the handling of claims originating from a microinsurance.

REPEALED BY SBS RESOLUTION No. 14283-2009

ANNEX

INFORMATION ON MICROINSURANCE POLICIES IN FORCE AS OF ….... /………./ 200……

INSURANCE COMPANY: ................................................................................................

LINE OF BUSINESS	RISK (1)	REGISTRY CODE	COMMERCIAL NAME OF THE PRODUCT OR INSURANCE POLICY	No. OF INSUREDS	AVERAGE COVERAGE AMOUNT (2)

[1] According to the code of the Concordance Table of Risks of the Chart of Accounts for Insurance System Companies.

[2] Use the same currency for the purposes of the required information.