Brazilian Superintendence of Private Insurance explains Insurance Contract Law now in force with clearer terms and a 30-day claims response deadline

The Brazilian Superintendence of Private Insurance (SUSEP) reported that Brazil’s Insurance Contract Law (Law No. 15.040/2024) has entered into force and is directly applicable with full effect, leaving SUSEP only residual rulemaking to address points requiring technical detail. The law consolidates good-faith, transparency and ethical standards for insurance contracts, requiring coverages, exclusions and insured risks to be presented clearly and without ambiguity. Where there is divergence between documents, interpretation must favour the insured, the beneficiary or an affected third party. It also introduces objective time limits for proposal assessment, harmonises rules on contract formation, duration and termination, and curbs clauses allowing unilateral cancellation outside the cases permitted by law. For claims, insurers must respond within 30 days of notice of loss, may request additional documents with justification, and face limits on suspending the deadline; the provisions also address personal insurance, including directing unclaimed insured capital to Funcap after the limitation period expires without an identified beneficiary, and reaffirm the general rule that disputes should be heard in the domicile forum of the insured or beneficiary. SUSEP indicated that any further regulation will be limited to residual, technical matters where additional detail is needed.