Insurance in Paraguay

Paraguay has an established private insurance market and statutory social insurance. The main private-law framework includes Ley 827/96 De Seguros and Book III of the Código Civil. Only authorized Paraguayan insurance companies or branches of foreign companies may offer private insurance. The SIS licenses insurers, maintains registers, supervises solvency and transparency, and handles market and user oversight. Its registers include insurers, approved plans, agents, brokers, claims adjusters and reinsurance companies. In 2025, the market had 36 insurers: 20 offering only property-related insurance and 16 offering property-related and life insurance. The same market information listed 146 foreign reinsurers and two co-insurance groups. Property-related products include automobile, fire, theft or robbery, transport, technical risks, agricultural risks, civil liability, surety, aviation and glass insurance. Personal products include life insurance, personal accident insurance and passenger accident insurance. Automobile and life insurance are among the locally significant areas of demand. Credit-related life or debt-cancellation cover is insurance even when it is sold alongside a financial product; the insurance contract and its exclusions determine the cover. A person or company taking out private insurance should verify both the provider and the intermediary in the SIS register and check the relevant plan in the Registro de Planes. The policy should be clear and generally written in Spanish. It should identify the insured risk, insured sum, exclusions, deductible or franchise, waiting period, limits, validity, renewal and termination rules. Premiums are generally freely calculated, although the SIS may challenge rates that are inadequate, abusive or discriminatory. Policies may be issued in a foreign currency. No coverage should be assumed until the policy or contract has been reviewed and accepted. A policyholder should report a siniestro, meaning an insured loss or event, to the insurer without delay. Article 1589 of the Código Civil sets a three-day period from knowledge of the loss for the notice, subject to the applicable legal and contractual procedure. The claimant must provide information and evidence, take reasonable steps to reduce the damage and allow the investigation. The insurer or a registered claims adjuster carries out the adjustment. An insured person or beneficiary may request a registered adjuster where the procedure allows it. A complaint normally starts with the insurer and can then be submitted to the SIS Plataforma de Asistencia al Usuario. A formally accepted SIS submission can receive an investigation and response within up to 60 business days, but the SIS cannot award a court-ordered benefit or force payment or a premium refund. A life-insurance beneficiary generally has up to three years from the insured event, subject to the applicable rule, with the period linked to knowledge of the benefit. An endoso is a written endorsement that changes a policy or its cover. Its effect begins when the policyholder and insurer sign it or when the contract requires approval. Changing insurer, cancelling, declining renewal or obtaining a refund depends on the policy and the Código Civil; there is no single general deadline for every case. Reinsurance changes the relationship between insurers and does not alter the direct policyholder contract or justify delaying a claim. IPS provides the Seguro Social Obligatorio for dependent private-sector workers, including domestic workers. It covers non-occupational illness and accidents, maternity, work accidents, occupational disease, disability, old age and death, with family benefits for registered eligible relatives. The employer handles registration, withholds the employee contribution and transfers the contributions to IPS. The MTESS guide states an employee contribution of 9% of total wages and employer contributions of 14% plus 2.5% in additional employer charges, or 16.5% in total employer charges. Contribution rates and allocation should be checked again after legal changes. Health-service waiting periods include one month of contributions for the worker and two consecutive months for family insurance; work-accident coverage begins from the reported start of employment. Employer duties also apply to part-time employment. IPS Law 4933/13 allows a voluntary modality for independent workers, employers, representatives, MIPYMES owners, homemakers and other groups. The typical contribution is 13% of a declared base, with a minimum linked to the minimum wage. This voluntary modality provides active coverage mainly for retirement and pensions and does not provide health insurance before retirement. Insurance decisions therefore depend strongly on whether the need concerns private property or personal cover, formal employment-based social protection or voluntary retirement protection. Ley 4950/13 created SOAT, but Ley 5150/14 repealed Ley 4950. The repealed rule should not be used as proof of a current general SOAT obligation; voluntary automobile or liability cover and any sector-specific duties require separate checking under current SIS and traffic rules.