On March 1, 2021, Circular No. 621/2021 published by SUSEP came into force, providing for new rules for operating damage insurance coverage.
The Circular inaugurates a new phase in the Brazilian insurance market, in which SUSEP starts to adopt a posture of minimum intervention in the contractual relations of insurance companies, allowing greater market development with freedom to create new insurance products, which no longer will have to follow standardized clauses.
Among the main innovations and changes promoted, we highlight (i) the permission to offer coverages of different types of insurance in the same policy; (ii) the free choice of the parties regarding the provisions on the collection of the premium, allowing pay per use systems for insurance with intermittent coverage; (iii)) the possibility of applying more than one deductible in the same claim; and (iv) the possibility of specific coverage for salvage and containment expenses.
As practical effects, SUSEP will have a much more supervisory role based on the identification of harmful conduct to the market or act contrary to legal principles, than an interventionist position regarding the structuring of insurance plans. It is also clear that there is an intention to unlock the currently existing strict regulations and to promote simpler, clearer and more accessible insurance contracts.
A new Circular promoting the same opening in the structure of large risks policies is expected to be published by SUSEP in the following months.
Insurers that offer damage insurance plans have 180 days to adapt their policy wordings to the new regulation.
