Health Insurance Ecuador Government warning letter.
NATIONAL INSURANCE ADMINISTRATION (INtendencia de Seguros)
Circular Letter SCVS-INS-026-2017- (0013470)
Guayaquil – July 4, 2017
WARNING ABOUT INSURANCE AND SIMILAR PRODUCTS OFFERED BY FOREIGN COMPANIES
The National Insurance Administration of Ecuador warns citizens, Ecuadorians and foreign residents in the country, who contract insurance with foreign companies which are not domiciled in Ecuador, especially life insurance or health insurance with or without savings, that those contracts are not covered by Ecuadorian legislation. Therefore, in case of problems collecting compensations or recognizing insurance coverage, they cannot be subject to claims or complaints before the Superintendence of Companies, Values and Insurances.
In Ecuador, brokers can only manage and commercialize the contracts of insurance companies domiciled in the country, whose names can be reviewed on the web page of the Superintendence. Consequently, they are not authorized to offer or commercialize:
Insurance issued by insurance companies not domiciled in Ecuador; or
Any kind of financial product or similar service, which usually implies fundraising, offered by national or foreign companies.
The Superintendence expressly states that people who conclude such contracts, do so at their own risk, knowing all claims and complaints are subject to the legislation of the country of origin of the company that was contracted, or to the legislation of the country which has been indicated in the contract or insurance policy, as well as their enforcement authorities and judges.
This agency will, without prejudice, take all actions possible to detect and punish the irregular activities of brokers, including claims and complaints, which are domiciled in Ecuador.
Kind regards,
Andrés Martínez L.
Director of National Insurance Administration
