The Committee recently created by the Secretary of Justice in Peru in order to prepare a draft bill for an Insurance Contract Act, had among their members different positions about the article that establishes the ‘automatic suspension of coverage’ when an insured has a delay in the payment of the premium. The author, as one of the members, specially invited by the President, has his own position which at the end, was included as a minority alternative for the article, which the majority approve with small concessions (a small waiting period of 15 days before
an automatic suspension starts). The law that is currently in force, is more radical against the insured, because it does not consider any waiting period and decree the automatic suspension of coverage when there is a delay in the premium payment. Meanwhile, the author’s proposal takes a pro-customer position, which would compel the insurer to submit a written notice rescinding the contract before it can be released of its responsibility of indemnity. Following the French, Spanish
and Chilean legislation, the author affirms that there is a constitutional obligation to protect the customers; therefore, it is necessary to consider a 30 day waiting period, before the insurer can send its written notice to the insured. Among other reasons, the author adduces that there are not other massive contracts (e.g., mortgages, bank loans, etc.) in which there is not a waiting period before the other party can suspend its obligations, and also that in the past, when the insurers were constrain to submitting a written notice, they took a long time before they rescinded the policies, in the hope that the insured paid and the loss never occurred.