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Insurance and reinsurance in Uruguay: market opening, licensing, State monopolies, cross border cover and the insurance contract law

Last verified: 2026-10-27 · Status: Stable

The insurance market is open to competition, but insurers and reinsurers must be established in Uruguay and authorized by the Executive Branch with SSF advice and control; policies covering risks in Uruguay may only be written by authorized insurers, with exceptions for goods in international transport and merchant ships (Ley Nº 16.426 art. 1 and 2). The Banco de Seguros del Estado keeps the monopoly on all insurance of State public persons, workplace accident and occupational disease insurance, and the bail bond of Ley Nº 15.903 art. 503. The insurance contract law Ley Nº 19.678 (2018) is of public order: 30 days to accept or reject a claim, 60 days to pay, a 30 day cap on suspension for unpaid premium, two year prescription (five for life), and Uruguayan law and courts for policies issued locally.

USD figures use UYU 40.21 per US dollar, the BCU quotation for DLS. USA BILLETE on 27 October 2026; amounts in Unidades Indexadas (UI) use UYU 6.6792 per UI, the BCU quotation for 27 October 2026, and amounts in Unidades Reajustables (UR) use UYU 1,940.77, the IMPO published UR value for September 2026 (the latest published on 27 October 2026). All were retrieved on 27 October 2026. Conversions are for orientation only.

Key facts

Licence to write insurance	Executive Branch authorization with SSF advice; local establishment required Ley Nº 16.426 art. 2, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Lines reserved to the Banco de Seguros del Estado	State public persons, workplace accidents and occupational diseases, bail bond of Ley Nº 15.903 art. 503 Ley Nº 16.426 art. 1, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Cover that may be placed abroad	Goods in international transport and trade; merchant ships Ley Nº 16.426 art. 2, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Insurer deadline to accept or reject a claim	30 calendar daysLey Nº 19.678 art. 35, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Insurer deadline to pay an accepted claim	60 calendar daysLey Nº 19.678 art. 39, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Prescription of insurance claims	2 (life: 5) yearsLey Nº 19.678 art. 50, as of 2026-10-27 · in force

The rule

1. Insurers may be freely chosen for all risks, and the former State insurance monopolies were repealed. Excepted, and reserved to the Banco de Seguros del Estado, are all insurance contracts of State public persons, workplace accident and occupational disease insurance under Ley Nº 16.074, and the bail insurance of art. 503 of Ley Nº 15.903.
Cost to do it: Workplace accident premiums are paid to the Banco de Seguros del Estado; rates are not quantified on this page.
Example: A private insurer may sell property, liability and life cover to companies, but not workplace accident cover. / A US$5,000,000 property policy for a State company must be placed with the Banco de Seguros del Estado.Ley Nº 16.426 (Insurance market), Art. 1, 1993-10-14 official text · verified 2026-10-27

2. Public or private companies carrying on insurance or reinsurance must be established in Uruguay and authorized by the Executive Branch with the advice and control of the SSF. Subject to international agreements, insurance contracts covering risks that may occur in Uruguay are subject to all Uruguayan legal, regulatory and tax rules and may only be granted by authorized insurers; policies issued in breach make the parties and their representatives jointly liable for the taxes and penalties. Export credit insurance on exports from Uruguay is subject to the same rule. Excepted are transport and international trade insurance of the goods carried, and insurance of merchant ships.
Cost to do it: Authorization and SSF installation permit; minimum capital, solvency margins and technical reserves are set by the SSF and not quantified here.
Example: A Uruguayan subsidiary cannot be covered for its local plant under a policy written by an unauthorized foreign insurer; the group program needs a local fronting insurer. / Cargo insurance for goods imported by sea can be placed abroad, because transport and international trade insurance of goods is excepted.Ley Nº 16.426, art. 2 as worded by Ley Nº 19.678 art. 134, Art. 2, 2018-10-26 official text · verified 2026-10-27

3. The SSF supervises insurers and reinsurers, including mutuals: it grants the installation permit once the Executive authorizes them, approves new offices, sets prudential rules, minimum capital, solvency margins and technical reserves (and may disregard assets not located in Uruguay), opines on mergers, authorizes share transfers, sets reporting rules and may fine up to 10 percent of the basic net worth required of banks, propose intervention or revocation, and investigate managers. Insurers must include words referring to insurance in their names. The BCU keeps a Register of Life Insurance Policies; insurers report every life policy within 30 days, and anyone with a death certificate can ask whether the deceased had life cover.
Cost to do it: The life policy register query is made to the BCU; no fee is set in the law.
Example: A foreign insurer buying a Uruguayan insurer needs SSF authorization for the share transfer. / A family can check through the BCU register whether a deceased relative held a life policy worth, say, US$100,000 and which insurer issued it.Ley Nº 16.426 art. 7; Ley Nº 16.696 art. 37 E) and 38; Ley Nº 19.678 art. 120 and 132, Ley 16.426 art. 7; Ley 16.696 art. 38; Ley 19.678 art. 120 and 132, 2025-12-16 official text · verified 2026-10-27 · changed: Ley Nº 20.446 of 16 December 2025 (art. 694, in force 1 January 2026) reworded BCU Charter art. 38, which sets the SSF's powers over insurers among other supervised entities.

4. The insurance contract law is of public order. The contract is formed by consent, even before the policy is issued, and runs for one year unless stated otherwise. The insurer must deliver the policy within 30 calendar days. The policyholder may cancel at any time with one month's notice, and the insurer only with just cause and one month's notice (special rules for personal insurance). Exclusions and limiting clauses must be clear and highlighted. Any false statement or concealment of known facts, even in good faith, that would have prevented the contract or changed its terms voids it; in life insurance, after three years the insurer may not invoke concealment unless it was fraudulent, and generic pre existing condition exclusions are banned.
Cost to do it: No cost; it sets mandatory contract terms.
Example: A company can cancel its fleet policy with a month's notice and recover the unearned premium, paying only for the risk run. / A life policy of US$250,000 issued in 2022 can no longer be challenged for innocent non disclosure after 2025.Ley Nº 19.678 (Insurance Contract), Art. 1, art. 3, art. 6, art. 13, art. 16, art. 24, art. 26, art. 46, art. 100 and art. 103, 2018-10-26 official text · verified 2026-10-27

5. The insurer has 30 calendar days from receiving the claim notice to accept or reject it, after which the claim is deemed accepted, and 60 calendar days from acceptance to pay, after which it is in default and owes default interest. If the premium is unpaid, cover is suspended until payment for at most 30 calendar days, after which the contract terminates by law. Actions under the contract prescribe in two years, five for life insurance, and the term cannot be shortened by contract.
Cost to do it: Default interest at the policy's late premium rate, or the Decreto Ley Nº 14.500 regime at the insured's option.
Example: A claim notified on 2 November 2026 that the insurer has not answered by 2 December 2026 is deemed accepted. / If an accepted US$80,000 claim is not paid within 60 days, interest runs automatically.Ley Nº 19.678, Art. 35, art. 39, art. 47, art. 50 and art. 53, 2018-10-26 official text · verified 2026-10-27

6. Insurance contracts are governed by the law of the place where the characteristic performance is carried out, meaning the domicile of the branch, agency or office of the insurer that concluded the contract and issued the policy; property insurance on real estate follows the law of the place of the property; reinsurance follows, unless agreed otherwise, the domicile of the ceding insurer. The courts of the State whose law applies have jurisdiction, and the insured may also sue at the domicile of the issuing office. These rules are mandatory. Reinsurance contracts are independent of the underlying policies, and the cedant's insolvency does not affect them.
Cost to do it: No cost; it fixes governing law and forum.
Example: A policy issued by a Montevideo insurer over a plant in Uruguay is governed by Uruguayan law and courts, whatever the policy says. / A reinsurance treaty ceding US$50,000,000 of risk follows the ceding insurer's law unless the parties agree otherwise.Ley Nº 19.678, Art. 113, art. 114, art. 117, art. 118 and art. 119, 2018-10-26 official text · verified 2026-10-27

Worked example

Claim timeline: a warehouse fire is notified to the insurer on 2 November 2026. The insurer must accept or reject by 2 December 2026 (30 days, art. 35); if it accepts, it must pay the UYU 20,105,000 (US$500,000) loss within 60 days of acceptance (art. 39), or default interest runs. The insured must sue within two years (art. 50).
Group programme: a multinational's global policy cannot directly cover its Uruguayan plant unless the insurer is authorized in Uruguay (Ley Nº 16.426 art. 2); the usual solution is a local authorized insurer issuing the Uruguayan policy and reinsuring to the group's carrier.

Step by step

Check the line: workplace accident cover and cover for State entities must go to the Banco de Seguros del Estado.
Place local risks with an authorized insurer; only cargo in international trade and merchant ships can be insured abroad.
Read exclusions and limiting clauses, which the law requires to be highlighted in the policy (Ley Nº 19.678 art. 16 and 26).
Notify claims promptly and track the 30 and 60 day insurer deadlines.
Diarize the two year prescription (five for life).

Common traps

A foreign policy covering Uruguayan risks breaches art. 2 of Ley Nº 16.426 and makes the parties jointly liable for the taxes and penalties.
Innocent misstatements can still void the policy (Ley Nº 19.678 art. 46), except in life cover after three years.
An unpaid premium suspends cover for at most 30 days, after which the policy ends by law (art. 47).
Clauses shortening the two year prescription or setting a deadline to sue are void (art. 53).

Sources

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