Car insurance claims in Chile

Chile pairs a no-fault personal-accident scheme with ordinary fault-based liability. Every motorised vehicle that needs a circulation permit must carry the SOAP (Ley 18.490 art. 1), which covers death and bodily injury suffered by the driver, the passengers and any third party in an accident involving the insured vehicle (art. 24). The amounts are fixed in Unidades de Fomento: 600 UF for death or total permanent disability, up to 400 UF for partial permanent disability, and up to 600 UF for hospital and medical expenses (art. 25). They are paid «sin investigación previa de culpabilidad» — on proof of the accident and its consequences alone (art. 6) — within 10 days of presenting the required documents (art. 30).

The SOAP pays nothing for damage to vehicles or property, and nothing above its caps. Those losses are recovered from the person at fault under the Civil Code: whoever commits a delict or quasi-delict that harms another must compensate it (art. 2314), with the award reduced where the victim imprudently exposed themselves to the harm (art. 2330). Liability insurance for damage to third-party vehicles is voluntary.

The clocks are generous by regional standards but identical in length: the civil action for delict or quasi-delict prescribes four years from the act (art. 2332), and actions arising from an insurance contract prescribe four years from when the obligation became enforceable, a period that is interrupted by the notice of loss and restarts once the insurer communicates its decision (Código de Comercio art. 541).

Insurers are supervised by the Comisión para el Mercado Financiero. Rules on uninsured drivers and diminished value have not yet been verified against a primary text and are not stated here.