Country Briefing Note: Peru (NM)
Peru’s inclusive insurance sector has enormous potential, but industry stakeholders need to work together.
🚩 INTRODUCTION
The growth of the microinsurance market in Peru has been aided by government initiatives, a National Financial Inclusion Strategy, and a series of regulations that favour its development. Peru’s inclusive insurance sector has enormous potential, but industry stakeholders need to work together to deliver greater value to low-income consumers with innovative, scalable and sustainable solutions. In this context, the actions taken by the Superintendency of Banking, Insurance and Pension Fund Administrators (SBS), and the Peruvian Association of Insurance Companies (APESEG) are important to help both the supply and demand sides overcome the challenges and barriers to accessing and distributing microinsurance.
📝 Regulatory framework
Thanks to the joint work of the SBS and APESEG, the first microinsurance regulation was approved in 2007, positioning the country as a pioneer in the region in the development of a specific regulatory framework for insurance. Due to this regulation, as of December 2021, 70 microinsurance products have been reported as registered under its definition of microinsurance. This currently covers both low-income individuals and small businesses. 1
📉 No significant microinsurance growth
Although efforts have been made to boost the microinsurance market through regulation and various programmes, the number of companies offering microinsurance has not grown significantly between 2010 and 2021 (from seven to nine companies), and supply remains concentrated in a few players.
⚖️ Demand and supply imbalance
If demand and supply in the microinsurance sector were aligned, the potential for microinsurance products to play an important role in strengthening the resilience of the population could be achieved.