MEXICO Law and Practice Contributed by: Carlos de la Garza, Raúl Acosta and Enrique Tamez, De la Garza & Acosta Abogados, S.C.
the information supporting financial and demo- graphic assumptions; • actuarial procedures for determining dividends and bonuses applicable to each policyholder, where appropriate; • actuarial procedures for calculating guaranteed values, where applicable; and • surcharges for acquisition, administration and profit costs intended to be charged. Institutions must register with the National Insurance and Bonding Commission to ensure the validity of contracts unilaterally drafted by the insurer; failure to do so may render such contracts null and void. Once their products are registered, insurers may pro- ceed immediately with their commercialisation. How- ever, if the National Insurance and Bonding Commis- sion conducts its inspection and surveillance duties and determines that the technical note, the contrac- tual documentation or the opinion of an insurance product does not meet the requirements, it will require the insurer to submit a regularisation plan within a period not exceeding 30 business days, regardless of any sanctions imposed. The insurer must refrain from offering or contracting insurance operations for the supervised product and may, where applicable, authorise or permanently suspend the product. The primary method of distributing insurance con- tracts in Mexico is through Insurance Agents, who may be natural persons or legal entities. In all cases, these agents require authorisation from the National Insurance and Bonding Commission to operate, and must comply with the requirements established by the Regulations for Insurance and Bonding Agents ( Regla - mento de Agentes de Seguros y de Fianzas ). As of December 2025, according to official figures, there is a total of 70,642 insurance agents. The marketing of insurance operations can also occur through electronic means. Distribution through banks (BIM) is permitted and is used quite frequently, as some financial institutions also provide these services and others form allianc- es with insurance companies. However, banks must clearly inform the insurance customer that the insur-
ance is not a banking product and that it is subject to the insurer’s conditions. The regulation of distribution can primarily be found in the legal instruments outlined in 1.1 Sources of Insur- ance and Reinsurance Law . 6. Making an Insurance Contract 6.1 Obligations of the Insured and Insurer In Mexico, most insurance contracts are unilaterally drafted by the insurance company, leaving no room for negotiation regarding the contract terms. However, this does not exclude the possibility of negotiating them in cases where the policyholder has the bargain- ing power to do so. According to the Law on Insurance Contracts, when an insurance policy is taken out, the policyholder is required to declare in writing to the insurance com- pany all significant facts relevant to the assessment of the risk that may influence the agreed conditions, using the questionnaire provided by the insurer. This applies whether the contract is entered into directly by the individual or through a representative. Any omission or inaccurate or false declaration of the facts that the proposer of the insurance contract is required to declare authorises the insurance com- pany to consider the insurance contract rescinded by operation of law, even if these facts did not influence the occurrence of the claim. In such cases, the insurer must duly inform the policyholder or their beneficiaries of the rescission of the insurance contract within 30 calendar days following the date on which the com- pany becomes aware of the omission or inaccurate declaration. The courts have established strict criteria regarding the notification of the rescission of the insurance con- tract due to omissions or false declarations. Therefore, it is important for insurers to undertake the neces- sary measures to notify the interested parties within 30 calendar days after becoming aware of the issue. Failure to do so will obligate the insurance company to honour the obligations stipulated in the insurance contract, even if it was misled by the policyholder.
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