BRAZIL Law and Practice Contributed by: Thiago Junqueira and Daniel Barreto Gelbecke, Junqueira & Gelbecke Advogados
1. Basis of Insurance and Reinsurance Law 1.1 Sources of Insurance and Reinsurance Law Brazil operates within a civil law legal system, in which legislation is the primary source of insurance and reinsurance law. Statutory law is complemented by regulatory norms, contractual arrangements, cus- toms and market practices, and judicial interpretation. Unlike common law jurisdictions, judicial precedent is not, in principle, a formal source of law, although it plays an important practical role in interpretation and harmonisation. The central statutory pillar of Brazilian insurance contract law is Law No 15,040 of 9 December 2024 (Brazilian Insurance Contract Act), which entered into force in December 2025 and fundamentally restruc- tured the legal framework governing insurance con- tracts. Previously, insurance was regulated by a short chapter of the 2002 Civil Code, comprising only 46 articles. The new Act establishes a comprehensive, standalone regime, with 134 articles, governing insur- ance contracts in a systematic and detailed manner. It also contains specific provisions on reinsurance and insurance intermediaries. For analytical purposes, the Brazilian Insurance Con- tract Act is structured around the following key topics: • purpose, scope and mandatory application (Arti- cles 1–4); • insurable interest (Articles 5–8); • risk, exclusions and risk changes (Articles 9–18); • premium: payment, default, suspension and termi- nation (Articles 19–23); • third-party insurance and group insurance (policy- holder regime) (Articles 24–32); • coinsurance and double insurance (Articles 33–36); • intervening parties: good faith, agents and brokers (Articles 37–40); • formation of contract, pre-contractual duties, acceptance, duration and renewal (Articles 41–53); • evidence of the contract and mandatory policy contents (Articles 54–55); • rules on construction and interpretation of the con- tract (Articles 56–59);
• reinsurance (Articles 60–65); • loss: notice, mitigation, salvage, fraud and effects over time (Articles 66–74); • adjustment and settlement of claims: transparency, deadlines and sanctions (Articles 75–88); • damage insurance: indemnity limits, underinsur- ance, “new for old” and subrogation (Articles 89–97); • liability insurance: trigger, defence costs, co-opera- tion duties and direct action (Articles 98–107); • transfer of interest and assignment of insurance (Articles 108–111); • life and personal safety insurance: beneficiaries, waiting periods, suicide and capital protection (Articles 112–124); • compulsory insurance (Article 125); • statutes of limitations and suspension (Articles 126–127); and • final and transitional provisions: regulation, ADR and arbitration, jurisdiction, enforceability, revoca- tions and effective date (Articles 128–134). The Insurance Contract Act must be interpreted sys- temically, in co-ordination with the broader Brazilian legal framework. Relevant statutes include: • the Federal Constitution of the Federative Republic of Brazil; • Decree-Law No 73/1966 (National System of Pri- vate Insurance); • Complementary Law No 126/2007 (reinsurance); • the Brazilian Civil Code; • the Consumer Protection Code; • the Arbitration Act; • the Code of Civil Procedure; • data protection legislation; and • various sector-specific statutes affecting insurance and reinsurance operations. Although Brazil is a civil law jurisdiction, jurisprudence plays a significant practical role, particularly decisions of the Superior Court of Justice (STJ), which has final authority over private law matters. Under the Code of Civil Procedure, certain precedents may have binding or quasi-binding effects. With the entry into force of Law No 15,040/2024, the provisions of which depart from previously dominant case law in several respects, the Brazilian insurance market is expected
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