Chilean consumer protection agency Sernac filed a class action lawsuit against Zurich Santander Seguros Generales Chile SA for the withdrawal of a health insurance product that left some clients without coverage, La Tercera reported.
Sernac is asking the insurer to compensate 18,837 consumers who bought the insurance product.
According to Sernac, Zurich Santander Chile offered a policy called Alivio Seguro, which promised coverage of up to 99 years. However, the insurance company later informed its clients that it would withdraw the product and instead offer an option with less favorable conditions, the agency said.
Sernac started a collective mediation against the insurance company in 2018, coordinating with financial market commission CMF in the process. The commission, meanwhile, fined the company 1,500 UF inflation-indexed units, or about 42 million Chilean pesos, for violating sector regulations concerning the term of the concerned product.
However, the agency said Zurich Santander Chile failed to satisfactorily meet the demands of the collective mediation, prompting it to file the lawsuit.
As of Aug. 26, US$1 was equivalent to 719.30 Chilean pesos.
