Which car insurance to choose in Chile: we compare complaints, repair times and the size of each insurer
Which car insurance to choose in Chile, per SERNAC and CMF data: Reale, FID and Mapfre lead our service and speed index. The biggest insurers are not the best.
· 8 min read
Which car insurance to choose in Chile? It depends on what you need, but two public data sets help anyone: how many complaints each insurer receives relative to its size, according to the SERNAC ranking, and how many days it takes to give your car back repaired, according to the CMF. We combined both into a 0-100 index: Reale (98), FID (94) and Mapfre (91) come out on top. BCI Seguros, which insures the most cars, ranks ninth out of ten.
2,284,212
Insured cars
the highest level on record
51.6
Average repair days
from the claim to picking up the car
2,172
Complaints against insurers
39% over refusal to pay the claim
Source: CMF, first half of 2026, and SERNAC, second half of 2025
View the data as a table
| Insured cars | 2,284,212 | the highest level on record |
| Average repair days | 51.6 | from the claim to picking up the car |
| Complaints against insurers | 2,172 | 39% over refusal to pay the claim |
This article does not tell you which insurance is cheapest: there is no official price record, because each policy is quoted based on your car, your municipality and your history. It does tell you how each company behaves when what matters happens: the crash, the theft or the complaint. For price, at the end we explain how to compare quotes and what a deductible is.
Which car insurance to choose according to SERNAC complaints
Every six months, SERNAC, Chile's consumer protection agency, publishes a ranking of car insurers. Its index relates the number of complaints to each company's number of policyholders and to the answers it gave consumers: the lower, the better. That way, a large insurer does not look bad just for having more customers.
In the second half of 2025 there were 2,172 complaints against car insurers, 2.5% more than a year earlier. The main reason was refusal to pay the claim (843 cases, 39%), which also rose 29%. Next came failure to meet the contracted terms (12.5%), not reversing wrong charges (9.7%), delays by the repair service (7.6%) and faulty repairs (5.9%). Companies ruled in the consumer's favor in 50.5% of cases.
One detail matters: the index is not the same as the number of complaints. BCI Seguros received 834 complaints and HDI 589, but HDI has a much better index because it insures almost as many cars as BCI and answered its customers better.
Which insurer repairs your car fastest
Every six months, the CMF, Chile's financial regulator, measures how many days pass from the moment you report the claim until the car is ready to pick up. In the first half of 2026 the average was 51.6 days, the best result in four years. The gap between the fastest and slowest company is 8.9 days.
The size of the damage changes the timeline a lot: minor damage took 43.5 days on average, medium damage 53 days and severe damage 67 days. The CMF has a platform to compare repair times by company, brand, model, region and type of repair shop: if your car is an uncommon brand, it is worth checking.
InfoByData index: which car insurance to choose for service and speed
To answer which car insurance to choose without looking only at price, we combined the two official data sets. Service (SERNAC index) weighs 60% and repair speed (CMF) weighs 40%. Each company gets 100 points if it is the best on that criterion and fewer points the further it is from the best.
| Rank | Insurer | InfoByData index (0-100) | Service (SERNAC) | Speed (CMF) | Insured cars | Market share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Reale | 98 | 98 | 100 | 110,089 | 4.8% |
| 2 | FID | 94 | 100 | 84 | 90,176 | 3.9% |
| 3 | Mapfre | 91 | 94 | 86 | 68,849 | 3.0% |
| 4 | Consorcio | 84 | 76 | 95 | 146,266 | 6.4% |
| 5 | HDI | 79 | 75 | 86 | 561,730 | 24.6% |
| 6 | Zurich | 76 | 69 | 86 | 180,746 | 7.9% |
| 7 | BNP Paribas Cardif | 71 | 52 | 100 | 52,214 | 2.3% |
| 8 | Sura | 70 | 56 | 91 | 187,697 | 8.2% |
| 9 | BCI Seguros | 60 | 41 | 89 | 709,543 | 31.1% |
| 10 | Zenit | 54 | 29 | 92 | 77,588 | 3.4% |
InfoByData calculation with SERNAC data (second half of 2025) and CMF data (first half of 2026). Renta Nacional and Porvenir have no published SERNAC index, so they are not included. Market share is calculated over 2,284,212 insured cars.
We tested two other weightings (50/50 and 70/30). In all three, Reale, FID and Mapfre take the top three spots, and BCI Seguros and Zenit the last two. The middle shifts a little: with more weight on speed, BNP Paribas Cardif moves up; with more weight on complaints, it moves down.
Brand weight: the biggest insurers are not the best rated
BCI Seguros and HDI together insure more than half of the country's cars (55.7%). Yet BCI ranks ninth on the index and HDI fifth. The three best-rated insurers add up to just 11.7% of the market.
- Market share (%)
- InfoByData index (0-100)
Source: InfoByData calculation with CMF and SERNAC data
View the data as a table
| Market share (%) | InfoByData index (0-100) | |
|---|---|---|
| BCI Seguros | 31.1 | 60 |
| HDI | 24.6 | 79 |
| Sura | 8.2 | 70 |
| Zurich | 7.9 | 76 |
| Consorcio | 6.4 | 84 |
| Reale | 4.8 | 98 |
| FID | 3.9 | 94 |
| Mapfre | 3 | 91 |
Why does this happen? Because many people do not choose their insurance: they are handed it. Insurance is offered along with the car loan, at the dealership or at the bank, and a well-known brand feels safe. Being large does not make a company bad: it means its size comes from how it sells, not necessarily from its service. If you are buying or renewing, you have the right to choose the insurer, even if the car is financed.
How much car insurance costs and what a deductible is
There is no official price comparison for car insurance, because the premium (what you pay) depends on many factors: the car's model and year, the municipality where it is parked overnight, your age, your accident history, the coverage and the deductible. That is why the only way to know which car insurance to choose on price is to quote at least three companies with the same coverage and the same deductible.
The deductible is the part of each claim you pay yourself. The higher it is, the cheaper the premium, but the more you pay if you crash. Since it is set in UF (Chile's inflation-indexed unit), its value in pesos rises every day:
| Deductible | What you pay per claim |
|---|---|
| UF 3 | CLP 123,989 |
| UF 5 | CLP 206,649 |
| UF 10 | CLP 413,298 |
| UF 20 | CLP 826,596 |
UF value on November 14, 2026: CLP 41,329.80, according to the SII.
A practical rule: choose a deductible you could pay tomorrow without going into debt. A low deductible with a higher premium can pay off if you drive a lot or park on the street. A high deductible suits people who drive little and have savings. And remember that voluntary insurance is different from the SOAP, which is mandatory and only covers people, not damage to your car or other cars.
Decision guide: which car insurance to choose by priority
| If what matters most to you is... | Look at | Best-rated companies |
|---|---|---|
| Getting paid without trouble | SERNAC complaint index | FID, Reale and Mapfre |
| Getting the car back fast | CMF repair days | BNP Paribas Cardif, Reale and Consorcio |
| A balance of both | InfoByData index | Reale, FID and Mapfre |
| Price | Your own quotes, with the same coverage | No official data: compare at least 3 |
If you are also adding up what it costs to own a car, read why gasoline prices are rising in Chile and how much you save with an electric car. More guides for your money decisions in Finance.
Frequently asked questions
Which car insurance is best in Chile? According to official data, Reale, FID and Mapfre combine few complaints and fast repairs. Price, however, depends on your car and profile: you need to get quotes.
Which insurer has the most complaints? In total numbers, BCI Seguros (834 complaints in the second half of 2025). Relative to its size, Zenit has SERNAC's highest index (11.97).
How long does it take to repair an insured car? On average, 51.6 days from the claim until you can pick it up, according to the CMF. Severe damage takes about 67 days.
Can I switch insurers if my car is financed? Yes. You can choose the insurer as long as the policy meets the coverage required by the loan contract.
Methodology and limitations
- Sources: SERNAC complaint index for the second half of 2025 (published August 19, 2026), CMF repair times for the first half of 2026 (published September 15, 2026) and insured vehicles by company according to the CMF, as published by La Tercera.
- Index: service 60% and speed 40%. Score for each criterion = 100 × (best value ÷ company value). Tested with 50/50 and 70/30 weights.
- Different periods: complaints are from the second half of 2025 and repair times from the first half of 2026. They are the latest data from each source.
- What it does not measure: price, special coverage (replacement car, coverage abroad) or the service of each broker. Nor the experience in the regions, which may vary.
- No index: Renta Nacional and Porvenir have no published SERNAC index and are left out of the index table.
- which car insurance to choose
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