Personal finance
Personal finance
Bank account garnishment for debt in Peru: a judge orders it for private debt, and some income is protected
For a private debt (a loan, a credit card, a commercial debt), a bank or a private creditor cannot freeze your account on their own — only a judge can order that, through a garnishment-by-retention that forces the bank to hold the money and deposit it to the court's order (article 657 of the Code of Civil Procedure). That is not true of every debt: for a tax debt (for example, owed to Sunat), an administrative collector (ejecutor coactivo) can order that same retention without going through a judge (article 118 of the Tax Code); for municipal taxes (property tax, municipal fees) the same no-judge retention is in article 33(d) of Law 26979 on coercive enforcement. In both cases, your salary and pension are protected up to 5 Unidades de Referencia Procesal, and only a third of the excess can be garnished — unless the debt is child support, where up to 60% of your total income can be taken.
✓ Verified against the official sourceCan creditors seize your CTS, AFP fund, or pension in Peru?
Your CTS (severance savings) and the funds accumulated in your AFP (private pension fund) are, as a general rule, protected from garnishment. Your CTS can only be garnished up to 50% when the debt is child or spousal support (Article 37 of D.S. N° 001-97-TR); your AFP fund is protected without that exception appearing in the text of the law that protects it (Article 20 of D.S. N° 054-97-EF). Once you start collecting a monthly pension, different rules apply: the general income-garnishment regime kicks in, protecting up to 5 Procedural Reference Units, with the cap widened to 60% for support debts.
✓ Verified against the official sourceCredit life insurance (desgravamen), insurance tied to a loan, and refinancing vs. rescheduling in Peru: what is the difference?
If a bank requires insurance for a loan, you can bring your own policy and endorse it to the bank, as long as it meets the conditions the bank disclosed; for credit life insurance, the endorsement carries no fee. Refinancing means changing term or amount because you struggle to pay, and it drops a Normal rating a step.
✓ Verified against the official sourceFourth- and fifth-category income tax in Peru: the difference between freelance and payroll work
Fourth-category income is independent work (recibos por honorarios) and fifth-category is dependent, payroll employment; each is withheld differently (a flat 8% for fourth category, a twelfth of the estimated annual tax each month for fifth), but both share a fixed 7 UIT annual deduction that, combined with the automatic 20% deduction on fourth-category income, means many freelancers and modest-income employees end up owing no income tax at all.
✓ Verified against the official sourceIncome tax when selling an inherited property in Peru: why your cost basis can be zero
Since August 1, 2012, the cost basis (costo computable) of an inherited property is zero by default — not the property's value at the time you inherited it. You can only use a higher cost basis (and pay less tax) if you can reliably prove what the deceased person originally paid for it. If you inherited before that date, a different, more favorable rule applies: the property-tax self-assessed value (autoavalúo). The effective tax rate on the gain is 5%, and it can be zero entirely if the property qualifies as your primary residence (casa habitación).
✓ Verified against the official sourceInsurance claim denied or ignored in Peru: what deadlines does the insurer have and what can you do?
Without a loss adjuster, the insurer has 30 days from your complete documents to accept or deny your claim. If it stays silent, the claim counts as accepted and it must pay within 30 more days. A denial needs written reasons and documents. You prove the loss; the insurer proves why it need not pay.
✓ Verified against the official sourceNegative credit reports in Peru (Infocorp and other CEPIRs): how fast they update and when an employer can see yours
The deadlines don't run on their own from the date you pay: you have to request them. If you pay off or regularize a debt, you can request proof from the lender, which has 7 business days from your request to give it to you; and if you also request that the SBS notify the credit bureau (like Infocorp) of the regularization, the SBS has another 7 business days from that request to do so. The credit bureau must then update your report within 2 business days of receiving the information — and an employer needs your written consent to check your credit report and cannot disqualify you because of it.
✓ Verified against the official sourcePensión 65 in Peru: who qualifies, how often it pays, and what happens if you are removed
Pensión 65 pays a grant every two months to people aged 65 or over who hold a DNI, are classified as extremely poor and receive no pension or EsSalud cash benefit. Meeting the rules does not guarantee a place: there is prioritisation and a budget limit. You stay in only while you meet every rule.
✓ Verified against the official sourceTCEA on credit cards in Peru: what it is, the legal maximum interest rate, and how you're protected from abusive late fees
The TCEA is the real annual cost of your credit card — interest, fees and charges included — and by law the bank must give it to you before you accept the contract; on top of that, Peru's central bank (BCRP) sets a maximum interest rate every six months (114.13% effective annual in soles for the May-October 2026 period) that also covers credit cards, and charging above it is usury, a crime, not just an administrative infraction.
✓ Verified against the official sourceThe borrower on a loan or credit card with credit life insurance died or became disabled: who notifies, and what can the heirs do?
Tell the bank in writing. If the bank sold the insurance, that counts as telling the insurer, and the bank must notify the insurer immediately once it learns of the death. Anyone with an interest can ask the insurer whether it paid the bank or denied the claim. If it paid, the bank has thirty days to close the loan.
Partly verifiedA relative died with money in a Peruvian bank: what can the bank do before the heirs are declared?
The money passes to the heirs at the moment of death, but no one can take it alone. We found no SBS rule forcing the bank to pay without a registered intestate succession or will, nor any small-amount exception. If the deceased owed the bank, it can set the debt off against the deposits.
Partly verifiedBounced cheques and unpaid negotiable invoices in Peru: what can you do if you are not paid?
If the bank refuses your cheque, ask it to record the refusal on the cheque itself: that counts as a formal protest and lets you sue. Writing a cheque without funds can also be a crime. A negotiable invoice the buyer accepted, expressly or by staying silent, can also be collected through fast-track court proceedings.
Partly verifiedCurrency exchange in Peru: what can they ask you for, and how much cash can you carry when you travel?
Every exchange house in Peru, in person or online, must be on the SBS's public registry. For small amounts it only asks for your ID; from a higher amount it asks for more details and records your transaction for the UIF. If you cross the border with a lot of cash, you must declare it to SUNAT.
Partly verifiedFuneral costs in Peru: what EsSalud, your AFP or the ONP really cover, compared with private funeral insurance
If the person who died was an EsSalud primary insured, working or retired, EsSalud pays up to S/ 2,070 to whoever paid for the funeral. If they were in an AFP, the AFP reimburses a reference funeral up to an SBS cap. We found no funeral benefit in the ONP law. Private insurance covers what its policy says.
Partly verifiedIs there personal bankruptcy in Peru? What the Insolvency Law says
Yes, but only for debtors with a business activity. Since a 2015 reform (Legislative Decree N.° 1189), Peru's General Insolvency Law (Ley N.° 27809) only allows an individual who carries out a business activity, in the law's own terms, to be brought into an insolvency proceeding and, at the end of that road, declared bankrupt — whether they request the proceeding themselves (article 24.4) or their creditors do (article 26.1). Purely consumer debt, with no business activity behind it, does not expose you to an insolvency proceeding through either route.
Partly verifiedProblem with a mutual fund or brokerage firm in Peru: complain to the SMV or to Indecopi?
Complain to the firm first. If that fails, there are two routes: Indecopi, if you want compensation for a consumer-protection breach, and the SMV, if the firm broke securities-market rules. The SMV's Investor Ombudsman (Defensoría del Inversionista) guides you for free, but does not rule on who is right.
Partly verifiedProtested bills of exchange and promissory notes in Peru: what 'protesto' means and what happens if you don't pay
'Protesto' is the notarial record that a bill of exchange (letra de cambio) or a promissory note (pagaré) wasn't paid or accepted on time. A título valor that meets its formal requirements already has 'mérito ejecutivo' on its own (Article 18 of Law No. 27287), so the protesto — or a 'sin protesto' clause written into the document — is what lets the creditor sue you directly through the fast executive process, without needing a prior lawsuit to establish that you owe the debt.
Partly verifiedSavings and credit cooperatives (Coopac) in Peru: what does the SBS supervise, and are your savings protected?
Since Ley 30822, the SBS supervises savings and credit cooperatives (Coopac) and keeps their register. Only registered ones may take members' deposits. Your savings have their own insurance, the Fondo de Seguro de Depósitos Cooperativo, but only if your Coopac has that coverage, and only up to a cap.