SOAT: Peru's Mandatory Car Insurance — What It Covers and What Happens Without It

What SOAT is and why it’s mandatory

SOAT (Seguro Obligatorio de Accidentes de Tránsito) is insurance that, by law, every motor vehicle in Peru must carry — private cars, taxis, buses, trucks, motorcycles and mototaxis, no exceptions. It’s not insurance for the vehicle itself; it’s insurance for the people affected by a traffic accident that vehicle is involved in.

The logic is straightforward: right after a crash, there’s rarely time (or appetite) to argue about fault while someone is bleeding on the road. SOAT is designed to pay out automatically, without first determining who caused the accident, to anyone hurt or killed — a vehicle occupant, a pedestrian, or someone in another vehicle involved.

What SOAT actually covers

Article 29 of the SOAT Regulation (TUO approved by D.S. 024-2002-MTC) sets the minimum coverage for each person, occupant or non-occupant, in UIT (Peru’s annual tax unit used to index many legal amounts):

• Death: 4 UIT per deceased person. The regulation says it is paid “por el íntegro del monto” (in full).
• Permanent disability: up to 4 UIT, according to the table annexed to the regulation.
• Medical expenses: up to 5 UIT per person. They include “la atención prehospitalaria, los gastos de atención médica, hospitalaria, quirúrgica y farmacéutica y otros gastos que sean necesarios para la rehabilitación de las víctimas” (pre-hospital care, medical, hospital, surgical and pharmacy costs, and other costs needed for the victims’ rehabilitation).
• Temporary incapacity: up to 1 UIT. Each day is paid at 1/30 of the minimum wage (Remuneración Mínima Vital) in force.
• Burial costs: up to 1 UIT, in case of death.

These are minimums: the same article allows SOAT to be taken out for higher coverage. What happens when the hospital bill goes past those 5 UIT is explained in SOAT and the hospital bill after a traffic accident.

Because the UIT value is set by the government and changes each year, the soles equivalent of each coverage figure changes too. For reference, at the 2026 UIT (S/ 5,500), 4 UIT is S/ 22,000 and 5 UIT is S/ 27,500. Always confirm the UIT value in effect for the year the accident happened, since that’s the figure that applies.

Who is protected

SOAT doesn’t just protect the car’s owner or driver. It covers:

• Occupants of the insured vehicle (driver and passengers).
• Pedestrians hit by that vehicle.
• Non-occupants, such as pedestrians or cyclists.

If two or more vehicles crash, each insurer answers for the people carried in the vehicle it insured; pedestrians can claim from any of the insurers involved, which are jointly liable (article 17).

That means if you’re walking and get hit by a car with valid SOAT, you’re entitled to have that vehicle’s insurer cover your medical expenses — regardless of whether the driver was at fault. Article 14 of the regulation says payment is made “sin investigación ni pronunciamiento previo de autoridad alguna” (without any prior investigation or ruling by an authority) and “independientemente de la responsabilidad del conductor, propietario del vehículo o prestador del servicio” (regardless of the liability of the driver, owner or transport provider).

What SOAT does NOT cover (the most common myth)

This is probably the single biggest misunderstanding about SOAT in Peru: it does not cover damage to the vehicle itself. Not the insured car, and not the other party’s car either. If you crash and your bumper is smashed, SOAT will not pay for that repair.

To protect the vehicle itself — collisions, theft, damage caused to third-party property — you need a separate, voluntary vehicle insurance policy, commonly called comprehensive or “todo riesgo” insurance, purchased separately from SOAT.

In short: SOAT = people. Vehicle insurance = property.

What happens if you drive without SOAT

Driving without valid SOAT — because you never got one, or it lapsed — is infraction M.28 of the National Traffic Regulation: very serious, with a fine of 12% of one UIT (at the 2026 UIT, S/ 660) and the vehicle held (retención). SAT Trujillo’s table also assigns it 50 points.

There’s also a separate infraction: driving without carrying the physical SOAT certificate (G.25). It is serious, with a fine of 8% of one UIT, 20 points and the vehicle held, according to the text of D.S. 012-2017-MTC. It doesn’t apply if you have an electronic SOAT certificate.

If the at-fault vehicle was not identified and fled: the Compensation Fund

If you were hit and the vehicle fled without being identified, you are not left without protection. Peru has a SOAT and CAT Compensation Fund (Fondo de Compensación), which depends on the Ministry of Transport and Communications. Article 3 of its regulation, as worded by D.S. No. 017-2022-MTC, says:

“El Fondo tiene como finalidad amparar a las víctimas de accidentes de tránsito ocasionados por vehículos que no hayan sido identificados y se den a la fuga en el momento del accidente y a sus familiares, mediante el pago de las coberturas que corresponden a gastos médicos y gastos de sepelio, así como el pago de una indemnización por invalidez permanente o incapacidad temporal en favor de la víctima o una indemnización por fallecimiento en favor de los familiares de la víctima, hasta por los importes de cobertura correspondientes al SOAT o CAT.”

(The Fund protects victims of traffic accidents caused by vehicles that were not identified and fled, and their families. It pays medical and funeral expenses, plus compensation for permanent disability, temporary incapacity or death, up to the SOAT or CAT coverage amounts.)

You have one (1) year to claim, counted from when the health facility tells you in writing that you are entitled to coverage (article 22).

Correction: an earlier version of this page said the Fund also pays when the vehicle was identified but had no SOAT. The current text of the regulation, quoted above, only mentions unidentified vehicles that flee. What to do in the other cases is explained in SOAT, CAT or Compensation Fund: who pays.

Recommended steps after a traffic accident

1. Handle the medical emergency first and get injured people to a health facility.
2. Identify the vehicle, its plate number, and its SOAT details (physical or electronic) before leaving the scene.
3. Request the police report or traffic incident record; most insurers require it to support a claim.
4. File the claim with the right insurer: if you were in a vehicle, that vehicle’s; if you were a pedestrian, the insurer of any vehicle involved (article 17).
5. If the vehicle was not identified and fled, file a claim with the Compensation Fund within one year of the health facility’s written notice.

What this article can’t confirm yet

The coverage amounts come from the SOAT Regulation text updated to 26 February 2015; we checked the later amendments gob.pe lists, but can’t rule out another one. The fine for driving without SOAT (M.28) was read in the MTC’s infraction manual, which is undated, and in SAT Trujillo’s current table, not in the decree that set it. We also did not verify that SOAT doesn’t pass to the new owner when you buy a used vehicle. Before calculating how much you can claim, confirm the UIT value for the year of the accident.

If you’re buying the vehicle

SOAT insurance does not automatically transfer to a new owner when you buy a used vehicle: you need to take out a new policy in your own name. Check our guide on what to check and what warranties apply when buying a used car for more on liens, pending fines, and the sales contract.