Mexican Auto Insurance…

Problem With US-Purchased Mexican Policy & Vallarta-Purchased Policy Was Solution By Nelson Kelm

My wife and I moved to Puerto Vallarta in September 2013 to join the ExPat community here.  We intended to get Mexican license plates for our vehicle upon arrival.  Before moving I purchased Mexican auto insurance on the web.  It should be noted that your normal auto insurance purchased north of the border will NOT cover your vehicle or liability in Mexico.  In Mexico you ARE guilty until proven innocent (Napoleonic code).  If you are involved in a serious accident you will likely end up in jail if you do not have insurance.

I went to a web site, www.mexicoonmymind.com. They are a great site for info on Mexico, BUT the link they provide to an insurance company, Mexpro.com (apparently a sister company) does not provide important information.  I purchased a one year policy for $499 US.  I finally got the Mexican plates on November 15^th.  It was a long, tedious procedure.  I finally hired an “agent” to help me with it.  It took him several days to complete the job.  The Mexican government requires unbelievable red tape for most things.  An American I met at the government motor vehicle office mentioned, in passing, that my “tourist insurance” would become invalid once I got the plates.  I checked with the underwriter and found this to be true.  I was only able to use my one year policy for 2 months and lost most of my premium.  They do not offer refunds after 15 days.  Most of the policies that travelers purchase though American companies like Sanborn, Mexpro and others is “tourist insurance”.  Nowhere on these web sites is it clearly spelled out that it will not cover Mexican plated vehicles.

So I went to a sponsor of this website www.expatsinvallarta.com, Mariners Insurance (now Novamar Insurance), and got a policy for under $400 US that also covers me in the USA and Canada.  The agent was polite, spoke English and provided a binder within one hour.

Before purchasing a Mexican vehicle insurance policy I would suggest inquiring if the offered policy will cover Mexican plated vehicles.  Also, even if you are not intending to acquire Mexican plates, you can get a less expensive policy with international coverage if you buy from a Mexican agent/company.