Over the colder winter months, tourists regularly head south, but their personal policies may not cover them.
Driving from the United States of America down south to the United Mexican States is a very common occurrence when a little bit of warmer weather is desired during the winter months, but many Americans don’t know that they will need a special auto insurance policy in order to be able to stay behind the wheel once they’ve crossed the border.
A car insurance policy based in the U.S. will not be accepted in Mexico should the driver be involved in an accident.
This makes it very important for American tourists who are headed across the border and who intend to drive while they are there to investigate the auto insurance requirements and to make sure that they have what they need. The problems that have been arising as a result of those who had not been aware of their lack of coverage through their American policies have been very unfortunate. The reason is that any accident that is more severe than the most minor of fender benders requires that the police become involved. Without proof of the ability of the ability to pay for any damage that may have been done to another person’s property or for the injuries that were caused, there can be severe ramifications which could even include spending time in jail.
It is not unheard of for American travelers with only U.S. auto insurance to spend a night or two in jail after a crash.
A Mexican car insurance policy is a requirement regardless of the type of coverage that has already been purchased back home in the United States. That said, plans for monthly, weekly, or even daily coverage have been made available to tourists from the U.S. and they are typically quite inexpensive. The key is in knowing that they are actually required and to take the step to purchase them, which all too many tourists have been failing to do.
There are a number of ways to find the necessary auto insurance coverage for driving in Mexico as a tourist. There are some American brokers that will sell Mexican policies, the coverage can be purchased directly through a Mexican insurance company, or the coverage may be also be available to some travelers through certain clubs and other types of membership program to which they happen to belong.
