Spending the Holidays South of the Border? Make Sure You Pack Your Mexican Auto Insurance!
Mexico is a great place to spend the holiday season.
Between the fireworks, the tamales and the way everyone throws open their arms and welcomes you (metaphorically speaking) you're in for a once in a lifetime experience! Before you head south of border, however, make sure you've got your paperwork in order-including your Mexican auto insurance! Mexican auto insurance, you say? Most people don't realize it, but American auto insurance doesn't do you a whole lot of good once you're out of the states.
If you live in Texas, Arizona, California or New Mexico your insurance company might have cut a deal with certain border towns to make life a little easier for commuters who work in Mexico and live in the US, but most Mexican auto repair shops won't accept American insurance.
Why? They have their reasons.
It doesn't matter what those reasons are.
The long and the short of it is, you need to go pick up a Mexican auto insurance policy.
Preferably before you go.
Per Mexican law, American tourists (or any type of tourist, for that matter) coming into Mexico for the holiday season have to have what's known as a vacation auto insurance policy.
If you're not familiar with the term, vacation insurance is insurance issued by a Mexican insurance carrier for the duration of your vacation.
These policies usually come in daily, weekly or monthly increments up to 6 months.
If you're going to be hanging out in Mexico until May or June you're going to need to buy a regular insurance policy.
If you're not, however, a vacation policy is exactly what you need.
You have two choices when it comes to buying Mexican auto insurance: 1) You can ride your U.
S.
policy across the border, then stop and buy coverage from an insurance carrier in a border town.
There are hundreds of these little offices that exist almost solely to cater to tourists, and they make buying coverage a piece of cake.
Of course, when you buy coverage after you hit the border you're driving on faith until you get where you're going.
That's why most insurance carriers recommend that you...
2) Buy an insurance policy before you go.
You can make arrangements to purchase a Mexican auto insurance policy months before your vacation by working with your insurance carrier to contact one of three or four companies in the states that specialize in providing coverage on both sides of the border.
BestMex and BajaBound will put you in contact with companies like ACE Seguros to keep you as safe as possible when you travel across the border.
Christmas is supposed to be a time of joy and happiness, not miserably slogging through a mass of red tape because you were caught driving without auto insurance on your Mexican vacation.
Save yourself (and everyone else) a lot of trouble and get your policy before you ever put the key in the ignition.
From that point, all you have to worry about is how to say, "Feliz Navidad!"
Between the fireworks, the tamales and the way everyone throws open their arms and welcomes you (metaphorically speaking) you're in for a once in a lifetime experience! Before you head south of border, however, make sure you've got your paperwork in order-including your Mexican auto insurance! Mexican auto insurance, you say? Most people don't realize it, but American auto insurance doesn't do you a whole lot of good once you're out of the states.
If you live in Texas, Arizona, California or New Mexico your insurance company might have cut a deal with certain border towns to make life a little easier for commuters who work in Mexico and live in the US, but most Mexican auto repair shops won't accept American insurance.
Why? They have their reasons.
It doesn't matter what those reasons are.
The long and the short of it is, you need to go pick up a Mexican auto insurance policy.
Preferably before you go.
Per Mexican law, American tourists (or any type of tourist, for that matter) coming into Mexico for the holiday season have to have what's known as a vacation auto insurance policy.
If you're not familiar with the term, vacation insurance is insurance issued by a Mexican insurance carrier for the duration of your vacation.
These policies usually come in daily, weekly or monthly increments up to 6 months.
If you're going to be hanging out in Mexico until May or June you're going to need to buy a regular insurance policy.
If you're not, however, a vacation policy is exactly what you need.
You have two choices when it comes to buying Mexican auto insurance: 1) You can ride your U.
S.
policy across the border, then stop and buy coverage from an insurance carrier in a border town.
There are hundreds of these little offices that exist almost solely to cater to tourists, and they make buying coverage a piece of cake.
Of course, when you buy coverage after you hit the border you're driving on faith until you get where you're going.
That's why most insurance carriers recommend that you...
2) Buy an insurance policy before you go.
You can make arrangements to purchase a Mexican auto insurance policy months before your vacation by working with your insurance carrier to contact one of three or four companies in the states that specialize in providing coverage on both sides of the border.
BestMex and BajaBound will put you in contact with companies like ACE Seguros to keep you as safe as possible when you travel across the border.
Christmas is supposed to be a time of joy and happiness, not miserably slogging through a mass of red tape because you were caught driving without auto insurance on your Mexican vacation.
Save yourself (and everyone else) a lot of trouble and get your policy before you ever put the key in the ignition.
From that point, all you have to worry about is how to say, "Feliz Navidad!"
