Mexican Auto Insurance: Don't Go to Jail Because You Have The Wrong Type

Paper generated policies are issued the old fashioned way by insurance salesmen usually in small neighborhood offices and sent to Mexico using the snail mail approach.

Basically, an insurance agent will manually fill out all of the paperwork, make a trip to the post office, and then send your policy to Mexico. In an attempt to cut costs, it is not uncommon to see numerous agents waiting to mail policies until they have accumulated a total of five or six. This means that your policy could be waiting for a couple of days before it is sent out in the mail.

Then there is getting through customs and to Mexico City to one of the major insurers there. Once received, the policies are then processed and entered one at a time into a database connected to a master computer.

What will happen if you have an accident during a weekend trip when nearly all insurance agents are unavailable and the ONLY establishment that will react is your insurance company?

In the US and Canada the law is administered following English Common Law. In Mexico the law is administered based on the Napoleonic Code.Overall, this means that in Mexico, you are seen as guilty until you can prove your innocence. This technically means that as a traffic accident is considered a felony, the police will stop you from leaving until you are able to show proof of a valid Mexican insurance policy. You may also pay for the damages you have caused by instantly paying with cash or other means.

Unfortunately, the policies of the United States and Canada are not honored in Mexico. The importance of your insurer to confirm your coverage in a quick manner is vital, as the Mexican police will hold you and possibly confiscate your vehicle until you provide evidence that you can pay for any damages they say you have caused.

Electronically generated policies are made available to insurance company claims personnel 24 hours a day and can be downloaded into their verification systems in minutes. This allows for quicker response & verification time while you are on the road.

Author Linden Gray is an international insurance veteran with over 29 years of retail & direct insurance experience. Mr. Gray has been featured in many publications including RV Magazine, The Press Enterprise, PE.com, Google and Yahoo News and Digg. Visit his website here: mexican auto insurance.