How much is car insurance in Mexico?
Oscar Hererra - SimplePay
Car insurance for basic liability (no collision coverage) in Mexico is only about US $40 to $50 per month. If you want to protect yourself with full coverage, it would cost around $100 to $120 per month, depending on what car you have. I personally do not have insurance on my cars. In Mexico, one is not obligated by law to have car insurance so most people do not have it. In Mexico there are old cars so people just take the risk.
Car insurance for basic liability (no collision coverage) in Mexico is only about US $40 to $50 per month. If you want to protect yourself with full coverage, it would cost around $100 to $120 per month, depending on what car you have. I personally do not have insurance on my cars. In Mexico, one is not obligated by law to have car insurance so most people do not have it. In Mexico there are old cars so people just take the risk.
I was a fender bender a couple of months ago. When something like this happens, the way you solve that kind of situation in Mexico is right on the spot. If the guilty driver doesn’t have car insurance, he would come up with a certain amount to fix the damage. Collision repairs are cheaper in Mexico. It is nothing like in the States. If a bumper is completely cracked because of a crash but there is no major damage to the car, you can fix it for less than $100. That is why people tend not to have insurance because usually it is cheaper to pay those repairs when they happen than to pay every month on insurance.
With regard to liability, Mexicans are typically not worried about the fact that the other person can sue them for a large amount of money if they are at fault in a car accident. Personally, I am not worried because it is our culture as Mexicans to be good drivers so it doesn’t really cross my mind. If an expat in Mexico is on the concerned side, then $40 to $50 per month should handle the liability part.
(Mexican Federal Highway with sign to San Diego, CA, pictured.)
Posted November 3, 2015
Michael Keller - Guardian Insurance Mexico
For a Mexican-plated vehicle, the cost of car insurance varies depending on the state in which you’re located, the value of the vehicle, and the type of coverage that you want.For example, for a regular coverage policy, in the Puerto Vallarta area, for a Mexican plated vehicle, insurance costs between 3,000 pesos (US $170) and 9,000 pesos (US $500) a year. That’s the average. That’s not really bad at all. The snowbirds that come down here for only 6 months...
For a Mexican-plated vehicle, the cost of car insurance varies depending on the state in which you’re located, the value of the vehicle, and the type of coverage that you want.For example, for a regular coverage policy, in the Puerto Vallarta area, for a Mexican plated vehicle, insurance costs between 3,000 pesos (US $170) and 9,000 pesos (US $500) a year. That’s the average. That’s not really bad at all. The snowbirds that come down here for only 6 months out of the year pay for their car insurance on a semi-annual basis and the ones who stay here for only 3 months usually get it on a quarterly basis.
To obtain the amount of a car insurance premium, we get the VIN (Vehicle Identification Number) and once we put that in, the computer calculates the value of the vehicle. If the value of the vehicle is 250,000 pesos (US $14,000), insurance would be around 8,000 to 9,000 pesos (US $450 to US $500) a year. If the value of the car is around 65,000 pesos (US $3,500) then the premium drops to around 2,000 pesos ($120) a year.
In Mexico, you’re insuring the vehicle and not the driver. So as long as the vehicle is insured, the person driving it is of driving age, and not drunk or anything like that, they have coverage. Anyone can drive your vehicle as long as they’re of driving age. The liability comes included in the full policy. It’s pretty similar to the US. You get material damages to your own vehicle, theft to you your own vehicle, and third party liability, which will cover you from damages done to other property or injuries caused to other people. That coverage, at the least, is required by Mexican law even though a lot of people down here don’t drive with that, it is required to at least have liability.
The amount of liability coverage required varies by state. For for Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, and Nayarit, you usually get between 3 million pesos (US $170,000) and 4 million pesos (US $225,000) in liability. Roadside assistance, legal assistance, medical expenses for the driver and the occupants of the vehicle all come included in standard and full coverage policies.
A lot of people ask about Uninsured Motorist Coverage. The way it works down here in Mexico is that if someone hits you and they have insurance, their insurance will cover it. If someone hits you and they didn’t have insurance, then your insurance would jump in and cover it but you would just have to pay the deductible, which is a standard of 5% of the total vehicle value for material damages. There is an option that you could add on to your policy for an extra cost that would eliminate the deductible in those types of situations so you don’t have to pay anything. But there really is nothing considered “Uninsured Motorist Coverage” down here because your insurance will cover you if the person that hits you doesn’t have insurance. Let’s say someone hits you and they were not insured, and you have to go to the hospital. In this case, your insurance will jump in and cover you under the medical expenses for the driver or occupants of the vehicle.
We also have policies for vehicles that are not Mexican-plated. Instead of using the VIN, all we need to get is the vehicle value from the person. As long as the value of the vehicle is not excessively overstated, whatever they are comfortable getting reimbursed for is the amount that we put in the event that the vehicle was stolen or declared a total loss in a collision. That will determine the premium of the policy as well. The annual premium for a US-plated cars is between US $200 and $500, depending on the cost of the vehicle.
We can provide you with car insurance for a set amount of days. A lot of times, a 6-month policy is cheaper than getting it for 2 weeks or 2 months. We also have to make sure that if you are driving in Mexico with a foreign-plated vehicle, you have to bring your foreign driver’s license as well. The average premium for a Mexican-plated vehicle is 6,000 pesos (US $340) and the average premium for a US-plated vehicle is $300, so the price is pretty similar.
(Surfer camping van in Yucatan, Mexico, pictured.)
Posted March 6, 2016
Marvin Golden
Car insurance in Mexico has gone up recently because the coverage for accidents and for personal injury has gone up to about 3 million pesos (about US $160,000). Sometimes the cost of car insurance depends on the car. Personally speaking, we only have six cars! We have cars for our employees, my wife and I each have a car, and we have a spare car. Most of our cars are worth in the US $3,000 to $5,000 range and the insurance costs about $300 per year each. My car is a $16,000 model...Car insurance in Mexico has gone up recently because the coverage for accidents and for personal injury has gone up to about 3 million pesos (about US $160,000). Sometimes the cost of car insurance depends on the car. Personally speaking, we only have six cars! We have cars for our employees, my wife and I each have a car, and we have a spare car. Most of our cars are worth in the US $3,000 to $5,000 range and the insurance costs about $300 per year each. My car is a $16,000 model year 2014 car and in 2016, insurance for it costs $600 per year. The last accident I had on the road was when I was at the stoplight in front of Soriana in Chapala and there were a couple of young guys in an old pick-up who hit the back of my car. I got out and looked at the trunk of my car, lifted it up and shut it and saw that it was okay, though there was a part that was bent. Their radiator has been punctured and the water was all over the road but the whole front of the truck was smashed in because it was so old. They were standing on the curb of the road frantically trying to call their father. I had appointments and I knew that if I had to wait for the police and for the insurance, it would be there for 3 to 4 hours so I said, “I’m fine,” and I went on my way.
(Home on two acres with covered parking for four cars 15 minutes outside of Lake Chapala, Mexico, pictured.)
Posted October 31, 2016
Iona Chamberlin - Hacienda San Pedro Nohpat
Car insurance is Mexico costs about $100 or less a month. Our car insurance costs less because we have an older car. We pay $75 a month, maybe less, and that’s for full comprehensive coverage. Car insurance in Mexico is the same no-fault insurance as in Canada. The same car in Canada would cost double to put plates on and insure. (Cars on a crowded street in Mexico, pictured.)
Car insurance is Mexico costs about $100 or less a month. Our car insurance costs less because we have an older car. We pay $75 a month, maybe less, and that’s for full comprehensive coverage. Car insurance in Mexico is the same no-fault insurance as in Canada. The same car in Canada would cost double to put plates on and insure. (Cars on a crowded street in Mexico, pictured.)
Posted March 7, 2017
Dan Dathe
Although many variables determine insurance premium in Mexico, insurance costs as a whole are significantly lower that assessed in the U.S. for comparable vehicles. Mexico and many states now require minimum levels of liability insurance coverage. Multiple online resources are available to provide a quote.
Although many variables determine insurance premium in Mexico, insurance costs as a whole are significantly lower that assessed in the U.S. for comparable vehicles. Mexico and many states now require minimum levels of liability insurance coverage. Multiple online resources are available to provide a quote.
Posted April 4, 2018
Cathie Smith LoCicero - Cathie Smith Insurance
I’m an insurance professional & have passed all the requirements & exams to be licensed in CA, WA, AZ, & the entire country of Mexico. In the past, Mexican law did not require you to carry liability insurance, they only required you to be Financially responsible in the event that you caused bodily injury or property damage to a third-party. A new law as of January 2019, requires that all vehicles on Federal highways must carry liability insurance....
I’m an insurance professional & have passed all the requirements & exams to be licensed in CA, WA, AZ, & the entire country of Mexico. In the past, Mexican law did not require you to carry liability insurance, they only required you to be Financially responsible in the event that you caused bodily injury or property damage to a third-party. A new law as of January 2019, requires that all vehicles on Federal highways must carry liability insurance. Most foreign visitors & Expats in Mexico are prudent enough to insure their vehicles while driving in Mexico already, & it has been the Mexican drivers themselves that have not been so concerned about carrying insurance, so this new law is a total game changer.
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Contact me for all types of insurance options but if you loan your US or Canadian vehicle to another NON-MEXICAN licensed person and they have an accident, yes, as long as they are driving with your permission & over 21 (unless you have added coverage for minors to your policy), they are covered. But what if you were renting them a property and include your vehicle? Make your rental agreement very specific that they are paying to rent your property, and you are LOANING them in your vehicle at no charge! If they tell the police investigating the accident that they have rented your vehicle, that makes that vehicle business use and your personal insurance policy does not pay! Or if you are elsewhere, YOU will still have to handle the claims process! Have them get their own DRIVERS LICENSE liability insurance policy from me or from any agent, but protect yourself!
Posted January 7, 2019