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What Is The Difference Between United States And Mexican Car Insurance? |
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Written by Luisa Navarrete
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Saturday, 19 June 2010 07:23 |
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Everyone knows that the United States and Mexico have different legal systems, and because of these differences they also have different car insurance policies. I will try to outline some of the differences by type of insurance. Make sure that you don't make the mistake of imagining that this is a complete list because there are just way too many minor differences to list.
by LuisaNavarrete
Everyone knows that the United States and Mexico have different legal systems, and because of these differences they also have different car insurance policies. I will try to outline some of the differences by type of insurance. Make sure that you don't make the mistake of imagining that this is a complete list because there are just way too many minor differences to list.
Now the very first coverage that will be addressed is Liability insurance. Unlike the United States, Mexican civil law, which is defined by statute and not case history is what determines liability. Some people think that this is great and others hate it; you can decide for yourself whether or not you like it. Under Mexican statute there is not redress for pain and suffering or emotional distress and therefore no liability for it. That means that claims are usually paid under the "Property Damage to Others" coverage or the "Bodily Injury" coverage, and all of these claims are adjusted on an actual cash value (acv) basis.
Mexico is not nearly as litigious a society as is the US and because of this it is rare to have a claim in excess of one hundred thousand dollars. Property Damage to others can approach this limit, but it is rare to have a Bodily Injury claim that reaches this limit. By the way, this is completely contrary to the way that claims are settled in the United States.
If you have an "incident" in Mexico and a case is brought against you in the United States there will be no coverage for that claim under your Mexican insurance policy. Now, that might be obvious to some and not to others, but a liability insurance policy purchased from a Mexican insurer will only cover claims brought against you in Mexico.
Secondly, lets take a close look at car insurance. The various and sundry Mexican insurance companies offer quite a wide variety of rates, coverages, limits, and deductibles, and it only stands to reason that these are some of the things that you should pay attention to. The first thing is that you will always want a combined single limit coverage. Please do not accept coverage that offers a split limit because some insurance companies will reduce the amount payable in the event of a claim with the use of split limits. The standard used on a Mexican car policy is a combined single limit of one hundred thousand dollars. Once again, please stay away from split limits. Another very important coverage that many people don't consider is Legal Aid and Travel Assistance, sometimes these are listed as as additional coverages, but they are essential, and without both of these coverages you will be paying your own legal expenses until liability is determined.
Lastly, a Mexican car policy excludes both Vandalism and Partial Theft. In the United States policies are generally "all risk" policies, but Mexican policies are "named perils" policies. These policies provide coverage for collision, fire, total theft, some natural occurrences, and other perils. In the United States we are used to a fixed deductible, but Mexican car polices will often have a deductible as a percentage of the value of the car insured.
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