cncdickson Posted October 20, 2015 Report Share Posted October 20, 2015 We are planning to travel to Puerto Penesco, Mexico in December. We figured that this would be a good introductory trip to traveling in Mexico. I recently am seeing things about needed to purchase special insurance for Mexico. Can anyone tell me what kind of coverage I need, how much I should expect to pay (class A towing a VW Jetta on 2-wheel dolly) and where the best place to purchase the insurance is? Also, if we think we will be going back in to Mexico in the next year, would we be better off purchasing a one year policy or just purchasing a short-term policy each time? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mocroc Posted October 20, 2015 Report Share Posted October 20, 2015 You are required to have / purchase Mexico Liabililty Insurance from a Mexican Company. A couple of USA Insurance Companies include / offer Mexico Comp & Collision (Progressive & Nationwide are a couple) but highly recommend purchasing from Mexican Company if you do not have coverage by your USA company. There are many agents to be found on the net but all resale the coverage of just a Couple of Mexican Companies. Most important you have an agent that will come to bat for you should anything happen. There are several good one but the one we use is Lewis & Lewis, http://www.mexicanautoinsurance.com/ Purchase online and when you print out the policy, do so in both English and Spanish. Should something happen, the local LEO will want the Spanish version. You can get the cost of days, week, 6 months and yearly. The cost becomes much cheaper with time so we always purchase by the year. Cost depends on the value you place on your rig. The higher the dollar amount the higher the cost. You can change the value of coverage on Lewis & Lewis site and see the cost difference. This is another site where you can get more info, http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/listings/forum/66.cfm Rocky Point is a good first time. rocmoc n AZ/Mexico Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justRich Posted October 21, 2015 Report Share Posted October 21, 2015 Hopefully, Escapee's forum member Telcoman will step in with current information. He run's commercial caravan's into Mexico (he's there now). His website has some good insurance information: http://www.mexicorvbuddies.com/insurance.php Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
telcoman Posted October 28, 2015 Report Share Posted October 28, 2015 Yes I am here. Lots of research on my part and i recommend Lewis & Lewis which happens to be the one recommended by Mocroc above. The reason? It is one of only 2 companies that will cover US Labor rates for RV repairs. That amounts to about $125 an hour. Nearly all other mexican insurance companies only cover up to $75 an hour. Our Wagon master found this out last spring the hard way. Jim lewis is also very approachable. Rocky Point is a good introduction to RVing in Mexico. It is still not the real Mexico, for that you need to venture further south either on your own or in a caravan like I lead. Apart from the hassles with paperwork and dealing with another language, don't beleive the scare tactics. Mexico is a great place to RV. Look out for my article in the December issue of Trailer Life on the subject Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KRum Posted October 28, 2015 Report Share Posted October 28, 2015 Check out this blog... Kevin &!Ruth are presently on their way thru Mexico... http://www.travelwithkevinandruth.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FULLTIMEWANABE Posted October 28, 2015 Report Share Posted October 28, 2015 Second Kevin and Ruth (FT Canadian RVers) who seem to travel the world on a very very low budget. Believe IIRC they've covered all states down there except for two which they plan to complete on this trip and have been visiting Mexico for about 6 years. With the current exchange rate being a third more to the detriment of Canadian Snowbirds going south this year, we are hearing from many telling us they intend to hang out in Mexico this upcoming winter and/or LTVA in AZ, NV & CA on the west. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justRich Posted October 29, 2015 Report Share Posted October 29, 2015 Check out this blog... Kevin &!Ruth are presently on their way thru Mexico... http://www.travelwithkevinandruth.com Great blog! Thanks for that. But I couldn't find anything about insurance and the search feature wasn't working. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KRum Posted October 29, 2015 Report Share Posted October 29, 2015 Somewhere they talk about insurance... I think they paid $179 for 6 months... It may have been on their Facebook page... https://www.facebook.com/TravelwithKevinAndRuth/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KRum Posted October 29, 2015 Report Share Posted October 29, 2015 Here is their talk of Insurance... http://www.travelwithkevinandruth.com/2015/10/boondocking-night-13if-you-dont-ask-you.html They bought it online for $179 "Got online and bought our Mexican motorhome insurance. There are many online providers, but I've been using http://www.mexadventure.com/ the last couple of years. Cost this year was $179 USD ($238 CAD) for six months" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mocroc Posted October 29, 2015 Report Share Posted October 29, 2015 Becareful going with the cheapest Insurance. Mexican courts upped the amount a person can be held responsible for a couple of years ago but Mexican Insurance Companies, Resellers and Agents still sell policies with very low coverage CHEAP. I would not go South Of the Border (SOB) without less than $300,000 USD coverage. Always your choices as I think you can buy min coverage $40,000 and bear the risk. The Court System & Lawyers SOB are following the lead of the USA Courts & Lawyers and looking for a cash cow should an accident happen. Also a Tip: You can now leave an accident site until LOE & the Mexican Insurance Company's Reps have arrived and say you can. Most importantly the Insurance Reps as the LOE may say it is OK but the Insurance Reps have finally say when Insurance is involved. You also can not remove the vechile from Mexico again until the Insurance Company says you can and ALWAY everything in writing. Remember Mexico does not have English Common Law where you are Innocent until proven Quilty. In Mexico your are assumed Quilty and must prove your Innocent. Please, If someone know bette correct me. This is and has been my understanding for years! Remember the more an Insurance Company has at risk, the more they will fight for you. rocmoc n AZ/Mexico Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
telcoman Posted October 29, 2015 Report Share Posted October 29, 2015 Last spring our wagon master as in an accident. That is where we found out the hard way that all Mexican insuance companies, EXCEPT Qualitus & HDI Seguros only cover either $38 or $75 an hour labor rates for repaisr in the uS or Canada. You cannot get RV repairs done in mexico and rates in the US & Canada are about $125 an hour. It cost our wagon master about $4000 in extra repair costs. (he did $24 k worth of damage to his toy hauler which was worth over 40K). Qualitus has unlimited coverage (Lewis & Lewis) as does HDI seguros. Qualitus has a fixed $500 deductable, HDI works on a percentage so for expenesive rigs your deductable with HDI can be quite high. You get what you pay for. If your rig is not that expensive or it is of a type where damage will be normal body work, not specialized RV work, then it is not an issue. Many of our customers get their insurance through Vagabundos with whom we are partnered as they get a discount. However if labor rates are a big concern, I advise using Qualitus. You need to closely look at your own RV and decide what it is important. Rember most companies will not wirte a vehicle off unless the damage is over 60% of its value. The newwer the rig the less likely it will reach that threshold. An older rig is more ikeley to be wrtten off, so labor rates are not a factor. Also as RocMoc mentioned, make sure you get at least 300k liability, preferably 500K. Make sure the company will send an English speaking adjuster quickly and do not move the vehicle until the police attend. Consider a dash cam. You can stash it if you have an accident. Make sure the adjuster gets the video if its not your fault. One advantage of Qualitus is they have adjusters all over the country. With one accident I did witness which was in Mazamitla, a relatively remote community, the adjuster was there in 30 minutes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reed and elaine Posted November 7, 2015 Report Share Posted November 7, 2015 We spent three winters in Yucatan and plan to do this again starting in 4 weeks. We found twice as many Canadians down there RV'ing as US gringos. There were as many from France as there were US. Gringos seem to go down to Baja and West Coast of Mexico. We had total destruction of our rig two and half years ago between Vera Cruz and Puebla in a 70 car pileup. GNP (Grupo Nacional Provincia) eventuallly paid off in full less $1500 deductible (out of $80,000 US insured) but it took over a year to get the checks. It has taken us until last week to begin to clear the cancellation of the Temporary Import License. We finaly went down to the Aduana (customs) office at Cordoba Bridge across the bridge in Juarez and the woman there was extremely helpful and wrote up paperwork but said it will take 3 months. If only going to Puerto Penasco, and you have a catastrophic wreck, it might be simpler to ship wreckage to US. As several have noted on this thread, make sure you have full coverage from a very reputable company and adjuster. Reed and Elaine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
telcoman Posted November 8, 2015 Report Share Posted November 8, 2015 THis is one reason we are recommending lewis & Lewis. I have heard little negative about them. BTW I just visited the mummy museum in guanajuato today for the first time. Very cool. See my blog at http://www.mexicorvbuddies.com/Fall2015a.php for some photos Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mocroc Posted November 8, 2015 Report Share Posted November 8, 2015 The City of Guanajuato is one of our favorites. rocmoc n AZ/Mexico Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theeyres Posted November 11, 2015 Report Share Posted November 11, 2015 If you plan to go to Rocky Point for only a few days, check out not taking your toad. That really adds to your insurance cost. Taxi's are very cheap and it is really much easier to let them haul you around. That tow car will double (or more) your insurance costs. Rocky Point may not be the "real" Mexico but it is a great introduction and a place we go every year just to be able to camp by the sea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moisheh Posted November 11, 2015 Report Share Posted November 11, 2015 We use Lewis and Lewis on our cars. Our US motorhome had Progressive. They cover collision in Mexico but all repairs are done in the USA. If the vehicle is disabled they will tow it to the USA. Has anyone had heir vehicle repaired in the USA but insured by Qualitas. Who does the estimate? What happens if they discover hidden damage after the work has started? Moisheh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
telcoman Posted November 11, 2015 Report Share Posted November 11, 2015 I do not know. I have built up a very good working relationship with Jim Lewis over the last year and have managed to get him business from both our caravan company & the Quebec caravans. Since we are partnered with Vagabundos del Mar we do recommend their insurance as it is cheaper for our participants, however for those who do not want a $75 an hour labor cap, we are recommending L & L as an option. I like the fact Jim is very approachable, and speaking for our groups and the Quebec ones, with the amount of business we have pumped him, he is likely to be more than willing to go to bat. I have heard no negatives about him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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