Your California Auto Insurance Policy and Your Mexican Vacation

One of the greatest things about living in California, especially southern California, is that you're so close to Mexico you can drive over for a day trip to any of their border towns and drive back the same day! (All right, so that doesn't work so well when you're up near Washington. California's a big state, and we're talking in generalities here. Just go with it for a minute.) The upside is, you're practically guaranteed a fantastic day of fun in the sun.

The downside? You can't take your California auto insurance with you.

Most people expect to have to change their auto insurance options when they move to another state or jump the border into Canada or Mexico for an extended stay. What they don't usually realize is that their insurance policy is going to leave them unprotected just for taking an afternoon to go shopping in Tijuana!

The catch is, while your California auto insurance company would probably happily cover you while you're down in Mexico the locals aren't having any of it. Your insurance is no good at most of the auto repair shops south of the border, which can be bad news if you bang up your car and even worse news if you manage to total someone else's! That kind of damage can get really expensive, really fast.

And then there's the little matter of the ticket and possible jail sentence you're going to be treated to from local law enforcement for driving uninsured. Yes, Mexico is tougher on driving without insurance than the United States. What's worse, there's a reason that Tijuana jails have the reputation they do. Many Mexican officials have a tendency to find Americans guilty until proven innocent instead of the other way around. That can get nasty really, really quickly when you're talking about a jail sentence for driving uninsured.

You really don't want to go there.

Fortunately, picking up a Mexican auto insurance policy to cover you for the duration of your Mexican vacation is a lot easier than you might think. There are many, many companies that work with insurance carriers across the border to provide short term policies from a day to six months for American tourists traveling into the country. Your California auto insurance agent ought to be able to refer you to a trustworthy one who'll set you up with a good policy without charging you an arm and a leg for finding it first!

If you're not sure if the company you're working with is legit or not, check out their record with the BBB (since most of these organizations are American based they have to be there somewhere) and make sure the policy they're trying to sell you meets Mexican requirements. Mexico requires all drivers to be insured up to $20,000 per incident, which isn't that much in the grand scheme of things; however, to be on the safe side most Californians choose to go with a minimum of $50,000 or more to make sure their vacation isn't ruined by finding out they're underinsured when disaster strikes. (This is where most reputable insurance dealers will start you out.)

Mexico is a great place to visit, and as long as you're conscientious about making sure your auto insurance is in line each and every time you go you should be able to have a fantastic, worry-free time enjoying the sights and sounds of life south of the border.