| Pages:
1
2 |
Ken Cooke
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8970
Registered: 2-9-2004
Location: Riverside, CA
Member Is Offline
Mood: Pole Line Road postponed due to injury
|
|
Insurance and Tourist Visas in Baja - Are they worth it?
I'm starting to wonder after so many situations - Is Insurance in Baja really necessary (other than vehicular theft) when Police demand their bribes
to be paid at the scene, Visas never get checked, hotlines sometimes don't work, etc.
Does the system justify the costs?
-Ken
|
|
|
DENNIS
Platinum Nomad
Posts: 29510
Registered: 9-2-2006
Location: Punta Banda
Member Is Offline
|
|
If you get into a wreck, you'll find out....especially if another party is hurt.
|
|
|
Ken Cooke
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8970
Registered: 2-9-2004
Location: Riverside, CA
Member Is Offline
Mood: Pole Line Road postponed due to injury
|
|
| Quote: | Originally posted by DENNIS
If you get into a wreck, you'll find out....especially if another party is hurt. |
Been there, done that. The owner of the Bus complained of a 'Stiff neck', he got paid. The Police all wanted their cut. Nothing was written down,
nor cited. I towed the offending vehicle as if nothing happened until we stumbled upon the next group of officers who then wanted their cut.
|
|
|
KasloKid
Nomad
Posts: 326
Registered: 8-29-2009
Member Is Offline
|
|
I figure that it's required to enter my country, so it's only right to meet the requirements of another country to enter it. Period.
|
|
|
Ken Cooke
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8970
Registered: 2-9-2004
Location: Riverside, CA
Member Is Offline
Mood: Pole Line Road postponed due to injury
|
|
When my 4x4 group traveled south into BCS w/o Tourist Visas, we could have continued south, instead, we turned north into BCN for gas and supplies.
Dirt roads sometimes do the trick.
|
|
|
Ken Cooke
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8970
Registered: 2-9-2004
Location: Riverside, CA
Member Is Offline
Mood: Pole Line Road postponed due to injury
|
|
Inflation hurts...OUCH!
| Quote: | Originally posted by KasloKid
I figure that it's required to enter my country, so it's only right to meet the requirements of another country to enter it. Period.
|
I bought a Full-Coverage policy for $120 for 1 week along with a $40 Club membership because I couldn't afford $450 worth of coverage for 1 year on my
2003 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon.
That same policy 3 years ago (2007) cost me $220 through Instant Mexico Insurance. The price has doubled, and then some, cutting my fun short in the
process.
|
|
|
DENNIS
Platinum Nomad
Posts: 29510
Registered: 9-2-2006
Location: Punta Banda
Member Is Offline
|
|
| Quote: | Originally posted by KasloKid
I figure that it's required to enter my country, so it's only right to meet the requirements of another country to enter it. Period.
|
Insurance isn't required. Only suggested.
|
|
|
KasloKid
Nomad
Posts: 326
Registered: 8-29-2009
Member Is Offline
|
|
Hmm, I was told by a Mexican border official that insurance was required. Doing a quick search, I found this: "In Mexico, insurance is not mandatory,
however, it is mandatory that you demonstrate the ability to pay for damages caused in an accident. You can demonstrate ability to pay with either
cash or insurance"
I think I'd rather have the insurance than trying to prove with cash that I have the ability to pay 
My feeling on the visa required is a valid point. No?
|
|
|
Ken Cooke
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8970
Registered: 2-9-2004
Location: Riverside, CA
Member Is Offline
Mood: Pole Line Road postponed due to injury
|
|
| Quote: | Originally posted by DENNIS
| Quote: | Originally posted by KasloKid
I figure that it's required to enter my country, so it's only right to meet the requirements of another country to enter it. Period.
|
Insurance isn't required. Only suggested. |
Dennis - What are the requirements of entering Mexico?
|
|
|
monoloco
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6667
Registered: 7-13-2009
Location: Pescadero BCS
Member Is Offline
|
|
The insurance is worth having in case you get in an accident. Your odds of being asked for a visa are close to zero, and if you were asked and didn't
have it, I suspect that the consequences would not be great. Some might argue that your insurance would not be valid without it, but I have made two
claims against insurance companies and was never asked for immigration papers in either case.
|
|
|
KasloKid
Nomad
Posts: 326
Registered: 8-29-2009
Member Is Offline
|
|
| Quote: | Originally posted by monoloco
The insurance is worth having in case you get in an accident. Your odds of being asked for a visa are close to zero, and if you were asked and didn't
have it, I suspect that the consequences would not be great. Some might argue that your insurance would not be valid without it, but I have made two
claims against insurance companies and was never asked for immigration papers in either case. |
The bail bond addition to your vehicle insurance is what I make sure is added on.
I've talked to people who have been asked to produce their visa. Those who didn't have it were told to get in immediately, and had to pay a fine for
the days that they didn't have it (this was a few years back.) If you had to leave Mexico by air, you have to forfeit your visa. If you didn't have
one, then there might be some issues.
I still stand by my point that a person visiting my country without a visa is considered an illegal. The reverse should also stand. No?
|
|
|
DENNIS
Platinum Nomad
Posts: 29510
Registered: 9-2-2006
Location: Punta Banda
Member Is Offline
|
|
| Quote: | Originally posted by KasloKid
My feeling on the visa required is a valid point. No? |
Absolutly valid. I can't for the life of me understand why anyone would take the chance to be in a visa-required zone without one.
It's almost painless to get an FMM so why try to get around it? Saving the effort only leaves one vulnerable to the whims of a predator cop.
Be prepared for everything.
|
|
|
DENNIS
Platinum Nomad
Posts: 29510
Registered: 9-2-2006
Location: Punta Banda
Member Is Offline
|
|
| Quote: | Originally posted by Ken Cooke
Dennis - What are the requirements of entering Mexico? |
KasloKid pretty well summed that up, Ken. I have so much insurance on both sides of the border that I wouldn't know where to start if I needed it, but
I have peace of mind.
|
|
|
monoloco
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6667
Registered: 7-13-2009
Location: Pescadero BCS
Member Is Offline
|
|
I wasn't advocating not getting it, just my observation that the odds of having to produce it are pretty negligible.
|
|
|
Ken Cooke
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8970
Registered: 2-9-2004
Location: Riverside, CA
Member Is Offline
Mood: Pole Line Road postponed due to injury
|
|
| Quote: | Originally posted by monoloco
I wasn't advocating not getting it, just my observation that the odds of having to produce it are pretty negligible. |
I have purchased my insurance, and I have obtained my Tourist Visa - except in the case of traveling to El Arco and driving North on Hwy 1 without one
(big deal). Full Coverage on my Jeep Wrangler Rubicon plus Ravelco Ignition system plus Sentry (w/GPS) are all standard.
|
|
|
DENNIS
Platinum Nomad
Posts: 29510
Registered: 9-2-2006
Location: Punta Banda
Member Is Offline
|
|
| Quote: | Originally posted by monoloco
I wasn't advocating not getting it, just my observation that the odds of having to produce it are pretty negligible. |
I know what you mean. You could go a life time and never be asked although, I was once deported and had I been legal at the time, I wouldn't have been
asked to leave.
That wasn't the reason for the deportation....it just made it a lot easier to put me out.
|
|
|
Bajahowodd
Elite Nomad
Posts: 9274
Registered: 12-15-2008
Location: Disneyland Adjacent and anywhere in Baja
Member Is Offline
|
|
I think you guys have summed it up. Peace of mind and respect for the laws of a sovereign nation. If folks want to ignore that, they do at their own
peril.
I especially feel that given the kerfuffle in the states, especially in AZ, there is a heightened sensitivity in Mexico. Several years back, maybe no
one cared much. But traveling beyond the border zone without proper papers is akin to flipping the bird at our neighbor to the South. And the epitome
of hypocrisy.
|
|
|
DavidE
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3814
Registered: 12-1-2003
Location: Baja California México
Member Is Offline
Mood: 'At home we demand facts and get them. In Mexico one subsists on rumor and never demands anything.' Charles Flandrau,
|
|
Real case. Twelve year old boy runs out into the street and bounces off the side of a motorhome fully stopped for a red light. Cuts head, goes to
hospital. Cops come and arrest driver. He goes to the station with cops and the motorhome goes to a corralon via towtruck.
Family of young man demands eqvt. of five thousand US dollars cash. The couple had full insurance through a very reputable california surplus line
broker including legal aid package. The ministerio publico got involved. The insurance adjuster cut a check to the m.p. office for almost three
thousand dollars. The man was released but it took five days of wrangling by the adjuster to get the motorhome out of jail.
This occured in the state of Tabasco.
Come to your own conclusion...
|
|
|
Woooosh
Banned
Posts: 5240
Registered: 1-28-2007
Location: Rosarito Beach
Member Is Offline
Mood: Luminescent Waves at Rosarito Beach
|
|
| Quote: | Originally posted by DavidE
Real case. Twelve year old boy runs out into the street and bounces off the side of a motorhome fully stopped for a red light. Cuts head, goes to
hospital. Cops come and arrest driver. He goes to the station with cops and the motorhome goes to a corralon via towtruck.
Family of young man demands eqvt. of five thousand US dollars cash. The couple had full insurance through a very reputable california surplus line
broker including legal aid package. The ministerio publico got involved. The insurance adjuster cut a check to the m.p. office for almost three
thousand dollars. The man was released but it took five days of wrangling by the adjuster to get the motorhome out of jail.
This occured in the state of Tabasco.
Come to your own conclusion... |
It still beats the ambulance chasing lawyers NOB. The reality is most Mexicans don't have insurance- so the other person they hit doesn't have it
either. They work things out on their own. If they are lucky enough to hit a US plated car some will take your insurance company or you for all they
can quickly get. I'll bet that family sends their kids out to bounce off motorhomes every week now- what's the chance it's owned/driven by a Mexican?
Annual Mexican insurance isn't that much- it's the daily rates that get you.
\"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing\"
1961- JFK to Canadian parliament (Edmund Burke)
|
|
|
Ken Cooke
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8970
Registered: 2-9-2004
Location: Riverside, CA
Member Is Offline
Mood: Pole Line Road postponed due to injury
|
|
| Quote: | | Originally posted by WooooshAnnual Mexican insurance isn't that much- it's the daily rates that get you. |
In 3 years, for my particular vehicle, the Annual policy has risen 50%. I think that is outrageous.
|
|
|
| Pages:
1
2 |
![[*]](images/xmbforum/default_icon.gif){kind=icon}
