Mexico Auto Insurance Limits

There are some who still don’t know if you need to buy Mexico auto insurance when driving in Mexico. Well, you do. If you’re planning to drive into Mexico, it’s important to understand the insurance regulations. Most importantly, the minimum financial liability limits.

What are minimum financial responsibility limits?

Basically, each jurisdiction sets a threshold which is the minimum amount of liability insurance a driver must carry to be compliant with the laws or regulations of the state. If you are caught driving without evidence or proof of this form of liability insurance or have an accident without the proper coverage, there can be penalties. 

In the United States, we call these financial responsibility laws, it may be called something different in Mexico or other international destinations, but the principle remains the same. It is compulsory to buy and maintain a minimum amount of liability insurance if you intend to drive a car.

Drivers in the US are used to seeing this as the combination of bodily injury and property damage limits on their declarations page. The two of these coverages combine to form your liability insurance. Moreover, in the US, they are typically sold as a “split limit” for bodily injury. A split limit means there is a limit per person injured in an accident and a limit for the total value that can be paid for any single accident. Property damage is displayed separately as a single limit value. While consumers in the US can purchase a combined limit called a Combined Single Limit (‘CSL’), it is not common.

Just like the various states in the US, Mexico also has a form of minimum financial responsibility limit.

What are the limits in Mexico?

Mexico auto insurance limits are done a bit differently in Mexico, and this applies to the determination of the minimum liability limits too.

Unlike in the US where the limit is prescribed (eg. California =$15,000/$30,000 for Bodily Injury and $5,000 for Property Damage), in Mexico the minimum is a calculation:

5,000 Days  X  Local Minimum Wage = Minimum Liability Limit

This means that the minimum is an estimated $300,000 and is sold as a combined single limit that includes both bodily injury and property damage.

Get answers to more Mexico auto insurance FAQs.