Mexican Auto Insurance On-Line?

[mr bill]

One of my priorities on returning to Mexico after four months in Thailand was to finally insure my car. My new conservatism I guess since I'll soon be a father of twins. Of course I'm totally spooked about insurance - will it cause an accident? I've been doing fine all these years without it. I looked into policies offered by through the banks and looked on-line. On the web I looked at various broker sites which quote several companies at once and then cross-checked with the companies directly. I had some questions so I wrote one broker who did not reply after 48 hours - well no business for him. On another site http://www.siseguros.com.mx/inicio.htm I was satisfied with the information given and had selected the policy I wanted to purchase. I could see no on-line payment section. I tried the 24/7 chat and was attended to within 1-2 minutes. The agent brought up my quote and said she could take my details via the chat window. We ran into a snag: US issued credit cards were not accepted. Mexican issued debit cards were not accepted. I ended the chat. Waiting in my e-mail was a message from a supervisor with a form to fill out. I filed the form but omitted payment info based on what I had learned above. I returned the e-mail. Ten minutes later I received a phone call from the supervisor and was told I could pay at most of the local banks. I was then asked what date I wanted the policy to begin on and the call ended. Ten minutes later a Letter of Cover was sent in a .PDF file. The next day the policy pages came along with a payment coupon to take to the bank. in less than 72 hrs from the start of the process Estafeta had delivered the physical policy from ABA Seguros [a GMAC company] For identical coverage from ABA the policy sold via SiSeguros was 19% less than if I had purchased it from ABA directly.

[doncoulter]

I'm curious to know about costs. I've been insuring with Lloyd (in San Miguel) for several years; the policy comes from Genworth Seguros. I have collision, theft, and 1,000,000-peso liability coverages, and I pay about 4,500 pesos annually. Although I've never had a claim, I understand Lloyd to be reliable. How does my premium compare with what you're paying?

[mr bill]

Don, from what you write it sounds like you have "Amplia" which includes collision damage to your own vehicle. I have "Limitada" What you'd need to do is go to the site with the info on your car and see what happens. It asks for name and e-mail but you can put in anything and still get a .pdf download in a few seconds. Genworth is not one of the companies they offer and I didn't see a public Genworth site on-line. Maybe they only sell through agents? I put my car back in under Amplia and got a range of prices from 3758 MN to 6875 MN from five companies. The most expensive coverage offered less than the other e.g. 800/200 on the two most important elements while the four other companies were offering upto 1000/400 for coverage 2500 or more pesos less. It pays to shop around. All the policy details are on-line.

[kasugie]

Genworth (GE Seguros) was acquired by HDI in 2009, probably during the time when GE's financial services unit was in big trouble. HDI Seguros' web site is
http://www.hdi.com.mx/interior_tin0.aspx?lang=0&id=24

My car was insured by Genworth, until I gave it away a couple of weeks ago. I obtained my insurance online through Mexpro http://www.mexpro.com/
Very smooth process, and their web site and newsletter offers timely advice as well.

I never filed a claim in the 3 1/2 years I was insured by GE Seguros, so I can't comment on their Claims service. But, like AAA, Geico, and big auto insurance companies, you dial an 800 number for Claims and other services, instead of an individual agent (a-la-State Farm). But, when you go with Genworth/HDI, you are not paying higher, State Farm level premiums for auto insurance. So, the trade-offs in Mexican auto insurance seem to be the same as the U.S. If you want a personal agent to battle for you, expect to pay more. If you want to save money, go with the big insurers and their 800 numbers.