How to handle car insurance when driving a car around Central America?

How to handle car insurance when driving a car around Central America? - Shiny yellow taxi driving along busy street in downtown

Assume a French citizen and US legal permanent resident with no special visa, work permit, or residence in Central America, wishing to drive a car around the 7 countries of Central America for 1 or several weeks. Assume that there is no COVID-19 pandemic.

How to handle car insurance when driving around Central America? E.g., should the traveler obtain car insurance that is valid for the entire Central America, or instead obtain car insurance for each of the seven countries? If the latter, can the insurance be obtained when entering a new country, or should it be required ahead of time? If the latter, is there any way to conveniently subscribe to multiple car insurances at once (1 insurance/country)?


Response to comments:

  • It takes only 30h to cross Central America when respecting the speed limit.
  • "Would this be your own car or a rental car? Would you also be driving through Mexico?": Most likely car rental starting from Central America as Mexico is a long drive (50h) + might remove my UV tints.





Pictures about "How to handle car insurance when driving a car around Central America?"

How to handle car insurance when driving a car around Central America? - Back view of man reflecting in mirror while driving along street in city on urban background in soft daylight
How to handle car insurance when driving a car around Central America? - Busy city street in tropical town at night
How to handle car insurance when driving a car around Central America? - Modern vehicles driving slowly with riding cyclist on busy road in city while people walking and sidewalk near old buildings



Does my car insurance cover me outside the US?

The short answer is, \u201cno.\u201d In general, the car insurance that you carry on your car in the U.S. will not work overseas because you are not driving the same car. Unless you plan to have your car shipped overseas, you will not have your car with you when you land in another country. You will be driving a rental car.

What do you do with car insurance when traveling abroad?

If you are going abroad for a year and want to avoid paying auto insurance during that time, you will need to cancel your vehicle registration. Some insurance companies will allow you to reduce your insurance costs temporarily while you are not driving a vehicle.

Is it safe to drive around Central America?

After spending more than six months in Central America, driving through eight countries (Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama), I can say, generally speaking, it's all relatively safe and sane. I would not consider our trip to be \u201ccrazy\u201d by any stretch of the imagination.

Does my US car insurance cover me in Mexico?

Does Your Car Insurance Cover You In Mexico? Most typical U.S. auto insurance policies will not cover Mexico. So, if you're heading south of the border, you'll need additional coverage for the family wagon. GEICO, for example, has partners that offer Mexico-specific policies for cars, RVs and motorcycles.



Vehicle Insurance to drive overland AROUND THE WORLD




Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Images: Tim Samuel, Tim Samuel, Maria Orlova, Vlad Fonsark