Mexican courts have increased accident maximum liability amount

Jim Labelle, CEO for Arizona-based International Insurance Group explains these new changes, “Historically, the Mexico courts have limited the maximum damage award for a negligent accident which caused a fatality to 750 days multiplied by the daily Mexico minimum wage, which in effect came to about $50,000 US dollars. This recent change now increases the maximum damage award to 5,000 days multiplied by the daily Mexico minimum wage, or roughly $300,000 US dollars”....> Make sure your MX insurance is upgraded accordingly

Rolly:

Do you know if that has been implemented already or is there an effective date? I just checked the "highway robbery" Supplemental Liability Inusrance on my reserved rental car and it has a $75KUSD limit.

Numbers don´t add up, daily minimum wage is $64.76 so 5,000 days is $323,800 pesos. I recall elsewhere that to indemnify a killed worker it could be up to 3 million pesos, maybe that is where they get their 300,000 figure.

I read about it being due to changes in the labor law and some inconsistency with Jalisco law but haven´t seen any news stories lately.

Am I missing something? Mayphre has me at $300,000 liability insurance since 2004........is there something else to increase?

Jim:

Any of the insurance companies that sell to Gringos know that $300K is a common acceptable limit NOB - so they sell us what we are comfortable with. When we were still driving down, that is the limit I was hooked for. So please don't feel like the Lone Ranger!

Neil, should we consider bumping medical from 5k/25 or this covered in liability, and the medical part of collision?

Jim:

After talking to way too many rental car companies about their insurance policies, the party line on liability in Mexico is that it is strictly third party liability and I have no idea if that includes medical for those affected by your vehicle. As I understand it, your medical would be separate but what do I know? I might be a little apprehensive with only $5K in medical!

Then again, I am one of those people who believes in being totally insured when it come to our vehicles. Now that "leadfoot" has changed her bad driving habits, our rates are such that it makes it somewhat painless to go this route!

Our agent notified us of the mandatory increase when we renewed a policy two weeks ago.

I don't question that there has been an increase but as Spencer pointed out, the math doesn't seem to work. $300K liability NOB sounds quite normal but in Mexico?

For foreign plated vehicles, 300k has been the norm since 2006, at least with Mayphre.

The new mandatory coverage for our Mexican-plated car was written as a supplemental policy for $3,000,000 MXN.

Jim:

That has always been my standard for MX Insurance on our vehicles. Since you maintain a home in Arizona, you may want to look into American Express Travel Insurance that covers you when you are over 100 miles away from home. Kathy and I pay $13USD/ month for incredible medical coverage that even includes Medivac.

Transit law has always required insurance levels to be 6,000 days for liability and 2013 increased our area of Guadalajara to be on par with Mexico City so the daily wage is 64.76 pesos and 6,000 days would be $388,560 pesos.

I spoke with Jim LaBelle and he sent me the following response:
How did we calculate that number?
There is no question that the gringo communities in Mexico, and others here State side have been abuzz over the last month or so with the changes to Article 502 and the affect that it has on drivers in Mexico Forums, message boards, and our phones have been popping with questions about this change. Specifically, there have been a lot of questions about why we recommend that future purchases of Mexico insurance include at least $300,000 in liability coverage, and maybe more commonly is how we arrived at that number. To begin with let’s take a look at the change in Article 502. It takes the daily minimum wage of the area and multiplies that by 5,000, rather than 730 (the previous law). I think most people get this part; however, in most cases this doesn’t add up to anywhere near the $300,000 that we recommend. That’s the tricky part. There are state factors, in addition to the federal law. These State “multipliers,” if you will, that take the federal law and increase the maximum liability for the State. The other complicating factor is that in some states, the daily minimum wage used in the calculation of indemnification in the event of death is the daily minimum wage of a professional, rather than a laborer. Once these multipliers and minimum wages are considered and accounted for it is pretty easy to see why we recommend at least $300,000. Below are a couple of examples of minimum wage, the multipliers, and the net result.
State Daily minimum Salary State Multiplier Days by law
Baja California 62.33 5 5000
Baja California Sur 186.73 4 5000
Chihuahua 186.73 2 5000
Distrito Federal 186.73 4 5000
Guanajuato 176.72 4 5000

So for example for Baja California take 62.33 x 5 x 5000= 1,558,250 MXP divide by 13 to convert from pesos to dollars and you get $119,865. That maybe a far cry from the $300,000 we recommend, but it definitely changes the narrative that has long been in place that $100,000 was sufficient. However before you get to carried away, consider this is the amount that will be paid if you negligently cause the death of another person and does not cover the property damage or other bodily injuries you may cause. Also remember, states vary.
Let’s take a look at another state; Baja California Sur or Guanajuato (same calculation)
186.73*4*5000 = 3,734,600 Pesos or $287,276. Now you see why we recommended to all of our clients at least $300,000. Remember, this could be what you pay for the death of one person, and does not include other damage or injury that you cause.
Granted you may live or only travel in states that are not as impacted as another state and choose not to purchase such high limits. That is fine, but what we recommend is that you purchase at least $300,000 in liability and that you seriously consider $500,000 in liability if you are in one of the states that have been most impacted by this legislation. We offer liability limits of up to $ 500,000, and represent only A-rated, financially strong Mexico Insurers.
Jim Labelle, CEO
International Insurance Group, Inc.
www.iigins.com

My question to all of you, how much has your insurance premium increased by the addition of the $ 300 K US liabilty?

joec wrote:My question to all of you, how much has your insurance premium increased by the addition of the $ 300 K US liabilty?

ZERO increase from last year......My liability has been 300k since 2006.

John:

There have been any number of reports that some insurance companies have bumped the Liability Limits gratis until the next renewal.

I received a bill from ANA for an additional 100 pesos to increase my liability for the remaining 2 months of my policy.