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Georgia

May 24, 2004, 1:47 PM

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Texas Auto Insurance Companies

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Hi, can anyone give me the name of a Texas insurance company that would insure our vehicle for just one month. We will register the car in Texas with a Mexican address. We'll be in Texas next week. Thank you.

Ed and Fran

May 24, 2004, 3:28 PM

Post #2 of 16 (708 views)

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Re: [Georgia] Texas Auto Insurance Companies

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Mexican plated car?

Ed

Georgia

May 24, 2004, 3:52 PM

Post #3 of 16 (701 views)

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Re: [Ed and Fran] Texas Auto Insurance Companies

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No. US car. We're registering it in Texas (where our daughter lives) and taking it into Mexico. My daughter's insurance agent is some sort of dodo bird who keeps saying they don't write insurance for Mexico! Can't seem to get the message through that we just want to insure the car while it is in Texas and registered in Texas but that we are taking the car to Mexico where it is already insured, thank you very much.

Ed and Fran

May 24, 2004, 4:55 PM

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Re: [Georgia] Texas Auto Insurance Companies

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Georgia

Sorry, in that case I don't have any first hand info. But someone else will probably be able to help (maybe that is, I don't remember anyone else losing an importation sticker.....but this is different).

Good luck,

Ed

Georgia

May 24, 2004, 6:11 PM

Post #5 of 16 (672 views)

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Re: [Georgia] Texas Auto Insurance Companies- Still Need to KNow

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From messages I have gotten there appears to be some confusion. We are driving into Texas from New York. We will register our car in Texas with our Mexican address (which I have been told we can do) but we need to insure the car for the short time it will be in Texas. We have Mexican insurance. Are there any Texans out there, or folks who have their car registered in Texas who simply buy a short term policy? If so, can you tell me the name of the company, not the agent???? Thanks, again.

jennifer rose

May 24, 2004, 7:34 PM

Post #6 of 16 (658 views)

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Re: [Georgia] Texas Auto Insurance Companies- Still Need to KNow

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I thought your message was pretty clear. I've bought US insurance for the minimum 30-day period at several agents in Laredo, mostly located along San Bernardo. I picked them using the time-old method of letting my fingers do the walking, and that was through the Yellow Pages. The last time was from the Cevallos (?) Agency, a few blocks south of the LaQuinta. I don't remember the insurance company name, but the policy was good enough to effect my registration renewal.

In the FWIW department, and don't ask me why, but some friends living here tried to do the same, and they were requested to show proof of residence in Mexico. Apparently their FM-2 wasn't good enough, because the agent wanted a comprabante de domicilio. For that reason, it doesn't hurt to bring along a copy of your phone or water bill.

Cynthia7

May 24, 2004, 7:42 PM

Post #7 of 16 (658 views)

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Re: [Georgia] Texas Auto Insurance Companies- Still Need to KNow

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I am confusedl Isn't your car insured for driving and liability in the USA.? If so, you don't need different insurance to drive it in Texas. Texas is in the USA much to the Mexicans chagrin. If you have arranged for you car to be insured in Mexico - you are OK. If noy already insured to drive in Mexico-just Insure it at the border -like at Sanborn's. If you are changing your residence to Texas for tax purposes you need a Texas address and Texas drivers license- if you drive.

Georgia

May 25, 2004, 5:28 AM

Post #8 of 16 (632 views)

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Re: [Cynthia7] Texas Auto Insurance Companies- Still Need to KNow

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We are registering our car in Texas with our Mexican address. We are informed, and we have friends who do this, that this is acceptable policy in Texas: they get the registration fees, etc. etc. (New York requires we reregister and pay NY insurance even when the car is out of the country.) We've sold almost everything in NY and will be receiving mail in Texas. We wish to have a US current registration so we can drive back and forth to Texas where most of our family is located. So.. bottom line, we need to have the name of an insurance company in Texas that will do short term policies. WE are going to Austin next Monday and will re-register our car there. In order to do this, we need Texas insurance. Having Texas registration is much less of a hassle in many respects than having a NY registration.

But all I really want to know is the name of a company in Texas that will write a short term policy so my daughter iN Austin can set up an appointment and/or insurance for us, so we can go register the car while we are in Austin.

rjkveton

May 25, 2004, 9:58 AM

Post #9 of 16 (582 views)

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Re: [Georgia] Texas Auto Insurance Companies- Still Need to KNow

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http://www.google.com/...1,30244742,-97780980

If this is the Austin office of the same company I have used before in McAllen, Texas they should be able to help.

(This post was edited by rjkveton on May 25, 2004, 10:01 AM)

Texwheel

May 25, 2004, 11:11 AM

Post #10 of 16 (566 views)

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Re: [rjkveton] Texas Auto Insurance Companies- Still Need to KNow

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Georgia, you might try asking a couple of legit well-known companies and see what they say. As a fall back, since timing is critical, use your daughter's address and buy a six month policy. Once you get to Mexico, wait a month and call them telling them your situation...you've moved t o Mexico for a time, but may be returning periodically. Can they suspend your policy, then activate it when you return. If they won't, cancel it. They have to refund the unused portion of your policy.

Also, you might try some of the companies that insure us SOB. Somebody has to be insuring the Mexicans coming NOB as tourists. Just some ideas. I may be all wet on this one.
Tom Williams
Georgetown, Texas
Texwheel@aol.com

Georgia

May 25, 2004, 12:16 PM

Post #11 of 16 (561 views)

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Re: [Georgia] Thank you, everyone.....

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....for all your helpful advice. I located an insurance company in Austin (Contractors Insurance Company) that will write a one month policy. We'll see if we can simply insure at the border for our return visits, but at this point we were headed from north to south in the state of Texas and didn't want to run down to the border and then run three hours back. Some folks think we can't use a Mexican address, others say we can, we'll ask at DMV.

Again, thank you for all your forum and private replies to my answer ... I was able to get to a provider with your many suggestions.

Bubba

May 25, 2004, 12:46 PM

Post #12 of 16 (555 views)

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Re: [Georgia] Texas Auto Insurance Companies- Still Need to KNow

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Georgia:

I just returned from Texas where I had to register my car in that state in order to sell it. This was my second trip after running into the address problem.The following is my experience.

I tried several times to register my car in two separate counties without success. I returned to Ajijic, rented a Mailboxes, Etc. box in San Antonio and, upon a return trip, used my resultant Laredo street address (along with my MBE PMB number) at the tax office in Laredo with no problem. This is the same tax office that twice rejected my application with my Ajijic address.

If you don't have a MBE address, borrow a friend's. In Texas, unlike California, for instance, they give you your tags on the spot so you really don't care if you ever get mail there.

They also wanted a telephone number. I told them I was new in town and had yet to get a phone number. Also I told them that the MBE address was temporary while I looked for an apartment. No problem. They registered me.

Keep in mind that you can register in Texas without transferring title from your present state. This is important in that you can register instantly but will have to wait at least two weeks to get a new Texas title after you surrender your prsent title.

Two other things you need:

What they call a "green sheet" which is proof that you have had your car pass a safety inspection at an authorized Texas safety inspection outlet. There are many of these all over the place. You will ot be able to register without this.

A 30 day liability only U.S. insurance policy if, like me, you live in Mexico and have only Mexican insurance and no U.S. car insurance. If you have U.S. insurance with adequate liability insurance for at least 30 more days, I don't see why they would require this 30 day policy. There are a couple of local Texas insurance companies that issue these 30 day liability only poilcies. One is known as Dairyland Insurance Company and the other name escapes me. There are insurance agents all over Laredo that handle this type of policy which will cost you about $50US. A previous poster is right that many of these are strung out along Bernardo which is just after, or before, you cross the international bridge.

Now, for those of you who live in Mexico and have no U.S. insurance, if you try to get regular full insurance from a large U.S, insurance company, you will run into a lot of trouble. Even if you can get full coverage which is not a given since you must explain why you are not currently insured, it will be very costly. I don't even think that it is possible. This means that, while you are in Texas registering your car, you only have the minimum liability insurance required by the state of Texas. You will have no collision nor theft nor comprehensive coverage. Because of this I sold my car as fast as humanly possible.

Now, you folks can believe Bubba or doubt him on this but I assure you that, after having been caught up in the Gulag earlier this year when I tried to sell my U.S. plated car, I speak the gospel.

Georgia

May 25, 2004, 1:51 PM

Post #13 of 16 (548 views)

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Re: [Bubba] Eating Crow and I learned a lot

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Hoo, Boy, where to start? When I first called Texas DMV (or whatever they call themselves) they said I had to have a Texas policy to register the car there. WRONG! When I register my car in Texas I only need proof of insurance from ANYWHERE IN THE US so my NY State insurance will do. I will keep the NYS title, not get a Texas title at this time because I need it to import the vehicle a couple of days later. All I have to do is have the thing inspected. If I ever return to Texas in this vehicle I will buy a one month policy at the border. You can get full comprehensive insurance, but it is pricey. However, the car is new and kind of expensive (by my plebian standards) so I would spring for the comprehensive. Peace of mind, and all that. I have Mexican insurnace (comprehensive as well as liability) so I am all set there. When I get to Mexico, I'll cancel the NY insurance.

If only the original information (about being able to use my NY insurance to register the car in Texas) had been correct! Aaaargh! I would have spared everyone this ugly exercise.

Anyway, there are Texas insurers that are not on the border, that will issue short term policies. Dairyland is one as was mentioned in an earlier post. Frankly, I found the name so improbable, I didn't call them. Dumb. (Me, not the poster or the company)

Anyway, I really appreciate everyone's efforts and insights. Now if only we could find a human who actually had lost his/her importation sticker (my other car, not this one) I could kick back and not worry about the border saga for when I return to Texas in the other car in August (at which time I will gleefully deposit the youngest of our ten children in college in Austin .... at last!)

(This post was edited by Georgia on May 25, 2004, 1:53 PM)

Jerry@Ajijic

May 25, 2004, 9:13 PM

Post #14 of 16 (484 views)

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Re: [Georgia] Eating Crow and I learned a lot

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Georgia, what the Texas people told you does not suprise me. We had a Florida tag and could not renew it as we did not have insurance offered by a Florida insurance co. We changed to a Mexican tag.

mepsi

May 26, 2004, 9:02 AM

Post #15 of 16 (450 views)

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Re: [Georgia] Eating Crow and I learned a lot

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Georgia, Dairyland is a part of the Sentry/Dairyland Insurance group and is the largest, or one of the largest, non standard auto insurance writers in the country. Considering the market they work with they are probably the best available in the field. They write nationally to the best of my knowledge. Is the company with which you are insured in NY a local or national company? If you were insured, for example, with Dairyland in NY I can't see why Texas would not accept their coverage for licensing but I'm certainly no expert on Texas anything.

Monte

NEOhio

May 26, 2004, 12:58 PM

Post #16 of 16 (428 views)

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Re: [mepsi] Ohio Insurance Agents suggestion to me

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When posing this question of - registration, insurance, re-insurance upon return - my agent said he would handle it the same as he handles the "toy" cars we own and do not drive year around.

When I put the cars in storage he charges me a very low insurance rate because he has no exposure - it is $11 per month for the Wagoneer and $14 per month for the 63 caddy - both fees reflective of their value and replacement if the storage garage burns up or they are stolen. As I occasionally take one out for a special occasion I call him 2 days before - he writes a short term policy for a 3 day exposure - and I call him to tell him when the car has been returned to the storage garage. The cost of a few days out is usually around $15. It is pertinet to say that the 63 caddy is licensed as a historical vehicle and has a 2500 mile per year limit ( and the agent takes pictures of the car and odometer every spring when it comes out).

As long as I provide him with a copy of the policies that are going to cover the two regular vehicles we would take into MExico - and they meet his review for comprehensive coverage -essentially equal to what we have here (been with him 20 years) he would then write coverage for the time period they are out of the country - his best guess is that it will be less than $30 total per month if we take a 96 Caravan and a 2001 Jetta. When we are re-entering the US we would call him a few days before and he will write a short term policy for however long we will be driving in the US.

For the last 5 years my daughter who works overseas - 2 years in Burkina Faso, Africa and now in Jakarta, Indonesia - has doen something similar. When she and her fiance come home for holidays etc... or to go into the DC office, they retrieve their cars from their garage in Baltimore (their brownstone is leased out but they maintain that as their permanent address) - they let their agent know when they are returning and how long they will be in the US. The agent again writes a time limited policy.

This took some explaining to her agent in MAryland because he just was not familiar with the process. WHen explaining it to himin the context of the storage coverage etc.... that we had for years on the "toys" he got it and figured out a way to make it happen.

I know I would not want to be in a position to have to start over at the bottom of the experience pile every time we want to come back into the US.

Maybe this information will be helpful to you all in figuring it all out.