Car insurance (third party minimum) is obligatory in Jalisco but only one-fifth of all motorists in the state are taking out cover for their vehicles, according to two automobile sector institutions.
This often results in massive legal problems, especially following accidents when uninsured drivers are unable to meet claims for material damage and personal injury.
According to the Mexican Association of Insurance Institutions (AMIS) and the Center for Experimentation and Road Safety in Mexico (CESVI), Jalisco is below the national average, which estimates that 25 percent of the nation’s 28.5 million vehicles are not insured. Only 14 Mexican states require obligatory auto insurance. Unfortunately, in Jalisco, like most others, there are few mechanisms to check whether car owners are taking out insurance or credible sanctions to help enforce the regulation.Inroads into the problem have been made in Mexico City and the state of Nuevo Leon, where more than half the automobile fleets are now insured. According to AMIS, damages in 104,204 accidents officially registered in Jalisco last year totaled 820.7 million pesos. Insurance companies received 1.19 billion pesos as income from policies taken out on 294,000 vehicles.