[nashsimpson]

That’s an interesting question and I’d like to hear the answer from Baja Bound. Are they a member here?

[trekker]

I just checked and it shows them as logged in to the forum.

[cabodream]

This question came up several years ago back when we were driving down instead of flying and as I seem to recall, your policy should cover you as long as you are driving on a road where street vehicles are permitted, in other words a maintained dirt road where you could be stopped for driving without a license plate, etc.

[bajajeepers]

I’ve never been 100% clear on this either but the answer above does make sense. However down here in Baja, how do we know which dirt roads would be classified as covered under the insurance?

[sawdogger]

I always assumed the offroad exception was for either racing or completely offroad – whether dirt or paved. Now you got me worried?!?!?

[BajaGringo]

Hey guys, I sent a message to Geoff at Baja Bound, let’s see what he gets back to us with.

[moto]

Thanks Ron, it would be nice to hear it from the source instead of all this conjecture.

[tom-lindsay]

We don’t go off the highway that much but occasionally do for sightseeing, taking photos, etc. Really interested in hearing the answer to this.

[gregj]

Same with us. Never gave this a thought until now.

[BajaBundo]

Hey guys, I found this:

“People are often concerned about whether or not taking their car off-roading will void their insurance. Off-roading has the potential to void your insurance. This may appear frightening, but there’s more to it than “your insurance will be voided.” Off-roading, particularly in a vehicle designed for trail use, such as a Jeep Wrangler, is unlikely to violate your insurance. However, just because off-roading does not void your insurance does not mean that any damage caused by off-roading will be covered. Your insurance will be canceled if you make certain off-road modifications to your vehicle. Because they affect the way your car works, this is the leading cause of voiding insurance.”

https://www.way.com/blog/does-car-insurance-cover-off-road/

That helps answer some of my questions but creates a few more. So does that mean if my truck has a 4″ lift or dual shocks, the insurance won’t cover me???

[offroadrage]

WTF? Guess I will have to send a photo of my truck showing my modifications along with a map of my planned driving route to my broker to see if they are going to cover me in case of a claim my next trip down south.

[BajaBound]

A little clarification here…adding off road modifications to your vehicle may affect or void the warranty provided by the vehicle manufacturer, but it will not void a Mexican insurance policy. I personally have aftermarket suspension, wheels and tires on my Tundra that are factored into the value when I insure it, and it’s not an issue at all.

[BajaBundo]

Excellent info – thank you very much!

[offroadrage]

Thanks Geoff for the response.

[BajaBound]

Hello All,

Geoff from Baja Bound here. BajaBundo your initial post is correct. Mexican insurance will obviously cover you on paved roads and highways. Coverage still applies on most dirt roads as long as they have signage and can be easily transited in a standard 2WD vehicle. There is absolutely no coverage if you are off-road racing, making your own road or driving on rough trails. Think of it this way: If an insurance adjuster cannot reach your location in a standard 2WD vehicle because the road is too rough or impassable, then you are off-roading and coverage will not apply. Hope that helps!

[BajaBundo]

Great, thanks for the confirmation – I can accept that.

[BajaGringo]

Clear as day Geoff, thanks for helping to clarify amigo.

[moto]

Thanks @BajaBound

[DB-Baja]

People are often concerned about whether or not taking their car off-roading will void their insurance. Off-roading has the potential to void your insurance. This may appear frightening, but there’s more to it than “your insurance will be voided.” Off-roading, particularly in a vehicle designed for trail use, such as a Jeep Wrangler, is unlikely to violate your insurance. However, just because off-roading does not void your insurance does not mean that any damage caused by off-roading will be covered. Your insurance will be canceled if you make certain off-road modifications to your vehicle. Because they affect the way your car works, this is the leading cause of voiding insurance.

This seems to make the most sense but I do think it would be nice to have some well defined, easy to understand guidelines as to what the off-road exclusions are?

[BajaGringo]

Geoff just did:

• Mexican insurance will obviously cover you on paved roads and highways.

• Coverage still applies on most dirt roads as long as they have signage and can be easily transited in a standard 2WD vehicle.

• There is absolutely no coverage if you are off-road racing, making your own road or driving on rough trails.

• Think of it this way: If an insurance adjuster cannot reach your location in a standard 2WD vehicle because the road is too rough or impassable, then you are off-roading and coverage will not apply.

• After market modifications to your vehicle are covered

[andyp]

Really good to know, thanks guys.

[bajajeepers]

Thanks for helping us to understand the exclusion @BajaBound but I wonder if we can get a separate policy to cover us for accidents on roads/trails that are 4WD only? Also, is the 4WD drive road exclusion only for accidents / damage or does that also exclude coverage for vehicle loss due to theft or fire on 4WD only roads and trails? TIA

[mx-rider]

Great question

[moto]

I think Geoff answered that:

“There is absolutely no coverage if you are off-road racing, making your own road or driving on rough trails. Think of it this way: If an insurance adjuster cannot reach your location in a standard 2WD vehicle because the road is too rough or impassable, then you are off-roading and coverage will not apply.”

[gregj]

I can understand them not providing accident/damage coverage coverage for driving truly off-road but denying fire and theft too? That doesn’t make any sense. So it only counts if your vehicle is stolen on a roadway???

[BajaBundo]

Yeah, that doesn’t sound right.

[cabodream]

Any update from @BajaBound ???

[tom-lindsay]

X2

[wrench]

I understand the exceptions for vehicle damage if you are driving over rough terrain but coverage for fire and theft of your vehicle should be anywhere in Baja. At least that’s the way I read it.

[andyp]

Makes no sense to me either.

[offroadrage]

Rather than argue about it, I am going to see if I still have one of my old policies to see what it actually says about theft and location of the theft and I’ll report back.

[gregj]

Why take all the fun out of a good argument where nobody really knows the answer??? 😜

[Volcan]

So, nobody knows for sure yet whether our insurance will cover us for theft off-road?

[BajaBundo]

Nope

[Volcan]

😞😞😞

[BajaBound]

Hello All,

Sorry for the delay in responding. We contacted both companies that we represent (HDI and Chubb) and were waiting to get their direct feedback on these questions.

HDI will cover theft when a vehicle is off road. HDI will also cover losses due to fire, so long as the fire was not caused as a result of being off road. (Example: If a car overheats and catches fire due to off roading in a sand wash, it would not be covered. But if a car is parked off road and gets hit by lightning and burns to the ground, it would be covered since the loss was not caused by being off road). Chubb specifically excludes coverage for any type of loss (collision, theft or fire) that happens off road.

Hope that helps!

[BajaBundo]

Thanks Geoff, I really appreciate you getting to the bottom of this for us. It just highlights another difference between the two companies (HDI/Chubb) and why HDI is a bit more expensive. Personally it just makes HDI my only choice to use on my vehicles when in Baja. It might be good to clear that up on your @BajaBound website as I think most people believe that any comprehensive insurance policy would cover fire and theft, anywhere in Baja. In fact I searched several different Mexican auto insurance websites and not one website specifically addressed this grey area.

[gregj]

X2

[blitzer]

That’s really helpful to know @BajaBound and thanks for taking the time to explain it. Definitely going to change the way I look at insurance for Mexico now. Previously I just assumed I was completely covered no matter what when south of the border.

[Volcan]

Wow, really did not expect to hear that, but thanks for the info.

[cabodream]

Thanks for the extra clarification. We never really go that far off-road anymore so this likely wouldn’t affect us but I can see how this is good-to-know info for those who do more hard core off-roading.

[McBaja]

That’s really interesting information @BajaBound and it makes me wonder how many other Mexican Insurance companies also have that exclusion for theft in in remote areas?

I know of one recent model 4×4 truck that was stolen when they broke down out in the middle of nowhere about 50-60 miles SW of Bahia de Los Angeles a few years ago. When they got back to their truck with a mechanic and parts a few days later, all they found was some broken glass from the truck and the tire tracks from whoever hauled it away.

They tried to follow the tracks but lost the thieves when they got to the dirt road about 10 miles away. I don’t know if it was insured or if a claim was paid on it.

This would be a really good thing to research @BajaGringo

[BajaGringo]

It’s an interesting topic Gene and I am not sure how honest of an answer I would get from cold calling an insurance provider without actually paying for a policy. Maybe the best thing would be to ask you guys to ask your brokers the next time you buy insurance before heading south just to be sure you are indeed covered.

The good news is that we know of at least one who definitely does and that is HDI Insurance provided by @BajaBound

[BajaBound]

It would be interesting to know who else has that exclusion @McBaja

Do you have any way of following up with the folks whose truck was stolen? It would be interesting to know how things turned out.

[McBaja]

My brother and I were on on a trip south when we ran into the couple in the parking lot outside the bar at Jardines in San Quintin. We were hauling a trailer with a couple of dirt bikes and started talking with them about bringing expensive off-road toys into Mexico. They told us they had just gotten a ride into town after their 2 year old truck was stolen outside of Bahia de Los Angeles. They were waiting for a family member to show up to drive them to the station to file a police report on the theft before taking them back home to California.

Just now called and asked my brother and he seems to remember they said they did have insurance, but he doesn’t remember them saying from who. And no idea if they covered the claim, if they did have coverage. I really hope they did as I remember them as very nice people who loved Baja and it would be a real shame to have to cover such a big loss on a truck like that out of pocket.