Agents recommend checking your insurance before heading to see the pope
People on both sides of the border are preparing for the pope’s visit to our region on Wednesday. If you’re making the trip, it’s important to know what kind of insurance you have.
Officials on both sides of the border are recommending you walk across instead of driving, but either way you definitely need to plan ahead, and that includes checking on your insurance.
Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to stream into the Juarez and El Paso area including many trying to cross the international bridges into Mexico. All that traffic could to cause some tie-ups or even crashes and knowing what exactly you’re covered for in your car or even on foot could be very important.
Many insurance plans include plan coverage 25 miles or more into Mexico, but local insurance agents say it’s important to check the exact details.
“Every insurance company is different,” said Crystal Martinez, an El Paso State Farm agent. “I encourage everybody to check with their insurance agent if you’re going to be going to Juarez. There’s going to be a lot of cars, a lot of pedestrians, you don’t want to be caught over there without insurance. It’s very important for you to have insurance period, and especially when you’re in another country, you don’t know the laws in Juarez, so I would be carrying insurance.”
While plans may cover those 25 miles into Mexico, some may cover more or even offer other benefits. Martinez said that starting Monday for new plans, State Farm will extend insurance coverage 50 miles into Mexico. But she warns the most basic policies might not cover all likelihoods as you consider crossing the border for the pope’s visit.
“If you have medical payments coverage,” Martinez said, “if you get injured, you’re in a car accident, you need to see a doctor, if you have medical coverage, it’s going to be transferred into Juarez. And if you carry physical damage, usually the dealerships, they call it full coverage. If you have physical damage coverage, we’re going to transfer that coverage also into Juarez.”
