Paper policies, on the one hand, are done in the traditional way by agents in small insurance offices and mailed to Mexican through the regular postal system.

In other words, the agent fills out all the paperwork manually, goes to the post office and mails your policy to Mexico. Many agents in order to minimize costs, don't mail anything until they can send 5 or 6 policies at one time. So your policy may be delayed for a few days.

Then there is getting through customs and to Mexico City to one of the major insurers there. Once received, the policies are then processed and entered one at a time into a database connected to a master computer.

Suppose the insurance company hasn't received proof of your policy yet and you have an accident? Even worse, it is a weekend and most of the insurance agency offices are closed.

In the United States, there is a law called the English Common Law. However, in Mexico, they follow a law founded on the principles of the Napoleonic Code.

In general this means that in Mexico you are considered guilty unless proven innocent. Technically a traffic accident is a felony and the authorities will hold you until you produce a valid Mexican insurance policy or pay for the damages that you have deemed to have caused with payment due from you on the spot.

US and Canadian insurance policies are not valid in Mexico. Since you are held until the authorities can confirm that you have the means to pay for any damages that you are deemed to have caused, it's important for your insurer to be able to verify coverage quickly.

An electronically created policy is made available to the personnel working in the insurance claims department 24 hours a day and are downloadable for their verification systems within minutes. This process permits a speedy response and verification while you are enjoying a vacation.