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Very, very expensive in CR.
Here is the quote we got for our 2010 RAV4, which they valued at 36,600. This is for 6 months only. Total price is for the 6 months is $1,568, yes folks thats over $3000 per year, and you don’t even get much for it. This is about 3x more expensive then what we pay in NC and we have higher liability and lower deductibles.
Liability you get 148,000/278,000, there is a 20% deductible and Theft has a 10% deductible.
Some of the break down is as follows (again this is 6 months): Collision, turnover is $775, theft is $377.
When I look at these numbers I kind of wonder if its worth getting the insurance. Perhaps, I will only get the theft, not sure if that is allowed. Someone had told me that body work isn’t too expensive in CR, I’m also told that when you register your car and pay the $50 mandatory insurance it covers to $3500 for collision. In any event, paying $1550 for collision for a year with a 20% deductible doesn’t make logical sense to me. If I have an accident every year, then the break even point after the 20% is $1900, thus if I go a year without and accident and get into one the end of the 2nd year, now the break even point is $3400. You get the point.
What do you folks do about car insurance?
We fully insure our 2006 Hyundai Terracan. The cost of increased public liability and property damage coverage is minimal. What’s expensive are the theft and collision coverages. We pay more to insure this one car in Costa Rica than we did for two similar vehicles in North Carolina. You’re right, it ain’t cheap.
Question is: Can you afford the total loss of your RAV4 if it’s stolen or totalled in an accident. We could not afford such a loss, so we pay the premiums.
One way to reduce the theft cost is to install a LoJack vehicle recovery system. When we installed ours, the cost for the first year was about $360US. Subsequent years are about $180. The good news is that INS gives you a thirty-percent discount on the theft insurance if the LoJack is installed. That almost pays for the LoJack after the first year especially if you pay the LoJack bill before the month it becomes due. Then LoJack also gives you a discount.
Theft and collision insurance coverage can only be obtained as a package from INS and not separately.
The mandatory third party liability insurance coverage included in the annual circulation certificate (marchamo)payment for the vehicle is only coverage for personal injuries and not property damage caused to third parties.
I would suggest obtaining the additional third party liability insurance coverage from INS, for both personal injury and property damage to third parties, go with the “LoJack” option (or similar) and forget the rest, as it is ridiculously expensive.
Boy, that stinks that you have to buy both theft and collision. I kinda of like this Lojack option “forget the rest” Should I get Lojack installed in the states or in CR?, I have another couple of weeks before I ship the car.
Thanks for all your help.
My understanding is that LoJack in Costa Rica is technically different than what’s available in the U.S. I think I know that in the U.S. the LoJack system is based on GPS technology. In Costa Rica, it’s dependent upon radio triangulation.
Whether you insure your vehicle for theft or not, I think the LoJack makes good sense unless you really can afford to take a total loss. Even with INS’ theft insurance, there’s a twenty percent deductible from the value they ascribe to the stolen vehicle. Without that insurance, of course, the “deductible” is one hundred percent. The LoJack folks claim that the only vehicle they’ve ever lost had had its electronics tampered with by the owner.
Your mileage may vary . . .
Thanks for the information, Do you have any recommendations on where to purchase and get Lojack installed in CR?
Thanks
Here’s the updated information on LoJack in Costa Rica. I’ve deleted my previous response.
First year’s cost including installation: $432.
Subsequent years’ cost for service: $199.
(Prepayment discount available.)
There’s a “Contact Us” button to send them an e-mail.Another thing to consider is that with a good driving record, like no claims, INS will give you a discount on your premium and continually increase that discount up to a maximum of I think 40%. My wife has reached that maximum and has been getting it for a couple of years now. It starts soon, like after 1 year it might be 5%, then increase to 10% after the next 6 months, etc.
It’s the value you declare on your vehicle with INS that plays a substantial part in the cost of the premium. I have heard that INS uses a guide, some sort of written reference, to determine the maximum amount they determine the car to be worth. They won’t tell you if your declared value is more than that and they won’t pay you more than that either, so you need to check that out. You want to be sure that the declared value is adjusted every 6 months for depreciation and currency fluctuations. You can value the car at whatever you want, in order to lower your premiums.
We re-declared the value of our car a couple of years ago and were advised to do so annually. That makes sense to me. When we sat down with our INS agent at ARCR to revisit the matter, he explained that INS is now requiring extensive disclosure of who we are and what our income and assets are in order to make any adjustment in our policy. Basically, they’re looking for the documentation you’d expect to submit if you were applying for a mortgage.
Given the hassle involved in rounding up all that information, making photocopies (that’s right) and schlepping it all back to San Jose to submit in the hope (hope) that INS would be in a good mood the day they received it, we threw in the towel and decided that it’s better to just pay a slightly higher premium.
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