# Which Side of the Border?



## StuckintheUS (Jun 1, 2017)

At Laredo, do you buy Mexico car insurance on the US side or cross into Nuevo Laredo?


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## circle110 (Jul 20, 2009)

StuckintheUS said:


> At Laredo, do you buy Mexico car insurance on the US side or cross into Nuevo Laredo?


I always bought it by internet or phone beforehand so I didn't have to worry about it the day of travel. Just have it take effect the day you cross the border.


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## joaquinx (Jul 3, 2010)

You can buy insurance on either side. My vote would be on the internet.


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## chicois8 (Aug 8, 2009)

Please think about your question, if you cross the border you are uninsured, kill some pedestrian and go to jail with out the get out of jail free card...............


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## StuckintheUS (Jun 1, 2017)

chicois8 said:


> Please think about your question, if you cross the border you are uninsured, kill some pedestrian and go to jail with out the get out of jail free card...............


Well, I assumed one could walk over.


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## StuckintheUS (Jun 1, 2017)

Buying online- is it all done completely online? No waiting for paperwork to be sent through the mail?


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## chicois8 (Aug 8, 2009)

StuckintheUS said:


> chicois8 said:
> 
> 
> > Please think about your question, if you cross the border you are uninsured, kill some pedestrian and go to jail with out the get out of jail free card...............
> ...



I presume you know what folks say about the word assumed, don't you?

Yes you could walk across the border and find no offices for Mex Insurance and then stand in line to walk back across the border and find many shops selling insurance, and yes they send you a policy and you can print it out at home....very easy, you can also apply for your TIP and FMM online also.......


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## circle110 (Jul 20, 2009)

StuckintheUS said:


> Buying online- is it all done completely online? No waiting for paperwork to be sent through the mail?


Yes, it is all done online, nothing via snail mail. A couple of times I forgot to do it beforehand online and so I would pull into a gas station on the US side and made a quick phone call to buy the insurance and confirm that it was in force before I drove across. This was pre-smart phone days -- today you'd just hit the app of the insurance company and you're all set.


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## StuckintheUS (Jun 1, 2017)

I'm reluctant to do the TIP and FMM online as you have to print those pages out and I only have the hotel printer which saves and "shares" everything it prints. 
Although, most home printers do also these days.
People have no idea what kind of info they've given away on "business" computers.


Took care of the insurance though, thanks everyone!


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## Howler (Apr 22, 2013)

*Great Idea!*



joaquinx said:


> You can buy insurance on either side. My vote would be on the internet.


This is a great idea and sounds very convenient. Also read that the TIP & FMM could also be done online...? The issue about printing out the documents seems valid if you can't do it from home.

I always purchased the insurance across the border, because there are usually two or three different companies with an agent right where we had to go anyway to get our permit(s) and visas. Seemed convenient enough until someone hit us a couple of years ago and I had a load of trouble dealing with MAPFRE on a "tourist policy" deep in the interior of Mexico (Veracruz).

BTW - what else can you process or do online with reference to traveling or living in Mexico??


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## StuckintheUS (Jun 1, 2017)

I just picked the middle one from MexPro, as several here suggested we can always get a better policy once we know where we'll be.




Howler said:


> BTW - what else can you process or do online with reference to traveling or living in Mexico??


That's a very good question!


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## UrbanMan (Jun 18, 2015)

StuckintheUS said:


> I'm reluctant to do the TIP and FMM online as you have to print those pages out and I only have the hotel printer which saves and "shares" everything it prints.
> Although, most home printers do also these days.
> People have no idea what kind of info they've given away on "business" computers.
> 
> Took care of the insurance though, thanks everyone!


Public libraries these days - in many locations in the USA - have robust computer power available to the public including the ability to print on very nice laser printers. And given they are government, they pay much more attention to privacy versus your average hotel. The chances that a fellow patron will be able to virtually hack into any of your activity (including printing activity) is about as close to zero as it gets. The library itself - why would they care if you do your TIP online? I'm not that worried about librarians.


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## eastwind (Jun 18, 2016)

UrbanMan said:


> Public libraries these days - in many locations in the USA - have robust computer power available to the public including the ability to print on very nice laser printers. And given they are government, they pay much more attention to privacy versus your average hotel. The chances that a fellow patron will be able to virtually hack into any of your activity (including printing activity) is about as close to zero as it gets. The library itself - why would they care if you do your TIP online? I'm not that worried about librarians.


If I were out to try to anonymously steal people's personal information, a small town public library would be close to the top of my list of where to start trolling.


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## horseshoe846 (Feb 8, 2017)

eastwind said:


> If I were out to try to anonymously steal people's personal information, a small town public library would be close to the top of my list of where to start trolling.


I am no security expert - but whenever I need to use a public computer for anything I clear the browser's cache and reboot, when I am done. Probably not enough...


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## eastwind (Jun 18, 2016)

I'm not a security expert either. But what I worry about is not so much the nefarious types that might get to the computer after I leave but those that might have gotten to it before I arrive. I've heard that you can boot linux off a thumb drive these days. That would enable someone to run any code they like on that computer (while linux is booted) without windows knowing a thing about it. They could install code that gets run automatically when the computer boots, before the windows security software even gets control, so that their malicious code runs under windows. That software could include a key logger that would record every URL and password you typed as you typed it. 

One poster mentioned network printers. That's another security concern. The file you print gets "spooled", i.e. held in a buffer on the printer while its waiting to print. Those buffers don't always get properly cleaned up especially if there is any kind of error during printing (so you can print again). Even if you have your own laptop but are using a shared printer, if you go off with your hard copy and your laptop but leave a copy of the document in the print spool on the network printer someone else can come along and print another copy of your document. And someone with the right skills and nefarious intent can probably set themselves up to capture a copy of everything printed whether the print spool is cleaned up or not if they get there ahead of you.


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## UrbanMan (Jun 18, 2015)

eastwind said:


> If I were out to try to anonymously steal people's personal information, a small town public library would be close to the top of my list of where to start trolling.


If it has been more than a couple of years since you've utilized a computer in a public library in the USA, you'd likely be completely blown away by the current state. Software has been created for libraries and university computer networks that essentially make them as secure for users as a corporate network. At a library I go to, you can see that every time a user logs out, the machine automatically runs a 2 minute routine that scrubs the session activity. Now the history might be retained somewhere centrally (just as is the case with corporate networks), but not within the reach of other library patrons.

Does every library everywhere have this? Likely not, but I'd guess most do, as libraries have for several years now been strongly moving away from being about physical books.

If someone got their ID stolen at a library, I'd expect the cause to most likely be the user throwing the wrong piece of paper into the recycling bin.

As always, street smarts matter, if the library facilities seem ancient, stay away.


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## Howler (Apr 22, 2013)

*Still wondering...?*



Howler said:


> BTW - what else can you process or do online with reference to traveling or living in Mexico??


I'm still wondering about this... anybody have some answers or experiences along this line? It seems an easier way of dealing with border authorities & others when presenting paperwork already done online through an officially sanctioned government entity. What sez y'all?


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