If you've asked us to requote your car at $40,000, $48,000, or $28,100, you already landed on the number that drives everything: the declared value. Here's what it actually controls, and how to get it right before you buy.
What declared value really sets
Declared value is the dollar figure you tell us your car is worth today — not what you paid for it years ago. For full coverage, that figure sets two things at once: the premium you pay and the maximum Chubb will consider if your car is damaged or stolen.
Declared value only matters for full coverage. If you're buying liability only, this number isn't part of the quote at all.
Liability-only skips this number entirely
Liability-only Mexican auto insurance is a fixed package: $100,000 in liability plus $2,000 in medical payments, regardless of whether your car is worth $8,000 or $80,000. There's no declared value field because there's nothing of yours being insured — it only covers damage you cause to others.
Full coverage is different. It adds protection for your own vehicle — collision, theft — and that's exactly where declared value comes in, subject to the deductibles in your policy conditions.
How declared value moves the price
Here's a real reference ladder: a 2022 sedan, declared at $20,000 USD, full coverage, all Mexico. Your own quote will differ by vehicle, coverage and dates — but this shows how duration and fees interact.
| Duration | Policy fee | Total (USD) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 day | Included in total; varies by duration | $31.62 |
| 3 days | Included in total; varies by duration | $58.86 |
| 7 days | Included in total; varies by duration | $113.35 |
| 30 days | Included in total; varies by duration | $336.71 |
| 90 days | $20.00 | $361.63 |
| 180 days | $35.00 | $396.55 |
| 365 days | $35.00 | $438.38 |
Never multiply the one-day total by the number of days you're traveling — totals aren't linear, and the policy fee itself changes at 90 days and again at 6 months. None of these prices include tax or IVA; this product has no IVA to add.
A higher declared value raises the premium at every duration on that ladder, because there's more value being insured. A lower one lowers the price — but changes what's at risk if something happens to the car.
Driving up from Canada? Convert first
Every quote — Chubb's policy, the price, the declared value field — runs in USD, not CAD. If your car is worth CAD $40,000, convert it to US dollars before you tell us a number.
Use a same-day exchange rate and round to a whole number. A stale rate from last month can leave your declared value off by a few hundred dollars either way.
Changing the declared value before you buy
If the number you first gave us doesn't match your car, just say so in chat — we'll run a new quote with the corrected value in a couple of minutes. Do this before you buy, not after.
Policies here are issued by Chubb and arrive as a PDF in about two minutes once you confirm. Once that policy is issued, it can't be adjusted by cancelling and starting over — so the number on the PDF is the one that counts for the rest of your trip.
- Know your car's current market value, not its original price
- Confirm you're quoting full coverage, not liability only, if declared value matters to you
- Convert CAD to USD before stating a number
- Ask for a fresh quote in chat if the first value was wrong
- Review the number on your PDF before you head for the border
For what total-loss payouts, deductibles, or under-declaring actually mean in practice, the details live in your Chubb policy conditions — that's the source to check, not a guess from a blog post.
If you're still deciding between coverage levels for a specific route, our Baja crossing guide and the tourist auto quoter both show how coverage and territory choices fit together. More trip-specific breakdowns are in our full guides library.