Vehicle insurance here in the Philippines comes in two different forms.

First of all, you have Compulsory Third Party insurance which you have to take out yearly when you register your vehicle. Can’t remember the exact fee, but its around Php 1,000 annually. A lot of people - including foreigners - think they are then covered for Third Party in the event of an accident.

Wrong! The annual fee is basically a waste of money - as they find out if they are unfortunate enough to be involved in an accident.

You then have Fully Comprehensive Insurance. The cost depends on the price of the car and (from experience) can vary from 10k (older car) to 30k for a (newer) SUV. This should cover any costs whether it's your fault or the other driver's.

Now, I know a lot of Filipinos and foreigners with older cars tend to not bother with Fully Comp insurance. That, in my opinion, is a huge mistake. Plenty of very expensive cars running around the Philippines these days and an accident with one could run into a bill for millions of pesos. Doesn’t matter if you're driving or not, as it's still yours or your wife’s car.

To any of you living here or thinking of living here:

If you do get a car please get the appropriate insurance.