By the Drivers Compass editors · Updated October 31, 2026
Texas requires liability coverage of 30/60/25 — $30,000 bodily injury per person, $60,000 bodily injury per accident, and $25,000 property damage per accident — under Texas Transportation Code §601.072 (A-LA Auto Insurance, undated). That liability coverage is the only part you are legally obliged to buy.
Two more coverages come attached to your policy by default rather than by mandate: personal injury protection (PIP) and uninsured/underinsured motorist (UM/UIM) coverage. Your insurer must include or offer both, and you keep them unless you reject them in writing (Texas Insurance Code §1952.152 and §1952.101). Texas is an at-fault, or tort, state rather than a no-fault state (Auto Insurance Seekers, June 2026), so who pays is settled by who caused the crash.
Texas Minimum Coverage Limits
The liability rows are the legal mandate on you. The PIP and UM/UIM rows are mandates on the insurer to include or offer the coverage.
| Coverage Type | Minimum Limit | Required or Optional | Statute Citation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bodily injury liability, per person | $30,000 | Required | Tex. Transp. Code §601.072 |
| Bodily injury liability, per accident | $60,000 | Required | Tex. Transp. Code §601.072 |
| Property damage liability, per accident | $25,000 | Required | Tex. Transp. Code §601.072 |
| Personal injury protection (PIP) | A per-person minimum amount set by statute | Not required to buy; the insurer may not issue the policy without it unless you reject it in writing | Tex. Ins. Code §1952.152; §1952.153 |
| Uninsured/underinsured motorist (UM/UIM) | Offered at limits not below the Chapter 601 minimums and not above your own bodily injury limits | Not required to buy; applies by default unless you reject it in writing | Tex. Ins. Code §1952.101; §1952.105 |
| Collision | No statutory limit | Optional under state law | No state mandate |
| Comprehensive | No statutory limit | Optional under state law | No state mandate |
- The 30/60/25 split is not a recent change; it has been the Texas floor since a date well before now rather than being a new figure (Finhabits, undated). Confirm the dollar amounts against §601.072 itself before relying on them for a lender letter or a court filing.
- PIP is a single shared limit — medical bills, lost income and service benefits all draw on the same pot in the aggregate, with no separate sub-limits, under Texas Insurance Code §1952.153 (Coverage Classroom, undated). The statutory per-person minimum insurers must offer is set in the code (Reyes Law, undated); read the figure on your own declarations page.
- A UM/UIM rejection must be in writing on a form prescribed by the Texas Department of Insurance, and it carries forward at every renewal with that insurer or an affiliate until you ask for the coverage back in writing (A-LA Auto Insurance, undated). A PIP rejection carries forward the same way (ATX Litigation, undated).
- UM/UIM limits cannot exceed your bodily injury liability limits, and the insurer must let you match the two, per Texas Insurance Code §1952.105 (A.P. Law Group; Coverage Classroom, undated). Raising UM/UIM means raising liability first.
Coverages Beyond the Minimum
None of the following is required by Texas law. Each is commonly required by someone else — a lender, a lessor, or the insurer's own underwriting rules — and that is a contract obligation, not a traffic offense.
- Collision coverage. Pays for damage to your own car regardless of fault. The state never requires it, because liability coverage exists to pay other people. A lender or lessor almost always requires it in the financing agreement, because the car is their collateral and a total loss without it leaves them an unsecured balance.
- Comprehensive coverage. Covers hail, theft, flood, fire and animal strikes. Texas does not mandate it. Lenders and lessors normally require it alongside collision for the same collateral reason — in a hail-prone market their exposure is weather, not crashes.
- A lender-specified deductible cap. Finance contracts often cap the physical damage deductible and require the lienholder be named on the policy. Texas has no deductible rules at all, so this ceiling comes only from your loan documents.
- Higher liability limits. Anything above the 30/60/25 required by §601.072 (A-LA Auto Insurance, undated) is voluntary under state law, but commercial leases and employer-driving rules often set their own floors above it.
- UM/UIM coverage. Must be offered on every policy under Texas Insurance Code §1952.101 and stays unless rejected in writing (A.P. Law Group, undated) — yet no statute makes you buy it. It is the only coverage that responds when the at-fault driver has nothing.
- PIP. Must be included unless rejected in writing under §1952.152 (ATX Litigation, undated), though Texas law does not require you to purchase it (Crosley Law, undated).
- Gap or loan/lease payoff coverage. Never required by the state; frequently required by a lessor when the financed amount exceeds the vehicle's value.
- Rental reimbursement and towing. Purely optional, with no state mandate and no standard definition — what counts as a covered rental period depends on the insurer's filed form.
Penalties for Driving Uninsured or Underinsured
Operating a vehicle without the financial responsibility Chapter 601 requires is a Class C misdemeanor under Texas Transportation Code §601.191 (A-LA Auto Insurance, August 2026). A Class C misdemeanor is a fine-only offense at the base level, and the statute sets one fine bracket for a first offense and a higher bracket for a subsequent offense (A-LA Auto Insurance, August 2026).
Beyond the fine, a conviction can carry driver's license suspension, and no jail time attaches to the base offense (Insurance.com, undated). Read the current brackets in §601.191 itself and the suspension terms on the Texas Department of Public Safety schedule before you budget — those figures are revised by the Legislature and by DPS rule, and court costs are assessed separately from the statutory fine.
Two points readers routinely get wrong:
- An SR-22 is not automatic. It is a certificate of financial responsibility filed by your insurer, not a policy, and a Texas driver needs one only when DPS orders it. A ticket or a lapse does not by itself trigger the requirement (A-LA Auto Insurance, August 2026).
- "Underinsured" is not an offense. There is no penalty for carrying 30/60/25 instead of higher limits. The exposure is civil: Texas is an at-fault state (Auto Insurance Seekers, June 2026), so damages above your limits are a personal debt the injured party can pursue.
If you have already been cited, the outcome depends on the court, the county, your record and whether proof of coverage on the date in question can be produced. Speak to a Texas attorney before deciding how to plead.
Minimum vs. Recommended Coverage
The right-hand column below is any liability limit you select above the statutory floor. There is no legal standard above the minimum, and no limit recommended here fits every reader — what suits you depends on your assets, household, vehicle and budget.
| Item | Texas minimum (30/60/25) | Limits above the floor |
|---|---|---|
| Legal status | Required by Tex. Transp. Code §601.072 | Voluntary; no statute requires it |
| Bodily injury, one injured person | $30,000 (A-LA Auto Insurance, undated) | The higher per-person limit you buy |
| Bodily injury, all injured persons, one crash | $60,000 (A-LA Auto Insurance, undated) | The higher per-accident limit you buy |
| Property damage, one crash | $25,000 (A-LA Auto Insurance, undated) | The higher property damage limit you buy |
| Most UM/UIM you may purchase | Capped at your bodily injury limits, so $30,000 per person and $60,000 per accident, under Tex. Ins. Code §1952.105 | Rises in step with your bodily injury limits |
| Exposure above the limit | Yours personally, as Texas is at-fault | Yours personally above the higher figure |
The arithmetic that matters is the subtraction. On a minimum policy, one injured person's bodily injury claim is paid only up to $30,000 and one damaged vehicle only up to $25,000 (A-LA Auto Insurance, undated); every dollar of a proven claim above those figures is a personal debt in an at-fault state (Auto Insurance Seekers, June 2026). Ask your insurer to quote several limit tiers side by side so you can see the premium difference against the size of the gap you are keeping.
The cap in §1952.105 compounds the effect. Buying minimum liability also caps what your own household can collect when the other driver has nothing, because UM/UIM cannot exceed your bodily injury limits (A.P. Law Group, undated).
Cost is not uniform across the state. Average annual premiums for Texas minimum liability vary city to city, with a clear spread between the cheapest and most expensive cities sampled (Insurance.com, undated) — so a price quoted in one Texas zip code tells you little about another, and a quote is not the premium you are charged once the policy is underwritten and bound.
Questions
Is Texas a no-fault state?
No. Texas is an at-fault, or tort, state for auto accident liability (Auto Insurance Seekers, June 2026). The driver responsible for a crash — and that driver's liability insurer, up to the policy limits — pays for the other party's injuries and property damage. PIP exists in Texas as an optional first-party coverage, not as a no-fault substitute for pursuing the at-fault driver.
Do I have to buy PIP in Texas?
No. Texas law does not require drivers to purchase PIP, but every auto insurer must offer it with every policy (Crosley Law, undated). Under Texas Insurance Code §1952.152, an insurer may not deliver or issue a liability policy without PIP unless the named insured rejects it in writing (ATX Litigation, undated). Once rejected, the insurer need not add it back at renewal unless you request the coverage in writing.
I rejected UM/UIM years ago. Does it come back at renewal?
No. A UM/UIM rejection must be made in writing on a form prescribed by the Texas Department of Insurance, and it carries forward at each renewal with that insurer or an affiliate until the named insured asks for the coverage in writing (A-LA Auto Insurance, undated). Send a written request and confirm it appears on the new declarations page. Remember that §1952.105 caps UM/UIM at your bodily injury liability limits.
Does a ticket or a lapse mean I need an SR-22?
Not by itself. An SR-22 is a certificate of financial responsibility, not a policy, and a Texas driver needs one only when the Texas Department of Public Safety orders it (A-LA Auto Insurance, August 2026). A citation or a short gap in coverage does not automatically trigger the filing. If DPS sends a notice requiring one, your insurer files it on your behalf.
Will 30/60/25 satisfy my auto loan?
Usually not. Texas Transportation Code §601.072 requires liability coverage only, which pays other people and does nothing for your own vehicle. Lenders and lessors typically require collision and comprehensive coverage in the financing contract, sometimes with a capped deductible and the lienholder listed on the policy. Read the insurance clause in your loan or lease — it is a contract obligation, separate from state law.
If I file a UM claim, does my insurer just pay it?
No claim outcome is guaranteed. Under Texas Insurance Code §1952.106, UM coverage pays only what the insured is legally entitled to recover from the at-fault driver, so that entitlement must be established first (A.P. Law Group, undated). Texas Insurance Code §1952.109 does place the burden of proving the other driver's uninsured status on the insurer (Coverage Classroom, undated). Each claim is still adjudicated on its own facts and on the insurer's filed policy language.