Car Insurance in Texas

What do you need to know about car insurance in Texas?

Texas is a fault state, so the driver who causes a crash pays for the harm. The law makes you carry liability insurance of at least $30,000 for each person you injure, $60,000 for everyone hurt in one crash and $25,000 for other people’s property. That is “30/60/25.” It pays the people you hurt, not you or your car. Our minimum coverage page shows what happens when a crash costs more.

Four Texas quirks matter more than most drivers expect:

• Some coverage is automatic. Injury and uninsured-driver coverage come with your policy unless you reject them in writing.
• The state checks. A state database matches insurer records to registered cars, and it sometimes gets things wrong.
• Tickets have limited pricing power. Most insurers may not raise your rate for a traffic ticket.
• Comprehensive costs a lot. That coverage pays for hail, flood and theft, and Texas drivers pay far more for it than the national average.

Do you already have PIP and uninsured motorist coverage?

Probably, unless you rejected them. Two terms first. Personal injury protection (PIP) pays your own medical bills, lost income and household help after a crash, whoever caused it. Uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage (UM/UIM) pays you when the other driver has no insurance or too little.

Texas insurers must include both in a liability policy. You can say no, but a named insured has to do it in writing. After that, your insurer does not have to add either back at renewal unless you ask in writing.

Both have limits. An insurer only has to provide $2,500 of PIP per person. UM/UIM for car damage carries a $250 deductible, which TDI says is likely much lower than a collision deductible. For a hit-and-run, a policy can require that the other car actually touched you or your property, and TDI says to report the crash to police.

Open your declarations page, the summary at the front of your policy, and look for a line for each coverage. Our uninsured motorist guide explains the choices.

How does Texas check that you are insured?

Insurers report policies to TexasSure, a state database that matches them to registered cars. Officers and county registration offices can look you up. An officer must try that check before writing a no-insurance ticket. A judge dismisses the charge if you show a policy that was active that day.

The database shows real gaps and false alarms. On Aug. 31, 2026, 12.1% of registrations had no matching policy. That includes some business and self-insured cars, so it overstates uninsured drivers. It also varies by place. Among the 12 largest counties, the share runs from 7.8% in Williamson to 20.1% in Hidalgo. Treat uninsured-driver coverage as a real need.

A notice can be wrong. TexasSure lists these causes:

• A new or changed policy, which takes about three weeks to appear.
• An out-of-state or commercial policy, which insurers do not report.
• A name, address or VIN (the car’s ID number) that does not match your registration.

Compare the VIN on your policy with the car and have your insurer fix errors. If the registration record is wrong, send TxDMV Form VTR-270. Penalties are on our uninsured driver page.

Can an insurer raise your rate for a traffic ticket in Texas?

For most insurers, no. Texas bars them from raising your price because of a traffic charge or conviction, such as speeding. At-fault accidents are different and can raise it.

There are two catches. County mutual companies, a type of insurer that is exempt from most Texas insurance laws, are not covered by the ban. And Texas’s own consumer guide still says companies charge more after accidents or tickets. So ask your insurer.

The state’s HelpInsure price tool offers a clue. We recounted its June 2025 data for a clean-record driver in four ZIP areas. Adding a speeding ticket raised every county-mutual listing (18 of 18) but left 14 of 17 other listings unchanged. The tool never defines “speeding ticket,” so read this as a pattern, not proof.

A DWI is a separate case. Most insurers must add a surcharge for up to three years after a conviction. See car insurance after a DUI in Texas.

Can a driving safety course wipe out a ticket?

Often, yes. Since Jan. 1, 2025, many drivers can ask a judge to dismiss a moving-violation ticket after an approved course. You must ask by the date on your ticket, hold a Texas license or permit (or serve on active military duty), have taken no course in the 12 months before the ticket, and show proof of insurance.

Speeding at 95 mph or more, or 25 mph or more over the limit, is excluded. So are commercial license holders. Drivers under 25 qualify for any moving violation. You get 90 days to finish, and the court may charge up to $10. Your insurer cannot cancel you or raise your price because you took the course or the ticket was dismissed.

What does car insurance cost in Texas?

The most neutral number is a state average, not a price you will be quoted. NAIC’s 2024 data, in an edition dated September 2026, put the Texas average at $1,578 per insured vehicle. That is about 10% above the national $1,432. It mixes every driver, limit and deductible, and NAIC warns against comparing states closely.

The Texas gap sits in one line. Comprehensive coverage averaged $455 in Texas against $283 nationally, about 61% more. Liability and collision ran about 10% higher. NAIC estimates Texas comprehensive exposure from data covering about 70% of the market, so treat that line as softer.

Your own price depends on you. Published estimates for a clean-record driver aged 35 to 40 run from $620 to $1,085 a year at 30/60/25. Fuller coverage with collision and comprehensive costs roughly three to four times as much in each source. They share one rate supplier, so they are one family of estimates. For one driver in a San Antonio ZIP area, HelpInsure listed 37 prices from $339 to $3,667. Those rates date from June 2025, so they show spread, not an average. Compare more on our Texas cheap car insurance page and full coverage page.

What are your rights if an insurer cancels or drops you?

• Cancellation: 10 days’ notice. In the first 60 days an insurer needs no reason. Later it needs one, such as nonpayment, a fraudulent claim, or a suspended license or registration for you or another driver in your household. The exception is your policy anniversary, when an insurer can cancel with 60 days’ notice.
• Nonrenewal: 60 days’ notice for policies bought or renewed from 2024, and only after 12 months in force. Weather-damage claims cannot be the reason.
• Written reasons: Since Jan. 1, 2026, insurers must explain a decline, cancellation or nonrenewal in writing without being asked. TDI’s guide predates that, so ask anyway.
• Credit: Credit information alone cannot be the only reason to decline, cancel or nonrenew. At renewal you can ask for a re-rate on a current report once a year.
• Bundling: An insurer cannot force you to buy home and auto together.
• Last resort: After two refusals, the state’s assigned-risk plan sells liability, PIP and UM/UIM only. After three clean years, your insurer must offer a cheaper policy outside it.
• Bill of rights: Insurers must give you the auto Consumer Bill of Rights, and an updated version is due from Jan. 1, 2027.

Where can you get help or file a complaint?

Call the TDI Help Line at 800-252-3439 (8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Central, Monday to Friday) or use TDI’s complaint page. Complaints go through TDI’s online system. TDI cannot decide who caused a crash or make a company pay a claim unless the law or your policy requires it.

If you disagree with your own insurer’s offer, the policy’s appraisal clause lets each side hire an appraiser, with an umpire as tiebreaker. Justice court handles claims under $20,000. The Office of Public Insurance Counsel (877-611-6742) speaks for consumers, and HelpInsure shows sample prices. DPS handles license suspensions and SR-22 filings.

Which Texas page fits your situation?

Big-city pages follow. The last column is the county’s TexasSure share on Aug. 31, 2026, not a city figure.

For background, read no-fault vs at-fault states and how to lower your car insurance, or try the state minimum lookup.

What to do next: a Texas checklist

1. Open your declarations page. Find the PIP and UM/UIM lines. If you rejected either years ago, ask in writing whether to add it back.
2. Treat 30/60/25 as a floor. The $25,000 property limit is one pot for every car and fixture you damage. Price at least two higher limit levels too.
3. Match UM/UIM to your liability limits. About one registration in eight has no matching policy.
4. Keep proof in the car. An insurer’s phone image works, and a new policy can take about three weeks to reach the state database.
5. Plan for hail. If a lender requires collision and comprehensive, compare deductibles before you buy.
6. Tell your insurer about changes. Report a new car and a teen’s 16th birthday. Adding a teen is usually cheaper than a separate policy.
7. Shop at renewal. Ask for a credit re-rate if your score has improved, and never cancel before the new policy starts.

Example, with made-up dates: your new policy starts on the 1st. On the 12th, a letter says TexasSure found no insurance on your truck. Nothing is wrong with your coverage. The database lags about three weeks. Check that the VIN on your policy matches the truck, then follow the instructions on the letter.

Bottom line

If you carry only 30/60/25, check your declarations page this week for PIP and UM/UIM. If either line is missing and you never rejected it, ask your insurer why. If you got a TexasSure letter or a no-insurance ticket, gather proof that your coverage was active on that date, then use the page above that fits your situation.