5+ years writing insurance and personal finance topics
Auto, home, health, and life insurance expertise
Elizabeth has extensive insurance industry experience, having written for Insureon, Rate Retriever, and Insurify. She’s also finance and insurance editor for Car and Driver.
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Experienced personal finance writer
Background working with banks and insurance companies
Sarah enjoys helping people find smarter ways to spend their money. She covers auto financing, banking, credit cards, credit health, insurance, and personal loans.
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Updated September 17, 2024
Reading time: 4 minutes
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Table of contents
In Texas, which is an at-fault state, the law requires vehicle owners to have 30/60/25 in liability insurance.[1]
This means you need at least $30,000 per person for bodily injuries, up to a total of $60,000 per accident, and $25,000 in property damage coverage. But a minimum liability-only policy may not provide enough financial protection, so many drivers opt for additional coverage.
What is 30/60/25 insurance?
In Texas, 30/60/25 insurance stands for the minimum requirements for liability insurance. Each coverage limit represents the maximum amount your insurance company will pay toward a single claim.
A policy with 30/60/25 coverage limits provides the following:
$30,000 in bodily injury liability coverage per person
$60,000 in bodily injury liability coverage per accident
$25,000 in property damage liability coverage per accident
It’s important to note that 30/60/25 insurance only covers third-party claims of bodily injury and property damage. It doesn’t provide any coverage for your medical expenses or vehicle damage in the event of an accident or other incident.
Bodily injury liability
Bodily injury liability insurance covers another person’s medical bills, expenses, and lost wages if they get injured in an accident that you caused. Your coverage also extends to other drivers listed on your policy, like a spouse or teen driver, if they cause an accident.[2]
The minimum Texas liability coverage has two bodily injury liability policy limits — $30,000 for each person’s injuries in an accident and $60,000 for all injuries in an accident. Costs can add up quickly in multi-car accidents or serious crashes. If the medical bills exceed your policy limits, the injured person can sue you for the remaining amount owed.
Property damage liability
Property damage liability insurance covers damage to other people’s property that you cause in an at-fault accident. This can include damage to another vehicle, a storefront, a fence, a mailbox, or another physical structure. Your property damage liability insurance also applies to other drivers insured on your policy.
A 30/60/25 insurance policy only has a single coverage limit of $25,000 for all the property damage you cause to others in an accident. If a claim exceeds the $25,000 limit, you’ll have to pay the difference out of pocket.
Does Texas require any other type of coverage?
All minimum-coverage auto insurance policies in Texas include personal injury protection. PIP covers medical expenses for you and your passengers after an accident, regardless of which driver was at fault. It also covers lost wages, rehabilitation costs, and some other non-medical expenses, like child care.
Insurers automatically include PIP with Texas 30/60/25 policies, but you don’t have to keep it. If you don’t want PIP coverage, you’ll need to provide your insurer with a written request to drop the coverage from your policy.[3]
Optional add-on coverages
A Texas 30/60/25 liability insurance policy will satisfy Texas state laws, but most drivers benefit from having more protection. Here are some of the most common optional insurance policies that Texas drivers should consider:
Collision coverage
Collision insurance helps pay for collision-related vehicle repairs after an accident or single-car crash.
Comprehensive coverage
Comprehensive insurance pays for repairs from non-collision damage to your vehicle after covered incidents like fires, floods, vandalism, theft, and hail.
Medical payments coverage
Medical payments coverage, or MedPay, provides a small amount of coverage for your and your passengers’ medical bills after an accident, regardless of fault.
Uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage
Uninsured/underinsured motorist insurance covers your bodily injuries and property damage if an uninsured driver hits you or if someone who doesn’t have enough insurance to pay for your losses in full causes an accident.
Gap coverage
If you lease or finance your car and it gets totaled or stolen, gap insurance covers the difference between your car’s actual cash value and what you still owe the lender.
Roadside assistance coverage
Roadside assistance coverage pays for some basic car repairs if you get stranded, like flat-tire changes, fuel delivery, lockout services, and towing.
Average cost of car insurance in Texas
The average cost of car insurance in Texas is $119 per month for a liability policy and $245 per month for a full-coverage policy. Because full coverage provides more protection than liability-only coverage, it’s more expensive.
Car insurance premiums in Texas are higher than the U.S. average. The U.S. national average car insurance rate is $104 per month for liability-only coverage and $211 per month for full coverage, Insurify data shows.
Many factors affect car insurance premiums in the state of Texas, including your age and gender, credit history, vehicle type, coverage limits, and deductibles. Different insurance companies also charge varying rates. Comparing quotes from several insurers can help you find the cheapest car insurance.
Texas 30/60/25 insurance FAQs
Texas requires drivers to get 30/60/25 insurance, which is the bare-minimum coverage you can legally have. If you live in the Lone Star State, here are some other important things to know about the car insurance requirements in Texas.
What does the ‘60’ in ‘30/60/25 coverage’ refer to?
The “60” in a 30/60/25 insurance policy means that you must have at least $60,000 in bodily injury liability coverage per accident. The “30” stands for $30,000 in bodily injury liability coverage per person, and the “25” stands for $25,000 in property damage liability coverage per accident.
What is the minimum bodily injury coverage in Texas?
The minimum bodily injury liability coverage in Texas is 30/60, which means you need to have $30,000 in bodily injury liability coverage per person and $60,000 per accident. These numbers represent the maximum amounts your insurer will pay for a covered claim.
Do you have to add your teenager to your car insurance in Texas?
Depending on your insurer, you might have to add your teen to your car insurance policy. Some Texas car insurance companies require policyholders to add all the licensed drivers in their household to their policy, which includes teens.
Can you get higher coverage limits?
Yes. Texas drivers often benefit from having higher liability limits. An auto insurance policy with higher coverage limits typically has a more expensive premium but provides more financial protection in the event of an at-fault car accident.
What happens if you drive without insurance in Texas?
Texas law requires drivers to have car insurance. In Texas, driving while uninsured is a misdemeanor that carries a fine between $175 and $350 for a first-time offense. For subsequent offenses, the fine ranges from $350 to $1,000.[4]
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Sources
- Texas Department of Insurance. "Auto insurance guide."
- Insurance Information Institute. "What is covered by a basic auto insurance policy?."
- Texas Office of Public Insurance Counsel. "Understanding PIP vs Med-Pay."
- Harris County Justice Courts. "Failure to Maintain Financial Responsibility."
Elizabeth Rivelli is a freelance writer covering insurance and personal finance. She has extensive knowledge of various insurance lines, including property and casualty, health, and life insurance. Her byline has been featured in dozens of publications, including Investopedia, Forbes, Bankrate, NextAdvisor, and Insurance.com.
Experienced personal finance writer
Background working with banks and insurance companies
Sarah enjoys helping people find smarter ways to spend their money. She covers auto financing, banking, credit cards, credit health, insurance, and personal loans.
Featured in