Texas minimum auto insurance requirements: what 30/60/25 means

The minimum auto insurance Texas requires is 30/60/25 liability coverage: $30,000 for injuries to one person, $60,000 for injuries to everyone hurt in one accident, and $25,000 for damage to other people's property. It pays for harm you cause to others. It does not pay for your own car or your own injuries.

Those three numbers are among the most quoted figures in Texas insurance, and they turn up in exam questions, in conversations with every new client, and in plenty of out-of-date study material. This guide explains what each number does, where the limit stops protecting a driver, and how the other required-to-offer coverages fit around it.

What are the minimum auto insurance limits in Texas?

Texas law sets the floor in Transportation Code section 601.072, and the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) states it plainly in its auto insurance guide: at least $30,000 of coverage for injuries per person, up to a total of $60,000 per accident, and $25,000 for property damage. People shorten that to "30/60/25".

The first two numbers work together. The $60,000 figure is a ceiling on the whole accident, and no single injured person can collect more than the $30,000 per-person limit from the minimum policy, even if the accident total has room left.

What does each number actually pay for?

Liability coverage pays when you are at fault. The bodily injury limits cover the other driver's and their passengers' medical bills and some related expenses. The property damage limit covers the other driver's car and anything else you hit, such as a fence, a mailbox or a storefront.

Here is the part that catches people. Liability coverage is for other people. If you cause a crash and your own car is wrecked, a policy that carries only the minimum pays nothing toward your repairs. If you are hurt, it pays nothing toward your bills. Those protections come from other coverages, which are separate decisions.

Why is 30/60/25 often not enough?

The limits are a floor set by statute, not an estimate of what accidents cost. A single hospital stay can use up a $30,000 per-person limit quickly. A late-model vehicle can cost more to replace than $25,000. When damages exceed the limits, the at-fault driver is responsible for the rest. TDI's own guide warns that the minimum limits might be too low if you cause a multi-vehicle accident or the other driver's car is totaled, and that the other driver could sue you for the difference.

This is the core of the advice an agent gives. The minimum is the cheapest way to meet the law. Whether it is enough depends on what the client has to lose.

Are the old 25/50/25 limits still in force?

No. Texas used to require 25/50/25. The higher bodily injury floors took effect through the Motor Vehicle Safety Responsibility Act changes, and TDI told insurers about the switch in a commissioner's bulletin explaining that the bodily injury minimums rose while the property damage minimum stayed at $25,000.

The old figures still circulate in dated blog posts and old study notes. If you are preparing for the exam, this matters: when you read the statute, read subsection (a-1). Subsection (a) now says only "Expired." and is where the older figures lived.

What does Texas make insurers offer besides liability?

Liability is the only coverage the law requires you to carry as a basic way of showing financial responsibility. Two others work through a different rule: the insurer must put them in front of you, and you can decline.

• Personal injury protection (PIP). TDI says all auto policies in Texas include PIP, which pays your and your passengers' medical bills and also covers things like lost wages. If you do not want it, you must tell the company in writing. It is included unless rejected.
• Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage (UM/UIM). This pays if you are hit by a driver with no insurance, not enough insurance, or one who cannot be identified in a hit-and-run. Insurers must offer it, and if you do not want it you must reject it in writing.

Notice the pattern. Both are "provide it unless the customer rejects it in writing", and a rejection can carry forward to renewals until the customer asks for the coverage back in writing. PIP is not a minimum limit in the way liability is, and the statute does not set a required PIP amount. The Insurance Code caps what an insurer must offer, which is a different thing. If you ever see an answer choice that calls a PIP dollar figure "the Texas minimum", treat it with suspicion.

How do collision, comprehensive and the rest fit in?

The remaining coverages are choices, not legal minimums. They are what people mean by "full coverage":

"Full coverage" is not an official term. It is an everyday label for liability plus collision and comprehensive, often with higher limits. If a lender holds a loan on the car, TDI notes the lender will require collision and comprehensive coverage even though the state does not.

What does this mean for you as a candidate or new agent?

Two practical points.

First, auto insurance is a named topic in the Texas section of the licensing exam outline, and it is built on a handful of repeating ideas: the 30/60/25 limits, why financial responsibility exists, and the offer-and-reject rules for PIP and uninsured motorists. Memorize the limits as person, accident, property, and practice the scenario where the per-person limit and the per-accident limit give different answers. You can test yourself with the free practice questions, and the full course covers the Texas auto material lesson by lesson. The content outline guide shows where it sits among the exam domains.

Second, once you are licensed, you will be the person explaining these numbers. A client who buys the minimum should hear, from you, what it leaves out. Reading the same facts from the regulator's consumer guide before you sit the exam is good practice. It is the same wording your future clients will see.

Frequently asked questions

What is the minimum auto insurance in Texas?

The minimum is 30/60/25 liability coverage. That means $30,000 for bodily injury to one person, $60,000 for bodily injury to all people in one accident, and $25,000 for property damage. It is set in Transportation Code section 601.072 and repeated in TDI's auto insurance guide.

Is 30/60/25 full coverage in Texas?

No. It is liability only, which pays for harm you cause to others. Full coverage is an informal term that usually means liability plus collision and comprehensive, which pay for damage to your own car. The state minimum does not repair your vehicle or pay your medical bills after a crash you cause.

Do I have to buy collision and comprehensive in Texas?

The state does not require them. Liability is the legal minimum. However, if you still owe money on the car, TDI says your lender will require collision and comprehensive coverage as a condition of the loan, so financed cars almost always carry both.

Is personal injury protection required in Texas?

PIP is included in every Texas auto policy unless you reject it in writing. It is not a separate statutory minimum limit. It pays your and your passengers' medical bills and also covers items such as lost wages, which medical payments coverage does not.

Does Texas make insurers offer uninsured motorist coverage?

Yes. Insurers must offer uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage, and you can decline it only by telling the company in writing. It pays if you are hit by a driver with no insurance, too little insurance, or one who leaves the scene.

Are the Texas minimums still 25/50/25?

No. The old 25/50/25 limits were replaced by 30/60/25, with the per-person and per-accident bodily injury limits rising while the property damage limit stayed at $25,000. Older articles and study notes may still show the outdated figures.