Texas minimum auto insurance is 30/60/25: 30,000 dollars of bodily injury coverage per person, 60,000 dollars per accident, and 25,000 dollars for property damage. Those are legal floors, and in a serious crash they often fall well short of the actual medical bills and losses. This is general information, not legal advice.
What 30/60/25 actually means
Texas makes drivers carry liability insurance that pays for the harm they cause other people. Here’s what the three numbers mean:
- 30,000 dollars per injured person. The most the policy pays for one person’s bodily injuries in a crash.
- 60,000 dollars per accident. The total for everyone injured in a single crash, no matter how many people are hurt.
- 25,000 dollars for property damage. The most the policy pays for damage to vehicles and other property.
This is liability coverage. It pays other people when the policyholder is at fault. It does not pay for the at-fault driver’s own injuries or vehicle. Because Texas is an at-fault state, the responsible driver’s liability insurance is usually the first place you look for compensation.
Why the minimums often aren’t enough
These limits were set to guarantee a floor, not to cover a bad crash. Medical care isn’t cheap. One emergency room visit, imaging, surgery, or even a short hospital stay can burn through a 30,000 dollar limit fast, before you even get to follow-up care, physical therapy, or lost wages.
Property damage limits get squeezed too. At 25,000 dollars, a newer vehicle that’s totaled, or a crash involving more than one vehicle, can run past what the minimum policy pays. When your losses run past the at-fault driver’s limits, you’re left hunting for other sources to cover the gap.
Filling the gap: your own coverage
Because minimum limits can leave you short, your own optional coverages start to matter:
- Uninsured/underinsured motorist (UM/UIM): helps pay your losses when the at-fault driver has no insurance or too little. In Texas it’s included unless you rejected it in writing.
- Collision: pays to repair or replace your vehicle regardless of fault, minus your deductible.
- Personal injury protection (PIP) or medical payments: can help with medical costs and, for PIP, certain other expenses.
Carrying limits above the state minimum, and keeping UM/UIM in place, is how a lot of drivers protect themselves against the reality that others may carry only the bare minimum, or nothing at all.
What happens when the other driver is underinsured
If the at-fault driver only carries 30/60/25 and your losses are higher, their policy pays up to its limit and then stops. That’s where your own underinsured motorist coverage can step in to help with the remaining covered losses, up to your UIM limit. If the other driver has no insurance at all, uninsured motorist coverage may apply instead.
You can’t control what the other driver bought, but you can control your own policy. Pull your declarations page, confirm your limits, and check whether you carry UM/UIM. It’s a simple step that’s worth taking.
Frequently asked questions
Is 30/60/25 enough coverage?
It’s the legal minimum, not a measure of what a serious crash actually costs. Medical bills and vehicle losses often blow past these limits, which is why a lot of drivers carry higher liability limits and keep UM/UIM coverage. This is general information, not legal advice.
What does the 60,000 dollar number cover?
The 60,000 dollars is the total bodily injury coverage for everyone injured in a single accident, while the 30,000 dollars is the cap for any one person. If several people are hurt, they share the per-accident total.
What if the at-fault driver has no insurance?
Some drivers are uninsured, requirement or not. Your own uninsured motorist coverage is built for exactly that, and it can help pay your losses when there’s no liability policy to go after.
Related reading: Uninsured/underinsured motorist claims, How to file a car accident claim in Texas, Property damage claims, and How much is my case worth?