Texas Minimum Insurance Requirements (30/60/25)

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. These are legal minimums, and in a serious crash they often fall short of the actual medical bills and losses involved. This is general information, not legal advice.

What 30/60/25 actually means

Texas requires drivers to carry liability insurance that pays for harm they cause to others. The three numbers break down like this:

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 all injured people in a single crash, no matter how many are hurt.
25,000 dollars for property damage. The most the policy pays for damage to vehicles and other property.

This is liability coverage, meaning it pays others 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 an injured person looks for compensation.

Why the minimums often aren’t enough

The minimums were set to guarantee a baseline, not to fully cover a severe crash. Modern medical care is expensive. A single emergency room visit, imaging, surgery, or a short hospital stay can eat through a 30,000 dollar limit quickly, before accounting for follow-up care, physical therapy, or lost wages.

Property damage limits can be squeezed too. At 25,000 dollars, a newer vehicle that is totaled, or a crash involving more than one vehicle, can exceed what the minimum policy pays. When losses run past the at-fault driver’s limits, the injured person may be left looking for other sources to cover the gap.

Filling the gap: your own coverage

Because minimum limits can leave shortfalls, your own optional coverages become important:

Uninsured/underinsured motorist (UM/UIM): helps pay your losses when the at-fault driver has no insurance or too little. In Texas this is included unless you rejected it in writing.
Collision: pays to repair or replace your vehicle regardless of fault, subject to 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 many 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 carries only 30/60/25 and your losses are higher, their policy pays up to its limit and then stops. That is where your own underinsured motorist coverage can step in to help with remaining covered losses, up to your UIM limit. If the other driver has no insurance at all, uninsured motorist coverage may apply instead.

The practical lesson is that you cannot control what the other driver bought, but you can control your own policy. Reviewing your declarations page to confirm your limits and whether you carry UM/UIM is a simple, worthwhile step.

Frequently asked questions

Is 30/60/25 enough coverage?

It is the legal minimum, not a measure of what a serious crash costs. Medical bills and vehicle losses frequently exceed these limits, which is why many 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 available 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?

Despite the requirement, some drivers are uninsured. Your own uninsured motorist coverage is designed for that situation and can help pay your losses when there is no liability policy to pursue.