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What is the minimum car insurance required in Texas?

What 30/60/25 pays, what it leaves out, and why most South Texas drivers are safer with higher liability limits.

Updated September 3, 2026 · 3 min read · by Gerino Alejos

Texas requires every registered vehicle to carry liability insurance, the coverage that pays other people when you cause a crash. The least you can carry is written as 30/60/25, and those numbers are dollars in thousands. The limits are set by state law and published by the Texas Department of Insurance.

What 30/60/25 means

All three numbers pay other people. None of it repairs your car, and none of it pays your own doctor bills. That surprises drivers every week. If this is your first policy, start with buying car insurance for the first time in South Texas.

Why the Texas minimum is not enough

Twenty five thousand dollars sounds like plenty until you hit a three year old pickup on Expressway 83. New trucks often total above 40,000 dollars, and a total means the repair costs more than the truck is worth. Whatever the limit does not cover is a debt you owe personally.

The injury side runs out just as fast. One emergency room visit and a few days of care can pass 30,000 dollars with nothing unusual happening.

What it does not include

• Collision, which pays to fix your own car after a wreck you caused.
• Comprehensive, which pays for hail, theft, fire and a cracked windshield.
• Uninsured motorist, which pays you when the driver who hit you has no coverage.
• Personal injury protection, which pays your own medical bills quickly, no matter who caused the crash.
• Rental reimbursement, which pays for a rental while your car is in the shop, and roadside assistance.

What we usually recommend instead

For most South Texas households we suggest 100/300/100. Those numbers are written the same way, in thousands, and they raise the ceiling far enough that an ordinary crash does not turn into a lawsuit.

If you own a home or earn wages a court could take part of, low limits are what put those at risk.

Proof of coverage

Texas checks insurance through a state database called TexasSure, so an officer sees your status at a traffic stop. Keep the card in the car or on your phone anyway. You need it after a crash and at registration.

If money is the constraint

Raise the deductible before you lower the liability limits. A deductible is the part of a repair bill you pay yourself before the policy pays the rest. Moving from 500 dollars to 1,000 lowers what you pay each month, and it only costs you if you file a claim, a request for the policy to pay. Low liability limits cost you at the exact moment you can least afford it. More ways to bring the cost down here. See how a deductible works.

Two coverages Texas makes you reject in writing

Every Texas auto policy comes with personal injury protection unless you turn it down in writing. Companies also have to offer uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage, which pays you when the other driver has no insurance or too little. You can only decline that one in writing too, according to the Texas Department of Insurance.

Your declarations page, the summary sheet that lists what the policy covers, shows both. If either one shows as rejected, someone signed that form at some point, and you can ask to put the coverage back on. See why uninsured motorist coverage matters in South Texas.

We shop it across carriers

Read the liability line on your declarations page and ask whether that number would cover a bad day on the road. We can set the state minimum next to a higher limit so you see the difference. Call our McAllen office at (956) 687 3334, or use the ZIP form on this page. Se habla español.

Gerino Alejos

Licensed insurance agent · License 3128710 · NPN 18243381

Owner of McAllen Insurance Group, an independent agency on North 10th Street in McAllen. Works with clients across Hidalgo, Cameron and Starr counties on Medicare, Marketplace health, life and auto coverage. Se habla español.