Texas Requirements
Austin Auto Insurance
The Texas
minimum Vehicle Liability Insurance Requirements are
25/50/25. That's 25,000 Per accident for bodily injury
per person, 50,000 per accident aggregate for bodily
injury, 25,000 Property damage liability per covered
accident. This provides a total of up to 75,000 for
each covered accident. To meet Texas state financial
responsibility requirements, your policy must have at
least these limits. The policy must be issued by an
insurer authorized to do business within the state.
Although 75,000 is the state's minimum coverage requirements,
higher limits are available from most insurers if desired
or otherwise needed.
Failure to Maintain
Currently,
Failure to maintain Financial Responsibility carries
a hefty fine and several other penalties including Suspension
of your Drivers License. An SR22 Filing Requirement
is usually imposed before you can get the suspension
lifted. The state has recently instituted an annual
fine of 100 dollars that persists for 3 years after
the date of suspension which must be paid in order to
maintain your driving privileges.
As a result
it now typically costs an individual up to 900 dollars
or more in fines and filing fees after an infraction
for driving in the state without adequate Financial
Responsibility or Insurance.
Important Notices
As of March
1, 2007, The state has instituted by enacted legislation
a requirement that auto insurers doing business within
the state must report all insured's Effective policy
dates, Expirations and Cancellations to a statewide
database for use by law enforcement. This will enable
law enforcement to verify coverage validity at the scene
or even before pulling a driver over. This will also
enable law enforcement officers to quickly ascertain
if the driver has presented them with an Expired, Canceled
or otherwise invalid auto insurance card.
If the scenario
follows the usage rules currently followed by many other
states. Drivers may in the near future find that their
drivers license and car or vehicle registration has
been automatically suspended due to a loss of, or a
lapse in auto insurance coverage even though no traffic
violation has occurred. Many states have already implemented
this method of use.
State
Reciprocal Agreements
The days
of jumping state lines to a neighboring state in order
to obtain a drivers license are over. In the past many
people after having their drivers license suspended
in one state, would simply cross into another state
and obtain a New Drivers License. With the age of information
technology this is no longer a viable option. The various
50 states have all entered into reciprocal agreements
wherein an Applicant will be denied a drivers license
in that state until such time as they have resolved
any suspension issues, outstanding tickets and or fines
in their previous state of issue.
License
Address Update
It is important
that your Drivers License address information be correct
and up to date with your State Licensing Authority.
You will usually receive any notice from them regarding
the status of your driving privileges at the home address
listed on your license
Many people
have found only after months or sometimes years later
that they have been driving on a Suspended License.
This is usually the result of outdated address information
on file with the State of issue.
