Dallas
Auto Insurance Requirements
The
minimum requirements for car insurance in Texas
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.
In order
to meet Texas financial responsibility requirements
your policy must have at least these limits. The
policy must be issued by an authorized insurer. Although 75,000 is
the minimum coverage requirements, higher
limits are available from most insurers if desired.
Important
Notices
As of
April, 2008, New
legislation requires that insurers must report all Effective
policy dates, Expirations and Cancellations to a
statewide database. This will enable law
enforcement to verify coverage validity at the
scene or even before pulling a driver over. This
will also enable officers to
quickly ascertain if the driver has presented them
with an Expired or canceled or otherwise invalid
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 coverage even though
no traffic violation has occurred. Many states have
already implemented this method of use.
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. An annual fine can persist for 2 to 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 without adequate
Financial Responsibility.
State Reciprocal Agreements
The
days of jumping border to a neighboring state
in order to obtain a drivers license are over. In
the past many people after having been suspended, would simply cross
into another 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 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 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.
