El Paso
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 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.
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 that persists 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 in the state without
adequate Financial Responsibility or Insurance.
Important Notices
As of
April, 2008, 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 or
canceled or otherwise invalid 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 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.
