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Texas Requirements - Fort Worth
Auto Insurance
In Texas, the minimum Vehicle Liability 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.
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 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.
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