Texas requires at least 30/60/25 in auto liability coverage, but that's a legal floor, not a recommendation: most households with a home, savings or a steady paycheck should carry 100/300/100 or more. The right limit is the one that covers what a serious crash could cost the people you hit, so the rest doesn't come out of what you own.
If you've ever looked at your declarations page and wondered whether those three numbers are "enough," you're asking the right question. We'll walk through what liability pays, what happens when a claim runs past your limits, what Texas law does and doesn't protect, and how we size limits for real families. If you want the basics of the state minimum first, our guide to what 30/60/25 means covers it, and our complete Texas auto insurance guide covers every other coverage on the policy.
What do auto liability limits pay for in Texas?
The short answer: Texas auto liability limits are the most your insurer will pay for injuries and property damage you cause to other people in one crash, split into a per-person injury limit, a per-crash injury limit and a property damage limit.
Liability coverage is the part of your auto policy that pays other people when you're at fault. The Texas Department of Insurance's auto insurance guide (updated December 11, 2025) puts it simply: it pays to repair the other driver's car and pays the other driver's and passengers' medical bills and some other expenses.
The three numbers read like this, using 100/300/100 as an example:
- 100 = $100,000 of bodily injury coverage for each person you injure.
- 300 = $300,000 of bodily injury coverage for everyone you injure in one crash.
- 100 = $100,000 for damage to other people's cars and property in one crash.
Those limits are a ceiling, not a target. TDI's guide says liability has a dollar limit that is "the most the company will pay, even if the cost is higher," and if you don't have enough coverage, "you'll have to pay the difference yourself."
Why is the Texas 30/60/25 minimum often not enough?
The short answer: Because the average U.S. bodily injury liability claim reached $28,278 in 2024 and the average new vehicle sold for $50,562 in September 2026, so one serious Texas crash can outrun $30,000 per person or $25,000 of property damage.
The minimum comes from Texas Transportation Code §601.072: $30,000 per injured person, $60,000 per crash for injuries and $25,000 for property damage, unchanged since January 1, 2011. In plain English: it's been the same number for more than fifteen years while medical bills and car prices kept climbing.
The Insurance Information Institute's auto claims data (ISO figures for 2015 to 2024, viewed November 7, 2026) shows the average bodily injury claim rising about two-thirds in nine years. An average claim now sits just under the $30,000 per-person minimum, and serious injuries run far above the average.
Property damage has the same problem. Kelley Blue Book's September 2026 transaction price tables (Cox Automotive, October 2026) put the average new vehicle at $50,562 and the average new full-size pickup at $67,573. Total one late-model truck and a $25,000 property damage limit is gone before anyone counts the fence, the light pole or the second car.
TDI says it plainly: the minimum limits "might be too low if you cause a multi-vehicle accident or the other driver's car is totaled."
What happens if damages exceed your liability limits in Texas?
The short answer: In Texas, the injured person can pursue you personally for the amount above your limits, and an unpaid crash judgment can lead the Texas Department of Public Safety to suspend your driver's license and vehicle registrations until it's paid or stayed.
Your insurer pays up to your limit. Anything above that is between you and the person you hurt. TDI's guide says, "The other driver could sue you."
| What's owed | Amount | Paid by 30/60/25 | Paid by 100/300/100 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Driver you hit: medical bills and lost wages | $85,000 | $30,000 | $85,000 |
| Their passenger's injuries | $20,000 | $20,000 | $20,000 |
| Their 2024 pickup, totaled | $48,000 | $25,000 | $48,000 |
| Left for you to pay personally | $78,000 | $0 |
A court judgment for that gap doesn't fade quickly. Under Civil Practice and Remedies Code §34.001, a judgment stays enforceable for 10 years and can be kept alive longer if the creditor keeps issuing writs. In plain English: a crash in your twenties can still be following you in your thirties.
There's a driving consequence too. If a crash judgment isn't paid by the 61st day, the creditor can ask the court clerk to send it to DPS (Transportation Code §601.331).
From there, §601.332 has DPS suspend the debtor's driver's license and vehicle registrations until the judgment is stayed or satisfied and proof of insurance is on file. In plain English: an unpaid judgment can take your keys, not just your money. A court can set up installment payments, but the debt stays.
What does Texas law protect from a judgment, and what doesn't it?
The short answer: Texas exempts your homestead, current wages and a set amount of personal property from most creditors, but savings, investment accounts outside retirement plans and non-homestead real estate can still be reached by a judgment.
Texas is known for strong debtor protections, and they're real. Here's what the statutes say, translated:
- Your homestead. Property Code §41.001 exempts a homestead from seizure for creditors' claims, apart from listed liens such as the mortgage and property taxes. §41.002 caps an urban homestead at 10 acres.
- Current wages. Article XVI, §28 of the Texas Constitution says current wages can't be garnished except for court-ordered child support or spousal maintenance.
- Some personal property. Property Code §42.001 exempts listed personal property, such as furnishings and one vehicle per licensed driver, up to $100,000 in total for a family or $50,000 for a single adult. Qualified retirement plans are protected separately.
Now the other side. Those protections don't erase the judgment, and they don't cover everything. Under Property Code §52.001, a recorded abstract of judgment becomes a lien on your non-exempt real property in that county, like a rental house or a lake lot. Cash in a regular savings or brokerage account isn't on the exempt lists above. And the license suspension we covered earlier applies whether you own a lot or nothing at all.
So the honest takeaway: Texas law may keep a family in its house, but it doesn't keep a judgment from costing you years of savings, your rental property or your ability to drive. Liability limits are the cheaper fix.
What are the common auto liability limit tiers in Texas?
The short answer: Texas drivers usually choose among 30/60/25 (the legal minimum), 50/100/50, 100/300/100, 250/500/100 or a combined single limit such as $300,000 or $500,000, and each step roughly matches a bigger set of assets to protect.
| Limits | Per person / per crash injuries | Property damage | Who it tends to fit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30/60/25 | $30,000 / $60,000 | $25,000 | The legal floor. We don't recommend it for anyone with something to lose. |
| 50/100/50 | $50,000 / $100,000 | $50,000 | A step up for renters or new drivers with few assets. |
| 100/300/100 | $100,000 / $300,000 | $100,000 | Where we start the conversation for most homeowners and families. |
| 250/500/100 | $250,000 / $500,000 | $100,000 | Higher earners, savings or rental property, teen drivers, and anyone planning an umbrella. |
| Combined single limit (CSL) | One pool, such as $300,000 or $500,000, for all injuries and property damage in a crash | Drivers who want one flexible limit; availability depends on the carrier. | |
A combined single limit is one dollar amount that covers all bodily injury and property damage from a single crash, with no separate per-person cap. In plain English: a $300,000 CSL could pay $250,000 to one badly injured person, where 100/300/100 would stop at $100,000 for that person. Not every carrier offers CSL on personal auto, so ask before you plan around it.
The Legislature has looked at raising the floor. SB 1674 and HB 4178 in the 2025 session would have moved the minimum to 50/100/40, and both died when the session ended June 2, 2025. That tells you lawmakers know 30/60/25 is thin, even if the number hasn't changed.
How do you size liability limits to your assets and income?
The short answer: Add up what a Texas judgment could actually reach, such as savings, non-retirement investments and non-homestead property, think about the assets your income will build, and carry liability limits at or above that total.
Here's the five-step process we use with clients at the kitchen table:
- List what's reachable. Savings and checking balances, brokerage accounts outside retirement plans, equity in a rental or second property, and business interests.
- Think ahead, not just today. Texas protects current wages from garnishment, but a judgment can last a decade or longer and reach the savings and property you build with that income.
- Count your drivers. Every driver in the house shares your limits. A newly licensed teen is the classic reason to step up, which our guide to adding a teen driver covers.
- Pick the tier that covers the total. If what's reachable is more than your per-person limit, move up a tier. If it's more than the top tier your carrier offers, that's where an umbrella comes in.
- Match the rest of the policy. Set your UM/UIM to the same limits, and keep personal injury protection (PIP) on the policy.
Higher limits do cost more, and how much more depends on your drivers, vehicles, ZIP code and carrier. Rather than guess, we'll price two or three tiers side by side so you can see the actual difference for your household before you decide.
Why do your liability limits cap your UM/UIM coverage?
The short answer: Texas Insurance Code §1952.105 says uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage can't be offered above your own liability limits, so low liability limits also put a low ceiling on the coverage that protects your family.
Under Insurance Code §1952.105, insurers offer UM/UIM bodily injury and property damage in the amounts you want, but not above the matching liability limits on your policy. In plain English: if your liability is 30/60/25, your UM/UIM can't go higher than 30/60/25 either.
That matters because UM/UIM is what pays you when the other driver has no insurance or too little. Raising liability to 100/300/100 lets you raise UM/UIM to match, so you protect your own family as well as you protect strangers. Our guide to uninsured motorist coverage in Texas explains how that coverage pays.
Where does an umbrella policy fit above auto liability?
The short answer: An umbrella policy adds liability coverage on top of your Texas auto and home liability limits and pays after those limits are used up, and the umbrella insurer sets how high your auto limits must be underneath it.
The Insurance Information Institute describes umbrella or excess liability as coverage that pays "when your underlying coverages are exhausted." It typically sits above both your auto and homeowners liability.
Two practical points. First, the umbrella carrier decides what auto liability you need underneath it, so set your auto limits with that in mind instead of buying the umbrella first. Second, an umbrella makes the most sense when what you'd stand to lose is larger than the top auto tier, or when you have a teen driver or a rental property. Ask us and we'll walk through whether it fits your situation.
How do you check and raise your liability limits?
The short answer: Find the bodily injury and property damage liability lines on your Texas declarations page, compare them with what you'd stand to lose, and ask your agent or insurer to price and raise them.
- Pull your declarations page from your insurer's app or your renewal packet.
- Read the liability line. It will show three numbers (like 30/60/25) or one combined single limit.
- Check UM/UIM and PIP on the same page. Thin liability usually means thin UM/UIM.
- Ask for two or three tiers priced side by side, with every other coverage held the same, so you're comparing apples to apples.
- Confirm the change in writing and check the updated declarations page.
Our public carrier lineup for auto coverage is Geico, Progressive, Liberty Mutual and Safeco. We re-confirm which carriers can write your specific policy before every quote, because appetite and appointments change, and we're not appointed with every carrier in Texas. When we re-shop coverage, clients save on average about $500 a year, and we'd rather put that toward higher limits than toward a thinner policy. Our comparison walkthrough shows how we hold coverage constant while we shop, and our guide to switching without a coverage gap covers the move itself. Start on our auto insurance page or get a quote.
The bottom line
30/60/25 keeps you legal. It doesn't keep you protected. Size your liability to what a judgment could reach, match your UM/UIM to it, keep PIP, and look at an umbrella once your assets outgrow the top tier. If you're not sure where you stand, send us your declarations page and we'll walk through it with you in plain English.
Last reviewed by the Watson Insurance team on November 7, 2026. Statute references are to Transportation Code chapter 601, Insurance Code §1952.105, Property Code chapters 41, 42 and 52, Civil Practice and Remedies Code §34.001 and Texas Constitution art. XVI; III claim data and Kelley Blue Book prices are re-checked each quarter. Educational only, not personalized insurance advice.
