Texas auto · Deductibles · The trade
How much does raising an auto deductible save in Texas?
On collision and comprehensive, a higher deductible usually lowers the premium, because you agreed to pay more of the next claim yourself. There is no honest statewide percent for moving from $500 to $1,000. The only real number is the difference on two quotes for the same car, the same drivers, and the same limits. Liability usually has no deductible at all.
Start with car insurance in Texas and high or low deductibles.
Which coverages even have a deductible
| Coverage | Deductible? |
|---|---|
| Bodily injury and property damage liability | Usually none. Raising a deductible does not apply. Texas requires liability. The choice there is the limit, not a deductible. How much car insurance. |
| Collision | Yes. This is crash damage to your car. Collision. |
| Comprehensive | Yes, and it is a separate number. Hail, theft, flood, fire, and animal strikes. Glass rules vary. Some carriers waive the comprehensive deductible for glass only. Ask. Comprehensive. |
| Uninsured motorist | Depends on the form. Do not assume the collision deductible is also the UM deductible. |
How to read the savings without a fake percent
Price the same policy at two deductibles. Subtract the annual premiums. That difference is what you save per year by taking the higher deductible. Divide the extra dollars you would pay in a claim by that annual savings. The result is how many claim-free years it takes before the higher deductible has paid for itself.
Example only, not a quote: the premium drops $80 a year when you raise collision from $500 to $1,000. The extra you pay in a crash is $500. $500 divided by $80 is a little over six years. One hail claim inside those six years wipes the savings out, because comprehensive has its own deductible and Texas hail hits comprehensive, not collision. The first step up, $250 to $500 or $500 to $1,000, often saves more premium than the next step, $1,000 to $2,000. The curve flattens. Run the math on your quote. Do not borrow someone else’s percent.
A lender or a lease can cap the deductible, often at $500 or $1,000. A higher number the bank will not accept is not a savings. If you cannot write the deductible check this month, the lower premium is a loan you did not mean to take. Product overview: Texas auto insurance.
Two cars, glass, and the limit you should not cut
Each vehicle has its own collision deductible and its own comprehensive deductible. Raising both cars at once doubles the out-of-pocket day if one storm hails the whole driveway. Price them separately. Glass is the small claim that makes a high comprehensive deductible feel worse than the premium savings. If the carrier does not waive glass, a rock chip you want repaired today comes out of the comprehensive deductible. Ask that question before you take the higher number.
Do not raise the deductible by cutting liability limits to make the premium move. Liability is what pays other people, and it usually has no deductible. The dollars you save on collision are small next to the gap a low bodily-injury limit leaves after one injury. Change the deductible on a matched quote. Leave the liability limit as its own decision.
