Texas law sets a floor for auto liability. A home policy is a different contract, and several expensive losses sit outside it. This page quotes the statute and the Texas Department of Insurance. It is not a quote, and it is not a substitute for the declarations page.
Auto minimumsHome exclusionsDeductiblesQuestions
The auto liability minimum is 30/60/25
Those figures are in Texas Transportation Code section 601.072, effective January 1, 2011. The Texas Department of Insurance states the same minimum and calls it 30/60/25 coverage. Liability pays to repair or replace the other driver’s car and pays other people’s medical bills when you are at fault. It does not repair your car.
What else is on a Texas auto policy
Personal injury protection is included unless you reject it in writing. It pays medical bills and can pay lost wages. Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage has to be offered. If you do not want it, you reject it in writing. It pays when the other driver has no insurance, not enough insurance, or leaves the scene. Collision and comprehensive are optional under state law. A lender can still require them while you owe money on the car.
Proof of insurance is how most drivers show they can pay for a crash they cause. The policy limit is the most the company pays for that coverage. It is not a promise that every loss is covered.
What a Texas home policy leaves out
Home insurance is not required by Texas law. A lender can require it if you still owe money on the house. Most policies combine dwelling, other structures, personal property, additional living expenses, and liability. The Department of Insurance says most policies pay for fire, lightning, a sudden and accidental water release, explosion, theft, and, away from the Gulf Coast, windstorm, hurricane, and hail.
Flood
Most home policies do not cover flooding. A lender in a mapped flood zone will require a separate flood policy. The Department of Insurance also notes that flooding is not limited to those maps. More than half of the homes flooded by Hurricane Harvey were outside a designated flood zone.
Sewer or drain backup
A sudden pipe leak is not the same as water that backs up through a sewer or drain. Backup of sewers or drains is on the Department of Insurance list of common add-ons. If it is not on the declarations, the base policy is not paying that loss.
Ordinance or law
After a fire or storm, the city may require new wiring, elevation, or other code work before you can rebuild. The Department of Insurance lists extra construction cost to meet local building codes as an add-on. The base dwelling payment does not automatically include that extra cost.
On the Gulf Coast, windstorm, hurricane, and hail may not be in the standard home policy at all. The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association writes wind coverage in designated coastal counties when the regular market does not. Inland cities such as Dallas, Austin, Waco, and Breckenridge are not in that coastal program. Wind and hail there are a deductible question, not a separate state pool.
A continuous leak, wear and tear, termites, and earthquake are also on the Department of Insurance list of what most policies do not cover. Vacancy for the number of days the policy names can suspend coverage too.
How a claim deductible works
The Department of Insurance defines a deductible as the amount of a claim you must pay yourself. You can have a different deductible for each coverage. The declarations page lists the amount. The company also pays only up to the dollar limit for that coverage. Most companies, the Department says, want the house insured for at least 80 percent of its replacement cost. Some want 100 percent. That is a company rule about the limit, not the deductible.
A dollar deductible
The Texas Department of Insurance explains the mechanic with a $1,000 claim and a $300 deductible. The company pays $700. On a larger repair, the same guide uses a $10,000 replacement-cost roof and a $2,000 deductible, and the company pays $8,000. Those are teaching examples. They are not a Texas requirement and they are not a Freedom price.
A percentage deductible
Some policies, often for wind or hail, use a percent of the dwelling limit instead of a flat dollar amount. If the declarations say 2 percent and the dwelling limit is $200,000, the deductible for that type of claim is $4,000. The percent is whatever the policy says. It is not a statewide minimum.
One claim, one deductible, then the limit
You do not pay the deductible on top of a bill the company has already paid in full. The company applies it to the covered loss and stops at the dollar limit for that coverage. You can have a different deductible for a different coverage. If the loss is excluded, the deductible never comes into play, because there is no covered claim.
Questions people ask
What auto insurance does Texas require?
Texas Transportation Code section 601.072 sets the minimum at $30,000 for bodily injury to one person, $60,000 for bodily injury in one collision, and $25,000 for property damage. The Texas Department of Insurance calls that 30/60/25.
Does the Texas minimum fix my own car?
No. Liability pays the other person. Collision and comprehensive pay for your car. The Texas Department of Insurance notes that a lender can require those if you still owe money on the car.
Does a Texas home policy cover flood?
No. The Texas Department of Insurance says most home policies do not cover flooding. Flood insurance is a separate policy. The Insurance Information Institute says the same thing about a standard homeowners policy.
Is sewer backup the same as a burst pipe?
No. A sudden and accidental water leak is on the Texas Department of Insurance list of what most policies cover. Backup of sewers or drains is on its list of add-ons, not the base policy.
What is ordinance or law coverage?
It is the extra cost to repair or rebuild to current local building codes after a covered loss. The Texas Department of Insurance lists that extra cost as an add-on, not as part of the basic policy.
How does a deductible work on a claim?
You pay the deductible, and the company pays the covered amount above it, up to the policy limit. The Texas Department of Insurance uses this example: on a $1,000 claim with a $300 deductible, the company pays $700.
Where these figures come from
Texas Transportation Code section 601.072, minimum coverage amounts, as published through January 1, 2026.
Texas Department of Insurance, auto insurance guide, including 30/60/25, personal injury protection, and uninsured motorist.
Texas Department of Insurance, home insurance guide, including flood, backup, building-code costs, and the deductible examples.
Insurance Information Institute, what a standard homeowners policy covers.
City pages that use these rules
Every Texas city page on this site links here. A few places to start:
The same kind of guide for the other states we serve: Colorado, Missouri, and Tennessee.
Get a Texas quote
Call Flower Mound at (972) 798-3769, or start a free auto quote or a free home quote. The minimum is the legal floor. The useful number is the limit and deductible on the quote.
