Intown Living

Texas law currently requires minimum coverage of $25,000 per injured person, up to a total of $50,000 for everyone injured in an accident, and $25,000 for property damage. This basic coverage is called 25/50/25 coverage. These limits will increase to 30/60/25 on January 1, 2011.

Recently, the State of Texas implemented a program that allows law enforcement officers and designated state users to immediately verify whether a vehicle is insured. The days of fraudulent or false proof of automobile insurance cards and dropping insurance coverage after receiving a valid insurance card are numbered.
TexasSure, Texas' financial responsibility verification program, is a joint project mandated by the 79th Texas Legislature and developed by the Texas Department of Insurance, the Texas Department of Public Safety, the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles, and the Texas Department of Information Resources.

The goal is to reduce the number of uninsured motorists in Texas. An estimated 20 percent of all Texas vehicles are uninsured at any given time. Now, law enforcement officers and other state users have real-time immediate access to insurance information on a given vehicle at their fingertips.

If you have established financial responsibility through an automobile insurance policy, your insurance company will report that information to the state. No action is required on your part unless you are contacted.

However, you may wish to verify that the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) physically showing on your vehicle is the same as that shown on both your insurance policy and vehicle title and registration.

Most policy owners have liability or full coverage. Usually as a requirement from a lien holder, full coverage must be bought by the consumer. Collision, theft and uninsured motorist are usually part of full coverage, among other things.

Consumers may elect to carry basic liability to meet state requirements for financial liability. The consumer has that right to do so if he/she owns the car outright.

Full collision is still recommended if the car is relatively new and the cost of replacing the car after an accident would be a financial burden to the owner.

In summary, the easiest way for drivers in Texas to meet the state’s requirement of financial responsibility is to purchasing car insurance.

For insurance companies that service Houston's Memorial, Tanglewood, Bunker Hill, Hedwig Village, Spring Valley, Piney Point areas be sure to check our Memorial Telephone Directory.