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Auto Insurance Coverages
The Texas Personal Automobile Policy offers eight types of coverage. Basic liability coverage meets the state´s financial responsibility laws. If you still owe money on your car, your lender will require you to also have collision and comprehensive coverage.
The following describes the eight types of coverage available in the Texas Personal Automobile Policy. Auto insurers may offer alternative policies if approved in advance by TDI. Read your policy carefully, as your coverages and policy terms could differ from those listed below.
Liability Coverage
Pays: Other people’s expenses for accidents caused by drivers covered under your policy, up to your policy’s dollar limits. These may include the other person’s
- medical and funeral costs, lost wages, and compensation for pain and suffering
- car repair or replacement costs
- auto rental while their car is being repaired
- punitive damages awarded by a court.
Liability insurance also pays attorney fees if you are sued and bail up to $250 if you are arrested.
Covers: You, your family members, and other people driving your car with your permission, even if they don’t have their own liability insurance and are not named on your policy. You and your family members also are covered when driving someone else’s automobile – including a rental car – but not a car that you don’t own but have regular access to, such as a company car.
Who qualifies as a family member?
Your auto policy covers your spouse, blood relatives, in-laws, adopted children, wards, and foster children living in your home, even if not named on the policy. Family members attending school away from home and a spouse living elsewhere during a marital separation also are covered.
Medical Payments Coverage
Pays: Medical and funeral bills arising from accidents, including those in which the victim was a pedestrian or a bicyclist.
Covers: You, your family members, and passengers in your car, regardless of who caused the accident.
Personal Injury Protection (PIP) Coverage
Pays: Same as medical payments coverage, plus 80 percent of lost income and the cost of hiring a caregiver for an injured person.
Covers: You, your family members, and passengers in your car, regardless of who caused the accident.
An insurance company must offer you $2,500 in PIP, but you can buy more. If you don’t want PIP, you must reject it in writing.
Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist (UM/UIM) Coverage
Pays: Your expenses from an accident caused by an uninsured motorist or if the other driver did not have enough insurance to cover your bills, up to your policy’s dollar limits. Also pays for accidents caused by a hit-and-run driver if you reported the accident promptly to the police.
- Bodily injury UM/UIM pays without deductibles for medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, disfigurement, and permanent or partial disability.
- Property damage UM/UIM pays for auto repairs, a rental car, and damage to items carried in your car. There is an automatic $250 deductible. This means you must pay up to $250 of the repairs yourself.
Covers: You, your family members, passengers in your car, and others driving your car with your permission.
Insurers must offer UM/UIM coverage, but you can reject it in writing.
Collision (Damage to Your Car) Coverage
Pays: The cost of repairing or replacing your car after an accident, regardless of who was driving or who was at fault. Payment is limited to your car’s actual cash value, minus your deductible. Actual cash value is the market value of a car like yours before it was damaged.
Comprehensive (Physical Damage Other than Collision) Coverage
Pays: The cost of replacing or repairing your car if it is stolen or damaged by fire, vandalism, hail, or another cause other than collision. Comprehensive coverage also pays for a rental car or other temporary transportation if your car is stolen. Your policy won’t pay for an auto theft unless you report it to the police. Payment is limited to your car’s actual cash value, minus your deductible.
Towing and Labor Coverage
Pays: Towing charges when your car can’t be driven. Also pays labor charges, such as changing a tire, at the place where your car broke down.
Rental Reimbursement Coverage
Pays: A set daily amount for a rental car if your car is stolen or is being repaired because of damage covered by your policy.
Coverage for Stereo Equipment
Your policy won’t pay for tapes, CDs, cellular phones, citizen band radios, or stereo equipment not permanently installed in your car. However, you can buy endorsements to your policy that provide separate coverage for these items for an additional premium.
Insurance Coverage When Renting a Car
Auto rental agencies offer collision damage waivers as well as liability policies. The collision damage waiver is not insurance. It is an agreement that the rental company will waive its right to recover the costs of the damage to the auto from the renter with certain exceptions, regardless of who is at fault.
If you have auto insurance, your policy may already cover damage to a rental car. Your coverage limit, however, might be less than the value of a rental car. Read your policy carefully to know what´s covered and the coverage limits. If your coverage limit is too low, consider increasing it. You will pay more in premium, but it may be cheaper than purchasing additional coverage through the rental agency, especially if you rent cars often. The Texas Automobile Rental Liability Policy provides liability insurance for renters who do not have a personal auto policy.
If you don´t own a car, but borrow or rent cars often, you can buy a non-owner liability policy. A non-owner policy pays for damages and injuries you cause when driving a borrowed or rented car but not for damage to the auto you are driving.
Coverage When Driving in Other States, Canada, and Mexico
The Texas automobile policy automatically meets the financial responsibility requirements of other U.S. states and Canada. Mexico, however, does not recognize U.S. auto liability policies.
Mexico does not require drivers to have automobile liability insurance. However, drivers can be held criminally and financially responsible for any auto accidents they cause. If you´re in an accident that results in an injury, police in Mexico may detain you until they determine who is at fault. You will have to show that you either have insurance recognized by the Mexican government or the financial ability to pay any judgment against you.
You can buy Mexican liability insurance from Texas agents who specialize in it. Some U.S. companies provide a free endorsement extending your policy´s coverage to infrequent trips of up to 10 days and as far as 25 miles into Mexico. You can buy coverage for longer stays, but it is usually valid only within 25 miles of the border. Telephone books in border towns list insurance agents that specialize in car insurance for travel in Mexico. Your local agent also might be able to help you find coverage with a Texas-licensed Mexican company.
You also may be able to buy a limited Mexico “tourist” endorsement that extends your Texas liability coverage to pay expenses exceeding those covered by a Mexican liability policy. This endorsement covers trips of any distance and any length of time. Ask your agent which endorsements your insurance company offers.
Coverage of New or Additional Automobiles
If you buy a new or additional car, your policy may automatically cover it, but there are certain limitations. Read your policy carefully to know whether new or additional cars are automatically covered.
- In general, an additional car usually has the same coverage as the car with the broadest coverage provided by your policy. For example, if you have two cars – one with liability coverage only and one with liability, collision, and comprehensive – and you buy a third car, the third car will usually automatically has liability, collision, and comprehensive coverage.
- A replacement car usually has the same coverage as the car it replaced. For example, if you trade in an older car that only had liability coverage, the new car will usually automatically have only liability coverage.
Be sure to notify your insurance company as soon as possible that you have added or replaced a car and which coverages you want. You could lose coverage on a new or additional car if you wait longer than 30 days.
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