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Texas Auto Insurance & Crash Law Library

A public legal education and research library for Texas auto insurance, UM/UIM, PIP, proportionate responsibility, commercial vehicle claims, damages and settlement.

Guide 01 + 22 TOPIC GUIDES
30 / 60 / 25 liability framework in existing library
PIP and UM/UIM written-rejection questions
Layout updated September 29, 2026

Browse Texas Guides Guide 01: How to Use This Library

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Texas State Law Library

Numbered guides by legal category

Start with Guide 01 if you are new to the library. Browse all 22 issue guides by legal category. Legal-currentness and source-integrity review remain pending; use current official authority and the actual policy before relying on a summary.

Getting Started in Texas

State-specific working guide: how to use the library, build the claim map, and decide what to do first.

01Texas Citizen’s Guide — How to Use This LibraryFind every policy, preserve UM/UIM and PIP rejection records, identify commercial-vehicle issues, and calendar limitations.›

02–07

Coverage & Insured Status

Required insurance, every policy, insured status, UM/UIM, stacking and policy interpretation.

02Required Auto Insurance & Minimum Limits in TexasMinimum liability and mandatory insurance requirements.›03Finding Applicable Insurance Coverage After a Texas CrashFinding every potentially applicable policy.›04Who Is an Insured Under Texas Auto Insurance?Who qualifies as an insured under the policy.›05Texas Uninsured & Underinsured Motorist CoverageUM/UIM coverage, rejection and conditions.›06Texas UM/UIM Stacking, Multiple Policies & Multi-Vehicle PoliciesMultiple policies, stacking and priority.›07Texas Insurance Policy Interpretation, Exclusions & Coverage DisputesPolicy interpretation, exclusions and coverage defenses.›

08–12

Insurer Duties & Claims Conduct

Disclosure, claims handling, agents, defense and failure to settle.

08Texas Coverage Disclosure & Insurer DutiesCoverage disclosure and insurer duties.›09Texas Claims Handling & Insurance Bad FaithClaims handling and bad-faith issues.›10Texas Insurance Agents, Applications & Failure to Procure CoverageAgents, applications and failure to procure.›11Texas Duty to Defend, Reservations of Rights & Liability Coverage DefenseDuty to defend and reservation-of-rights issues.›12Texas Third-Party Failure to Settle & Excess ExposureThird-party failure to settle and excess exposure.›

13–16

Vehicle & Use Questions

Borrowed and rental vehicles, work use, rideshare and public-entity vehicles.

13Texas Borrowed, Non-Owned & Rental VehiclesBorrowed, non-owned and rental vehicles.›14Texas Work, Employer & Commercial Motor Vehicle Claims — H.B. 19Work, employer and commercial vehicle claims.›15Texas Rideshare & Transportation Network CoverageRideshare and transportation-network coverage.›16Texas Government Vehicle Crashes, Tort Claims Act Notice & Liability CapsGovernment vehicle and public-entity claims.›

17–18

Liability & Proof

Comparative fault, crash investigation and evidence preservation.

17Texas Proportionate Responsibility & the 51% BarFault-allocation rules.›18Texas Crash Investigation, Evidence Preservation & Two-Year LimitationCrash investigation, evidence preservation and limitation issues.›

19–22

Damages & Resolution

Damages, wrongful death, medical benefits, liens, reimbursement and settlement.

19Texas Crash Damages, Paid-or-Incurred Medical Expenses & Property LossCrash damages, medical-expense proof and property loss.›20Texas Wrongful Death & Survival ClaimsWrongful death and survival claims.›21Texas PIP/MedPay, Hospital & EMS Liens, Subrogation & ReimbursementPIP/MedPay, liens and reimbursement.›22Texas Settlement, Release & Claim ClosureSettlement, release and claim closure.›

Case Authority

Texas statutes and appellate authority organized by issue.

23Texas Auto Insurance & Crash Law Case Authority LibraryState case authority library.›

Guide 01 · Texas Citizen’s Guide

How to use this library before making a final claim decision

Build the claim map first. Keep liability, UM/UIM and PIP questions distinct. Preserve written rejection records, identify any commercial motor-vehicle or government involvement, and calendar the existing library’s two-year limitation discussion before settlement activity creates false confidence.

1Build the claim map

Identify drivers, owners, injured people, employers and other responsible parties. Use Guide 14 for commercial motor-vehicle issues and Guide 16 for public-entity claims.

2Find every policy

Start with Guide 03, then read Guide 05 and Guide 21. Gather declarations, endorsements and written UM/UIM and PIP rejection records.

3Preserve proof

Use Guide 18 for evidence preservation and limitation issues. Preserve commercial-driver records, vehicle data, photographs, video, witnesses, medical chronology and dated insurer communications where relevant.

4Verify before finality

Review Guide 17, Guide 19, Guide 22, the case-authority library and official sources before a final release.

Texas Published-Law Snapshot

Issues identified in the existing Texas library

30 / 60 / 25 minimum liability

Texas’s ordinary financial-responsibility minimums are 30/60/25.

UM/UIM and PIP written-rejection system

Both coverages are default consumer protections unless rejected in writing.

51% responsibility bar

A claimant assigned more than 50% responsibility cannot recover damages.

H.B. 19 commercial claims

Qualifying commercial motor-vehicle cases can follow a specialized bifurcation framework.

Tort Claims Act

Government crashes require separate notice and liability-cap analysis.

PIP/MedPay and liens

Coordinate written rejection status, hospital/EMS liens and reimbursement before settlement.

Currentness status: the snapshot retains previously published Texas content. Legal Currentness and Source Integrity remain pending in the Registry; a layout-update date is not a new legal-review date.

Primary Research

Official Texas research sources

VictimsGuide is the navigation layer. Current primary authority, the actual insurance contract and the verified factual record control.

How this library stays current

Build the complete Texas coverage and claim map

Identify every potentially applicable policy and insured, written UM/UIM and PIP rejection records, commercial or government involvement, proportionate responsibility, evidence, medical-expense proof, liens, insurer conduct and release consequences.

1. Use the topic title to identify the research question and the displayed number to locate the Texas guide.

2. Read the current primary source, effective date, actual policy and endorsements, and the claim’s factual record.

3. Legal currentness, source integrity and publication checks are separate; this layout update does not complete the pending legal review.

Separate Texas PIP and UM/UIM questions from the liability claim.

Find every policy, preserve written rejection records and crash evidence, identify commercial and government issues, and verify damages, liens and release consequences before treating a claim as complete.