Common Texas Auto Insurance Terms

Becoming familiar with common Texas auto insurance terms will help when you are looking for your Texas auto insurance policy. For people living in TX, common auto insurance terms are used when insurers write up policies. You don’t have to learn all the terms that insurers use to word their policies, but a good working knowledge can be helpful when looking at common auto insurance terms in Texas.

Common Texas Auto Insurance Terms: Coverage 

1. Bodily Injury Coverage pays for medical treatments and expenses for another person injured due to your negligence. It will pay for such costs as ambulance transportation, doctors’ visits, rehabilitation, loss of income due to the injury, and legal costs. You are legally required to have bodily injury coverage on your vehicle.
2. Collision Coverage pays for damage caused to your vehicle by colliding with another vehicle or an object. Depending on the policy, you may be covered if your vehicle rolls over, whether another vehicle is involved in the accident or not.
3. Comprehensive Coverage protects a vehicle owner from damage not covered by their collision insurance. It includes damage or total loss caused by fire, theft, falling objects, vandalism, or colliding with an animal.
4. Medical Payments Coverage medical costs for you, your family members, and other people in your vehicle when an accident occurs. The medical payments coverage may also protect you when you are a pedestrian, depending on the policy you choose.
5. Property Damage Coverage means that you have insurance if you damage someone else’s property. Damage you cause to your own property is not included, but it does cover damage caused to a garage, garage door, lamp post, etc. All drivers must carry property damage coverage as part of their auto insurance provisions. If the amount of the damage sustained is above your policy limit, you will be required to make up the difference out of your own pocket.
6. Rental Reimbursement means that your costs of renting a vehicle to drive while your own car is being repaired are covered by your insurer. The car must be in the garage for a minimum of 24 hours. This type of coverage is sometimes referred to as Extended Transportation Expenses insurance.
7. Uninsured or Underinsured Motorist Coverage is designed to protect you and anyone in your vehicle if you sustain injuries due to the negligence of a driver without insurance or without adequate insurance. The idea is to provide the insured with the same level of coverage as they would have had if the other driver was insured or had sufficient insurance coverage. 

Common Texas Auto Insurance Terms: Miscellaneous

1. At Fault Accident: This means that you are considered legally responsible for the accident.
2. Deductible: The amount you are required to pay on your own, before the insurer is required to start paying.
3. Driver Training Discount: A discount is available if you have successfully completed a driver’s education program.
4. Driver Fitness Discount: If you are over the age of 70, providing your insurance company with a physician’s certificate indicating your fitness to drive a motor vehicle in terms of vision, overall physical condition, and health.
5. Drugs And Alcohol Awareness Training Discount: This discount is available only in Texas. A person who has voluntarily completed an approved drug and alcohol driving awareness program is eligible for a reduced rate on their auto insurance.
6. Household Members: People who live in the same home as the insured, other than the insured’s spouse.
7. Limits: Policy limits are the amount at which your policy coverage is capped. When you buy an insurance policy, you choose the amount of coverage (the policy limits) for bodily injury, collision, comprehensive, property damage, and medical payments.
8. Traffic/Moving Violations: Improper turning, failing to signal, and speeding are examples of moving violations. Please note that getting a parking ticket is not considered a traffic violation.
9. Vehicle Identification Number (VIN#): The VIN is made up of 17 digits. It indicates a vehicle’s make, model, and sub-model. You will find the VIN on the car’s body when you open the driver’s side door or on a label in the vehicle’s engine compartment.

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