Driving Without Insurance in Texas: What It Costs You

Texas is lenient the first time and much stricter the second. The part people miss: the conviction stays on your Texas driving record indefinitely.

How Texas knows you're uninsured

Texas checks insurance electronically through TexasSure, a joint program of the state's motor vehicle, insurance and public safety agencies. Insurers report policies to it, and officers and county tax offices can check a vehicle against it. When TexasSure can't match a registered vehicle to a policy, it mails the owner a letter asking them to verify coverage within 10 days. The county also can't register a vehicle without evidence of insurance, and since Texas dropped safety inspections for most passenger vehicles on January 1, 2025, registration is now the main point where coverage gets checked. TxDMV estimates that 11.87% of Texas drivers were uninsured as of September 2025.

First conviction

The Texas Department of Insurance says an officer who pulls you over without insurance will likely give you a ticket. Under Transportation Code § 601.191, the fine for a first conviction is $175 to $350, and the court can go below $175 if a first offender can't afford it. A first conviction doesn't, by itself, trigger a license suspension or an SR-22.

Second and later convictions

If it happens again, the fine is $350 to $1,000 and your license can be suspended. Per the Texas DPS, two or more no-insurance convictions lead to an indefinite suspension until you file an SR-22 and keep it for 2 years from the date of conviction. DPS gives you a chance to comply before the suspension takes effect; if you are suspended, the reinstatement fee is $100. While an SR-22 is required, you can't register any vehicle without it. Full details on filing are in our Texas SR-22 guide.

A second conviction can also cost you the car for half a year. If you owned the vehicle both when you were cited and when you were convicted, the court must order it impounded for 180 days (§ 601.261). You can get it back early only by showing proof of insurance covering the next two years, which the court may accept in blocks of at least six months, and you pay an impoundment fee of $15 a day (§§ 601.262, 601.263). A full 180 days works out to $2,700 in impound fees alone.

If you were actually insured

If you had a policy that was valid on the date of the offense but couldn't show it, bring it to court: under § 601.193, once the court verifies it, it must dismiss the charge. The current statute doesn't set a fee for this. DPS also waives the SR-22 requirement when you submit proof of that coverage.

If you crash without insurance

Under Texas's Safety Responsibility Act, an uninsured driver in a crash on a public road that causes injury, death, or at least $1,000 of damage to one person's property can have their license and vehicle registration suspended indefinitely if there's a reasonable probability of a judgment against them. DPS mails a notice first; you can request a hearing within 20 days, and otherwise the suspension starts on day 21.

DPS lists four ways to avoid or lift it:

• proof that you were insured on the date of the crash
• a notarized release from the other party (form SR-11)
• an installment agreement to pay for the damage (form SR-19)
• posting security along with an SR-22

If two years pass with no lawsuit and no unpaid judgment, you can reinstate with form SR-60 and the $100 fee. If you are sued and lose, the judgment brings its own suspension of your license and registrations, which lasts until the judgment is satisfied or stayed and you file proof of insurance (§ 601.332). You can ask the court to let you pay it in installments (§ 601.335).

Every Texas auto policy includes uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage unless the policyholder rejects it in writing, so the other driver may be paid by their own insurer first. That doesn't end your liability; it just means the claim may come to you from their insurance company instead.

The record doesn't expire

DPS's enforcement guide states that a no-liability-insurance conviction remains on your driver record indefinitely. How long insurers weigh it is up to each company, but they can see it.

What it does to your insurance rates

Insurers price a gap in coverage on its own, even before any ticket. In MoneyGeek's analysis of nine major insurers, a lapse of 30 days or less raised the annual premium by ~$149 (10.6%), and a lapse of more than 30 days by ~$315 (22.4%); MoneyGeek says the smaller surcharge usually fades within one to two years, while the larger one lasts three to five. That's a national estimate, not Texas-specific. If you need a non-owner policy because you don't have a car, DPS points drivers to a Texas non-owner SR-22.

For comparison, MoneyGeek's Texas SR-22 figures, which are based on a DUI or suspended license rather than a no-insurance conviction, start at about $88/month with State Farm for minimum coverage and $195/month for full coverage. Once you're insured again, keeping the policy continuous is what brings the price back down; our Texas teen driver guide covers the 30/60/25 minimum you need.

Related: SR-22 in Texas · Car insurance after a DWI in Texas

More Texas guides

• Car insurance after a DUI in Texas
• SR-22 requirements in Texas
• DUI under 21 in Texas
• Driving with a suspended license in Texas
• Car insurance for teen drivers in Texas
• Teen car insurance by age (16, 17 and 18) in Texas
• Car insurance for senior drivers in Texas