If you’ve ever looked up Texas auto insurance minimums, you’ve probably seen the numbers 30/60/25. That’s what a regular driver needs. It is not what you need if you’re running a limo, sedan service, shuttle, or charter van and getting paid to carry passengers. The number that actually applies to you is a lot higher, and a surprising number of people starting a livery business in Texas don’t find that out until they’re already shopping for a policy.
The Higher Bar for Carrying Passengers
Under Texas Administrative Code Title 43, Chapter 218, intrastate for-hire passenger carriers, the category that covers limousines, sedans, and similar livery vehicles operating within Texas, are required to carry a combined single limit well into the six figures, a good deal higher than what a regular driver carries. Combined single limit means that figure isn’t split between bodily injury and property damage the way personal auto minimums are. It’s one number that has to cover the whole claim. Confirm the current required amount when you file, since these limits can be adjusted.
For a single sedan picking up airport runs, that’s a real jump from what a personal policy or even a basic commercial policy provides. If you’re operating a stretch limo or a passenger van where one accident could mean multiple injury claims at once, carriers are going to want to talk about whether the state minimum is even enough, not just whether you meet it.
If you’re crossing into charter bus or motor coach territory, or running routes that cross state lines, you may also be looking at federal operating authority through FMCSA and the insurance filings that come with it. That’s a separate conversation from the TxDMV intrastate requirement, and the two don’t substitute for each other.
A State That’s Really Several Markets
Texas is big enough that “where do you operate” isn’t a simple question for a lot of livery businesses here. Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth, Austin, and San Antonio are each their own market, and they’re three to four hours apart by car. A Houston-based black car company might run weekly trips to Austin for corporate clients. A San Antonio operator might pick up a group headed to a Hill Country wedding venue that’s an hour outside the city.
This matters for coverage because your policy needs to reflect the routes your vehicles really run, not just the city your office sits in. An operator whose stated territory is “Houston metro” but who regularly sends a vehicle on a four-hour run to Dallas has a different exposure than the paperwork might suggest. Carriers price based on the operation you describe to them, so the more accurately that description matches your real routes, the fewer surprises later.
Houston Runs on Corporate Accounts and Hurricane Risk
Houston’s livery market leans heavily on energy sector business. Oil and gas companies headquartered here generate a steady stream of executive transport, client pickups at George Bush Intercontinental, and recurring corporate accounts that expect reliability over flash. That kind of work tends to be lower-drama day to day than event-driven business, but it comes with its own expectation: if the car doesn’t show up, the client notices, and the contract is at risk.
The other Houston factor is weather. Tropical storms and hurricanes are a real planning consideration for any fleet on the Gulf Coast, and that’s not just a “will my vehicle flood” question. Operators need to think about what happens to scheduled bookings, driver safety, and vehicle storage when a storm is bearing down, and whether their physical damage coverage actually responds to flood damage specifically, since that’s sometimes handled differently than wind or collision.
Austin’s Calendar Drives the Risk Picture
Austin has a festival calendar that shapes its livery business in a way the other Texas metros don’t quite match. South by Southwest in the spring and Austin City Limits in the fall both bring a surge of demand for shuttles, party buses, and black cars, often for groups that have been drinking. If your fleet includes party buses or larger passenger vans that do bachelor and bachelorette party runs, alcohol-related liability isn’t a hypothetical, it’s a Friday night.
This is worth a direct conversation with whoever’s writing your policy. Some policies have exclusions or limitations around alcohol-related incidents that only become a problem when there’s an actual claim. Knowing where your policy stands on this before festival season, not after, is one of those things that’s easy to put off and expensive to skip.
Talk to Uncle Sheldon About Your Texas Operation
Whether you’re running one sedan out of San Antonio or a small fleet doing event work in Austin and corporate runs in Houston, the starting point is the same. We need to know what you’re driving, where you’re driving it, and who’s behind the wheel. From there we can shop your risk to carriers who understand the higher CSL requirement for passenger carriers and the realities of running a livery business across a state this size. Give us a call and let’s figure out what your policy should actually look like.