Texas Auto Bill of Rights Adds Four New Driver Protections in 2026

What Changed on May 7

The Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) filed proposed amendments to 28 TAC §5.9970, the rule that governs the Personal Auto Bill of Rights distributed by every Texas auto insurer. General Counsel Jessica Barta signed the proposal on May 1, 2026, and Repairer Driven News broke the story two days later on May 7. OPIC, the Office of Public Insurance Counsel, petitioned TDI on August 27, 2025 to incorporate four bills passed by the 89th Legislature.

The four bills are HB 2067, SB 458, SB 1238, and SB 1644. Each one expands what Texas drivers can demand from their carrier, and each one will appear as a new bullet point on the eight-page Bill of Rights that arrives in every renewal envelope.

Source: Insurify rate data through March 2026; Bankrate placed the same figure at $2,751. Driver profile assumes a 30-year-old with a clean record and average credit.

HB 2067: Written Explanation for Cancellations

Insurance Code §551.109, amended by HB 2067, forces every Texas property and casualty insurer to deliver a written reason any time a policy is declined, canceled, or non-renewed. The Bill of Rights amendment text reads: "the right to a written explanation for a cancellation or non-renewal of an insurance policy (HB 2067)." That right took effect January 1, 2026 and applies to all decisions issued after that date.

Carriers must also report their denial reasons by ZIP code to TDI, which posts the aggregated data publicly. We unpacked the broader fallout from this law in our coverage of Texas's policy-denial explanation rule.

SB 458: Appraisal for Disputed Loss Amounts

Senate Bill 458 created Insurance Code Chapter 1813, which now requires personal auto and residential property policies to include a mandatory appraisal clause when the carrier and the insured disagree on the dollar amount of a loss. The amendment language adds: "the right to request appraisal to resolve disputes about loss amounts (SB 458)." Texas drivers whose totaled vehicle is undervalued by the insurer can invoke the clause and trigger a third-party valuation process.

The underlying law took effect September 1, 2025 and was followed by TDI's separate rule docket (28 TAC §5.9800) that spelled out the appraisal procedure in April 2026.

SB 1238: Protection After a Spouse's Death

Insurance Code §544.002 was amended to prohibit any Texas auto insurer from discriminating against a policyholder based on marital status following a spousal death. The Bill of Rights amendment will state: "The right to not be discriminated against following a spousal death (SB 1238)." Carriers cannot raise the surviving spouse's premium, refuse to renew, or reclassify the household solely because one spouse died. The protection matters most when the deceased spouse held the primary policy or anchored a household discount with a longer clean-record history.

SB 1644: Annual Credit Re-Rating Request

SB 1644 added Insurance Code §559.058 to the books. Every Texas auto insurer is now required to review a policyholder's credit information and re-rate the premium at least once every three years. Drivers can also submit one request per year for an immediate re-underwrite based on a current credit report or insurance score.

The amendment text on the Bill of Rights reads: "how insurers must use updated credit information and the right to request an insurer to re-underwrite and re-rate the policy based on current credit information (SB 1644)." Credit-based insurance scoring can move Texas premiums by hundreds of dollars per year between top and bottom score tiers; our explainer on insurance score versus credit score walks through how the calculation actually works.

Why This Matters for Texas Drivers

Texas full-coverage premiums averaged $2,498 in March 2026 according to Insurify, with Bankrate placing the figure at $2,751 for similar profiles. Insurify projects a modest 0.3% rate increase for the state in 2026, which would push the typical full-coverage policy up by just $7 per year. Drivers in Houston, Dallas, and Austin already pay above the state average, so any leverage on cancellation explanations or credit-based re-rates can translate directly into renewal savings.

Adjacent states have taken sharper action. Florida, Georgia, and Louisiana have all delivered measurable rate cuts after passing tort reform packages, while Texas drivers continue to absorb roughly $1,724 per year in hidden litigation costs (a figure documented in our analysis of Texas's lack of tort reform). And the credit-rating debate is itself moving fast nationwide, with four states proposing outright bans (covered in our piece on state-level credit-score restrictions). Texas instead reinforced the consumer's right to demand a re-rate rather than abolishing the practice.

What You Should Do Now

Looking Ahead

TDI's comment window closes June 15, 2026 and a public hearing must be requested separately by the same deadline. Insurers will start distributing the new 8-page Bill of Rights with renewals issued on or after November 1, 2026, and a parallel update applies to the Homeowner Bill of Rights under 28 TAC §5.9971. Approximately 124 small business insurance carriers in Texas, plus every major national writer, will face an administrative cost of 4 to 10 staff hours and printing fees of $0.03 to $0.05 per page.

Watch for the final adopted version after June 15. Texas typically issues final rule text within 60 to 90 days of the comment close, which would put publication around mid-August 2026.

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