Is It Legal To Show My Insurance To Police On My Phone In Texas?

This was a question I had to find out for myself.

Times Change

I don't know about yours, but my insurance company no longer sends out the tear-out insurance cards automatically. This presents a bit of a problem when you need to show proof of insurance. The logical thing to do is to hit up your insurance company and request a copy, or at least an email and/or PDF file with your insurance information so you can print it out yourself.

Online Copies

There is another option, or is there? I was checking all the boxes for things I needed to do before a trip and added "Check proof of insurance" to my list. It would be terrible to be pulled over far from home and not make that encounter the easiest and quickest it can be. I then popped over and downloaded my insurance app (you're probably going to need your policy number if you're going to do this).  It seemed like a smart idea until I got this message:

The Answer

My immediate thought was, "Wouldn't it be easy to just Photoshop an insurance card?". Then I thought, "Well, you could fake a paper copy too". Enough with my inner voice, it's apparent that if you want to cheat, you can easily cheat, at least until someone looks up that policy number.  The answer is YES, you can show an electronic copy in Texas. A bit of advice though, if you can, download the information so that you don't have to fumble with an app or try to remember passwords while a policeman is breathing down your neck.