§ 101.104.Evidence of Insurance Coverage

Two subsections closing the same door from both sides.

Subsection (a): neither the existence nor the amount of insurance held by a governmental unit is admissible in the trial of a suit under this chapter.

Subsection (b): neither is subject to discovery.

The inadmissibility rule is ordinary. Evidence of liability insurance is generally excluded in Texas as in most jurisdictions, on the ground that a jury told a defendant is insured may decide the case, or the amount, differently.

The discovery bar is the unusual part, and it goes considerably further. Insurance information is normally discoverable even though it is inadmissible — the rules of civil procedure expressly permit discovery of an agreement under which an insurer may be liable to satisfy a judgment, because knowing the limits shapes settlement.

This section removes that for governmental units, so a claimant negotiates without knowing what coverage exists.

The practical justification is that the coverage tells you less here anyway. The chapter caps damages by statute, and the insurance provision confirms that carrying coverage does not waive immunity beyond the Act’s limits — so the recoverable maximum is set by the cap rather than by the policy.

Note that the bar is confined to the existence and amount. It is not a general shield over everything an insurer holds, and other provisions of the chapter govern settlement and the payment of judgments.

Read it with the liability insurance provision and with the damages cap, which together explain why the policy limits are beside the point.