SR-22 after an accident

What an SR-22 is

States have financial responsibility laws: rules that a driver who has broken certain laws must prove they can pay for damage they cause in the future. The SR-22 is the usual form of that proof. Florida's highway safety department defines it as an insurance filing certifying bodily injury liability and property damage liability coverage, tied to the reinstatement rules of the state's Financial Responsibility Law.

• Your insurer files it, not you. You buy or keep a liability policy and ask the insurer to send the certificate to the state.
• It certifies liability coverage at least at the state's required limits. It doesn't pay for your own car.
• It runs for a set period fixed by the state. The start can be the date you become eligible to reinstate, as in Missouri after an uninsured crash, rather than the date of the crash.
• A lapse matters. The certificate is only as good as the policy behind it, so a cancellation during the period can put the license at risk again.

The state's letter or court order tells you whether you need one, for how long and from when. Keep that letter; it is the document an insurer will ask to see.

Why you might need one after a crash

In the examples below, the trigger is what surrounds the crash: no insurance, an unpaid judgment or a DUI. Examples from state motor vehicle agencies and Florida law:

Missouri also says a plain insurance ID card isn't enough after an uninsured accident; it wants the SR-22. Other states have their own triggers and periods, and some use different form names. Your state's motor vehicle agency is the authority, and its letter controls. Crash reporting duties, which can start the process, are on each page in claim rules by state.

If you aren't sure whether you need a filing, call the motor vehicle agency with your license number before you buy a policy. Buying a filing you don't need costs money, and missing one you do need keeps the license suspended.

FR-44 in Florida and Virginia

Florida uses a separate certificate, the FR-44, after alcohol-related convictions. Florida law requires a driver convicted of DUI to carry liability limits of at least $100,000 for injury to one person, $300,000 for two or more people and $50,000 for property damage per crash, and to keep those limits for at least 3 years. Florida's highway safety department requires the FR-44 for reinstatement in those cases and notes that its FR-44 is similar to Virginia's FR-44.

If you were uninsured in the crash

The SR-22 deals with your license. It doesn't settle the crash. If you had no insurance when you caused it, no insurer pays the other driver for you. They can claim under their own uninsured motorist coverage, and their insurer may then seek the money from you, or they can sue you directly, often in small claims court.

Take that seriously. In Missouri, an unpaid court judgment from a motor vehicle accident adds its own suspension and a two-year SR-22. If you receive a demand letter or court papers, answer them by the deadline, and if you can't pay in full, ask in writing for a payment plan and keep a signed copy.

If you don't own a car

A suspended driver without a car still needs the filing to get the license back. A non-owner policy covers your liability when you drive a car you don't own, and insurers that write them can file the SR-22 on that policy. Ask your state's motor vehicle agency whether it accepts one for your case, and tell the insurer about any car in your household that you drive regularly.

If you buy a car during the filing period, put it on a regular policy and have the insurer file a new certificate on that policy before the old one ends. The goal is a filing that never has a gap, whichever policy it sits on.

Getting through the filing period

1. Read the state's letter for the form it wants, the period and the start date.
2. Ask an insurer to file it. Before you buy, ask whether the insurer will file the exact form your state wants.
3. Confirm the state received it. Check with the motor vehicle agency before you drive; reinstatement needs the filing on record, plus any reinstatement fee.
4. Pay on time, every time. Set up automatic payment. A missed payment can cancel the policy and restart your problem.
5. Switch carefully. If you change insurers, have the new filing in place before the old policy ends.
6. Mark the end date and ask the agency before you drop the filing, so you know the period is over.

The filing is a cost on top of a premium that the violation behind it has probably already raised. Our page on premium increases after an accident covers surcharges and how to dispute a fault decision, and cancellation and nonrenewal covers the notice an insurer must give before it ends a policy.

Questions people ask