Although it is widely referred to as SR22 insurance it is actually a filing to confirm existence of liability coverage. It is a certificate, which is usually provided to DMV by a vehicle insurer to confirm financial responsibility. It is also known as FR44 in some states.
If you haven’t caused any accident or taken to court for violating traffic laws you don’t normally need to worry about SR-22 certificate. Normally, You are ordered by a judge to comply with the requirements.
How Do You Get It?
You need to commit a serious traffic violation to be asked to verify that you have insurance. You may be ordered to comply with SR 22 filing requirements by a judge if you caused an accident while uninsured or convicted of a traffic related offense like reckless driving and DUI or series of violations that led to suspension of your license. Then, DMV would want to see it and won’t reinstate a driving license without it if suspended.
How Long Do You Have to Have It?
The good thing is that it is a temporary condition. You must have an auto policy that comply with the laws for three years in most cases and it can be five years for things like DUI. Usually related conviction drops off records after this period too that allows you to get lower rates again.
Your provider has to file SR26 if it expires without renewal or gets cancelled within the term to inform the DMV of the cancellation of the policy.
How Much Does It Cost?
It is just a declaration issued by a carrier to confirm that you have liability car insurance and it isn’t expensive. You just need to pay about $25 DMV charges and whatever admin charges carriers apply for taking care of it for you. If you already have it you just pay the additional charges. If not, quotes would include these charges.
Usually what makes it expensive for people who need the certificate is the underlying reason for it. As mentioned above, you would have caused a crash while you have no coverage or had a serious ticket. Those driving issues will go on to records and seen by everyone. Anyway, you need to tell them that you need this and why.
A few states insist on full premium payment in such cases to make sure policy isn’t cancelled for nonpayment.
Best Auto Insurance for SR22
It is nothing special. Simply, you must buy the liability coverage enforced. In other words, this confirms that you comply with financial responsibility laws.
Most companies will issue it and inform the authorities for you. If you have coverage already you can ask them to add it on the policy. If not, you need to get quotes and let them know that you require SR-22 or FR-44. Most online proposal forms will ask this question anyway. All you need to do is tick “yes”.
In any case, companies like Progressive, GEICO, State Farm and Esurance will provide reasonable quotes. Again, it is only temporary and you don’t need to bother with it once the set period is over. You can let it off.
One final note is that your provider may drop you depending on the seriousness of conviction. Then, you will need to look for alternatives.