How to get an SR-22

There is no application to the state. You buy a qualifying policy and the insurer certifies it — the rest is knowing which form, which policy and which agency.

You do not apply for an SR-22. You buy a policy and the insurer files it.

The question “how do I get an SR-22” has a short answer that surprises people: there is no application to the state. The certificate is a statement an insurer makes to the licensing agency, and Iowa's chapter describes it in the same words as most others — proof may be furnished by filing “the written certificate of any insurance carrier duly authorized to do business in this state certifying that there is in effect a motor vehicle liability policy.” So getting one means getting a qualifying policy from an insurer licensed in your state and asking it to certify that policy.

The steps below follow that order. Each one has a state-specific answer, and the table further down shows where the filing goes in each of the 37 states this site has read.

Step 1: Read the notice you were sent

The requirement arrives from the state, usually in a suspension or revocation order. That document answers three things you need before you call anyone.

Which form

Most states call it an SR-22. Florida and Virginia use an FR-44 after an intoxication conviction, at higher limits — and an insurer quoting an SR-22 at ordinary limits would not satisfy it. FR-44 vs SR-22 has the amounts.

Why

The reason on the notice decides how long the filing runs and, in some states, whether the requirement reaches the vehicles registered to you as well as your license. What triggers an SR-22 lists the events the statutes name.

For how long

Periods run from one year to several, and they are counted from different starting points. Some are look-backs that restart on a new conviction. How long you need it compares the clocks.

Step 2: Decide which kind of policy the certificate will sit on

A certificate certifies a policy, and the statutes describe two kinds. An owner's policy covers named vehicles: Florida's must “designate by explicit description or by appropriate reference all motor vehicles with respect to which coverage is thereby granted.” An operator's policy covers a person instead: Florida's insures the named person “for damages arising out of the use by the person of any motor vehicle not owned by him or her.”

If you own a car you intend to drive, it goes on an owner's policy, and in several states every vehicle registered to you has to be covered or its registration is suspended too. If you own nothing, an operator's policy — sold as non-owner insurance — carries the certificate without listing a vehicle. Eighteen states' versions of that rule are quoted in the non-owner guide, including the household-car gap that catches people out.

Step 3: Buy the policy at your state's limits

The certificate certifies amounts the state sets. A policy below them cannot be certified, and the FR-44 states set a higher floor than their ordinary minimum. Each state's figures, read from its statute, are in the limits table. When you ask for quotes, ask each insurer the same three questions: will you file the certificate in this state, on which form, and for which vehicles or for me as an operator.

If you do not want insurance at all

A policy is not the only proof. Nine states read for this site accept a bond or a cash or securities deposit instead, with amounts set by statute. They are rarely cheaper and they do not pay a claim on your behalf; the bond guide has the details.

Step 4: The insurer files it with the state

You do not carry the certificate to the counter; the insurer sends it, and several statutes now let it travel electronically or be confirmed through an online verification system. What you should ask for is confirmation — the date it was filed and the agency it went to — because the license action does not lift until the agency has it. The certificate's effective date must match the policy's, so it cannot be backdated to cover a gap.

Step 5: Reinstate

The filing is usually one condition of getting the license back, not the only one. Reinstatement fees are separate and set by statute — the fees guide has the figures states publish — and DUI cases often carry a program, an interlock, or both. In some states the filing period is counted from the reinstatement itself, so the date you reinstate moves the date you are done. Do you need an SR-22 to reinstate? covers which suspensions require it.

Step 6: Keep it in force until the state releases it

The certificate only works while the policy does. If the policy is canceled or lapses, the insurer notifies the state and the suspension comes back. Sixteen states' notice rules are compared in the SR-26 guide, which also covers switching insurers without a gap: the new certificate should be on file before the old policy ends. At the end of the period, the release is often something you have to ask for; getting an SR-22 removed has the rules.

If you move

The requirement belongs to the state that imposed it. An insurer in your new state has to be willing to certify to the old one, which narrows the field; ask that question first.

Common questions