The SR-22 costs the law actually sets

Insurers set the premium. The state sets the reinstatement fee — and in some states it rises with your record, or with every week you stayed uninsured.

The part of the cost the law sets

An SR-22 has two costs. The premium for the policy behind it is set by insurers, varies by driver and carrier, and is not published in any statute — so this site does not print one. The other cost is the state's: the fees to get a license or registration back once proof is filed. Those are written into law, and they differ more than most people expect.

Seven states' fee provisions have been read for this site.

Four ways states structure the fee

By your record

Missouri and Kansas charge more for a repeat. Missouri's fee for reinstating after an uninsured suspension climbs from $20 with a clean record to $400 after two or more prior violations; Kansas charges $300 instead of $100 when a registration is revoked within a year of a prior revocation.

By how long you were uninsured

Louisiana is the only state read here that scales the fee to the length of the gap itself: $100, $250 or $500 as the uninsured period passes thirty and ninety days. Every week of delay can move a Louisiana driver into a higher tier.

By what was taken away

Nebraska distinguishes a revoked license ($125) from a suspended one ($50), and charges a registration separately.

Once per person, or once per offense

Georgia and Tennessee both say a proof-related reinstatement fee is paid once per person, however many licenses come back. Tennessee then adds a restoration fee for each offense. Virginia stacks differently: one fee at the highest applicable rate, then a small amount for each additional suspension.

Paying the fee does not end the suspension on its own

In every state read here, the fee is one condition among several, and the others are where people get stuck. Kansas's suspension “shall remain in effect until satisfactory proof of insurance has been filed with the director” and the fee is paid. Missouri goes further: if proof of insurance has not been filed by the end of the suspension period, “such period of suspension shall be extended until such proof of insurance… has been filed.” A driver who pays and does not file is still suspended.

Louisiana's sanctions for a lapse reach the vehicle as well as the paperwork: the registration is revoked, the vehicle impounded and the plate canceled, and the sanctions last until proof of the required security is provided with all the fees. Nebraska's section even says where the money goes — of the $125 revocation fee, seventy-five dollars to the General Fund and fifty dollars to the Department of Motor Vehicles Cash Fund.

The practical order is the same everywhere: arrange the policy, have the insurer file, then pay the state. Paying first and filing later buys nothing.

State by state

Missouri

Reinstatement after a suspension for having no insurance; the length of the suspension also rises with the record — none, ninety days, then one year.

• no prior violation: $20 — Mo. Rev. Stat. sec. 303.042(2)(1)
• one prior violation in two years: $200 — Mo. Rev. Stat. sec. 303.042(2)(2)
• two or more prior violations: $400 — Mo. Rev. Stat. sec. 303.042(2)(3)

Louisiana

Per violation, scaled by how long the vehicle went without security. No fee where the gap was ten days or less and the plate was surrendered within ten days.

• uninsured 1 to 30 days: $100 — La. Rev. Stat. sec. 32:863(A)(3)(a)
• 31 to 90 days: $250 — La. Rev. Stat. sec. 32:863(A)(3)(a)
• more than 90 days: $500 — La. Rev. Stat. sec. 32:863(A)(3)(a)

Kansas

Reinstatement after a suspension or revocation for failing to keep continuous financial security, paid to the division of vehicles.

• first: $100 — K.S.A. 40-3118(f)
• revocation within a year of a prior one: $300 — K.S.A. 40-3118(f)

Nebraska

Where filing proof is a prerequisite to getting the license or registration back.

• license revoked: $125 — Neb. Rev. Stat. sec. 60-505.02(1)
• license suspended: $50 — Neb. Rev. Stat. sec. 60-505.02(2)-(3)
• registration suspended: $50 — Neb. Rev. Stat. sec. 60-505.02(2)-(3)

Tennessee

The first is paid once however many licenses and registrations come back; the second is charged for each offense that provides for suspension or revocation.

• proof-of-responsibility reinstatement, once per person: $50 — Tenn. Code Ann. sec. 55-12-129(a)
• restoration fee, per offense: $65 — Tenn. Code Ann. sec. 55-12-129(b)

Georgia

One fee per person, irrespective of the number of licenses to be reinstated.

• reinstatement: $25.00 — O.C.G.A. sec. 40-9-9

Virginia

Charged once at the highest applicable rate, plus a small amount for each additional suspension.

• base: $30 — Va. Code sec. 46.2-411(D)
• DUI-related addition: a further $30 — Va. Code sec. 46.2-411(D)
• Trauma Center Fund: a further $40 — Va. Code sec. 46.2-411 (Trauma Center Fund)
• each additional suspension: $5 for each additional suspension — Va. Code sec. 46.2-411

What this page does not include

These are the fees in the sections this site has read. Other fees — court costs, fines, driver-improvement or treatment programs, and the interlock costs some states impose — sit in other provisions and are not listed here. The insurer's filing charge and the premium are set by the insurer, not by statute. For why quotes for the same driver vary so much, see the note on quotes.

Common questions