SR-22 insurance in Colorado

Colorado is one of the few states whose statute names the form: an SR-22 “may be used as proof of financial responsibility.” It runs 3 years from the date it was last required — but a single alcohol offense with no accident can end sooner.

The SR-22, named in the statute

Colorado's Motor Vehicle Financial Responsibility Law is article 7 of Title 42. Its definition of proof of financial responsibility for the future sets the amounts — $25,000 per person / $50,000 per accident / $15,000 property damage, or 25/50/15 — and the next paragraph does something most statutes on this site do not: it names the document. “The form known as the ‘SR-22’ furnished to the department may be used as proof of financial responsibility in compliance with this article.” The authority is Colo. Rev. Stat. sec. 42-7-103(14)(a).

In plain terms: $25,000 for injury to or death of one person, $50,000 for two or more people in one accident, and $15,000 for property of others.

Every registered vehicle, and a three-month floor on the policy

Proof has to be furnished for each vehicle registered during the period. And the policy or bond behind it must have a term of at least three months — a one-month policy bought to get a license back does not meet the section.

Three years — from the last time it was required

The duration rule reads: proof “shall be maintained for three years from the date last required.” Colo. Rev. Stat. sec. 42-7-408(1)(b). Last matters. If a second event requires proof again, the three years run from that later date.

Time without a license counts

The same sentence continues: if during the three years “the insured has not been licensed to drive, the insured shall be credited with the nonlicensed time toward the three-year period.” Time spent without a license is not dead time; it is counted toward the three years.

A single alcohol offense with no accident

Colorado then carves out a shorter track. If the insured was found guilty of DUI, DUI per se or DWAI, or had a license revoked under section 42-2-126 (other than two listed subsections), only one time and no accident was involved, proof is kept “only for as long as the insured's driving privilege is ordered to be under restraint, up to a maximum of three years.” That period begins when the driver reinstates.

A second or later “UDD” offense at a blood alcohol content of 0.02 to 0.05, or a second revocation under the two excepted subsections, is treated the same way without the three-year cap: proof is kept for as long as the privilege is under restraint.

Who needs it in the first place

The requirement attaches after revocations under sections 42-2-125 and 42-2-126, a cancellation for physical or mental incompetence, and a canceled probationary license. The section also lists exceptions: certain first offenses do not require proof to be relicensed.

How it ends

The director releases the proof on request at any time after three years from the date it was required — or after the shorter period that applies to a single alcohol offense — if the person has not been convicted during that period of any offense that triggers the requirement. Release also follows death, permanent incapacity, or surrender of the license, except while a damages action is pending, a judgment is unpaid, or the person was in an accident as a driver in the preceding three months.

The insurer reports after cancellation

Colorado does not hold a certified policy open for a notice period. The insurer “shall give written notice to the director during the ten-day period immediately following the effective date of the cancellation.” When required insurance is not maintained, the director suspends the license and does not reinstate it until future proof is filed again.

Moving out of Colorado

If another state or country licenses a former Colorado resident, the director suspends the proof requirement until that person applies for a Colorado license again. On reapplication it is reinstated until the original requirement has run out — the clock pauses; it is not wiped.

Filing without owning a car

A certificate that covers only the vehicles a person owns makes it unlawful for them to drive any vehicle they do not own. An operator's policy removes that restriction, and “when the person required to give proof of financial responsibility is not the owner of a motor vehicle,” an operator's policy is sufficient on its own. The non-owner guide compares the states.

Another person's repeated offenses in your car

Where a driver who does not own the vehicle is revoked for a second or later alcohol offense committed in the same vehicle, the director mails the owner a notice requiring the owner to file proof within thirty days.

What this page does not cover

Colorado's DUI penalties, revocation lengths and interlock conditions are in article 2 of Title 42 and related provisions, which this site has not read, so none of them is described here.

A note on sources

The General Assembly publishes the Colorado Revised Statutes through a third-party service that did not load on the machine this page was built on, and the state's motor vehicle site refused the connection, so article 7 was read from a published reproduction of the 2025 edition.

Getting a comparable quote in Colorado

Know which track you are on

A single alcohol offense with no accident may run only as long as the restraint. Anything else runs three years from the date last required.

Check the limits line and the term

25/50/15, on a policy of at least three months, for every registered vehicle.

Do not rely on a grace period

The insurer reports after the cancellation, not before it.

Colorado's clock is compared with every other state's in the filing-period guide.

Common questions about the Colorado SR-22