SR-22 insurance in Michigan

Michigan's financial responsibility chapter still prints 20/40/10 as the proof policy. The Insurance Code has not allowed a policy that low since July 2020: the floor is 50/100/10, and only if you sign an election for it.

Two statutes, two sets of numbers

Chapter V of the Michigan Vehicle Code is the Financial Responsibility Act. Its definition of the owner's policy used as proof sets limits of 20/40/10 — the same figures the Insurance Code used before July 2, 2020.

The Insurance Code changed. Its section 3009 now says that no automobile liability policy may be delivered or issued in Michigan unless, after July 1, 2020, it carries at least $250,000 / $500,000 / $10,000. A named insured may choose lower bodily-injury limits, but not lower than $50,000 per person and $100,000 per accident, on a form issued by the director; the property figure stays at $10,000. That makes 50/100/10 the lowest policy that can lawfully be issued. The authority is Mich. Comp. Laws sec. 500.3009(5).

What that means for a filing

A certificate of insurance has to point at a real policy, and no Michigan policy can now be written at the Act's figures. The practical floor under any Michigan filing is therefore 50/100/10 — and the default, if no election is signed, is the higher amount. Quotes that mention 20/40/10 are describing a policy that has not been issuable in Michigan since 2020.

Choosing the lower limits

The election is not automatic. Since July 2020, on a new policy or a renewal, the insurer must give the applicant the liability options and a price for each, and the lower limits apply only if the named insured completes the director's form. Without it, the policy is written at the default limits.

A named-driver exclusion is all or nothing

Michigan lets an insured exclude a named person from liability coverage, but only with a warning printed on the policy and the certificate: “when a named excluded person operates a vehicle all liability coverage is void—no one is insured.” For a household where one member carries a filing, that exclusion is the opposite of what the filing needs.

Every registered vehicle on the certificate

No vehicle may be or remain registered in the name of a person required to file proof unless the certificate designates it. The certificate need not list vehicles if the policy is issued to a non-owner.

Three years, clean

The secretary of state consents to canceling the certificate “after 3 years from the date the proof was required if, during the 3-year period before the request, the secretary of state has not received a record of a conviction or a forfeiture of bail” that would require suspension or revocation. Mich. Comp. Laws sec. 257.528(1)(a).

It is a rolling look-back. Release is also available on death or permanent disability, or on surrender of license and registration. Bonds and deposits are held while a damages action is pending or a judgment is unpaid.

Ten days' notice

Certified insurance cannot be canceled until at least 10 days after a notice is filed with the secretary of state. A replacement policy that is certified ends the earlier one on its own effective date.

What this page does not cover

Michigan's personal protection insurance requirements, drunk-driving penalties, license sanctions and interlock requirements are in provisions this site has not read, so none of them is described here. A Michigan policy carries more than the liability line; this page covers only the part a filing certifies.

A note on sources

The Legislature's statute site refused the connection from the machine this page was built on, so the Vehicle Code and the Insurance Code were read from a published reproduction of the 2025 compilation.

Getting a comparable quote in Michigan

Ask which limits are being quoted

Default, or the elected 50/100/10. A quote at 20/40/10 is not a policy that can be issued now.

Avoid a named-driver exclusion for the filer

Excluding the person who needs the filing voids all liability cover when they drive.

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

Common questions about the Michigan SR-22