SR-22 insurance in Tennessee

Tennessee does not fix a number of years. Proof runs for the length of the suspension or revocation — and the limits it must certify depend on when proof was required. Today that is 25/50/25.

The limits depend on the date

Tennessee's financial responsibility definition is written as a series of windows. Proof required after December 31, 2022 means a split-limit policy of $25,000 per person / $50,000 per accident / $25,000 property damage — 25/50/25 — or a single limit of $65,000 per accident, or a $65,000 cash deposit or bond. The authority is Tenn. Code Ann. sec. 55-12-102(12)(D).

The window before it, for proof required from January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2022, carried 25/50/15: the same injury figures and a lower property figure. Earlier windows are listed separately again. A policy that complied at the end of a window is not in violation until its first renewal after the change.

Why it matters to you

An older filing may still be sitting at the earlier property figure until its next renewal. A new one has to meet the current window. When comparing quotes, check which window the agency is quoting to.

For the length of the suspension

The duration section reads: “a person who is required to provide proof of financial responsibility shall maintain that proof for the period of the revocation or suspension.” Tenn. Code Ann. sec. 55-12-126(a). There is no fixed three-year term. A six-month suspension means six months of proof; a longer revocation means longer.

The effective date on the certificate is the date financial responsibility was proven, and proof must be maintained from then for the period of the suspension or revocation.

A restricted license needs proof first

Before a restricted license is issued under the listed sections, the licensee provides proof and keeps it for the duration of the suspension or revocation.

A conviction reaches every registration

When a license is suspended or revoked by reason of a conviction, the commissioner of revenue suspends every registration in the person's name — unless the person provides and maintains proof for the length of the license's suspension or revocation.

How it ends

The department of safety may release the requirement after the suspension or revocation period if its records show that during that period the person was not convicted of another offense authorizing suspension, and the license was not suspended, revoked, prohibited or canceled for a separate violation. The test looks at the suspension period itself, not a fixed look-back window.

A canceled policy re-suspends

If the policy or bond used as proof is canceled or terminated during the period, the license is suspended and the registration suspended too, and both must be surrendered — unless another qualifying policy or bond has been filed. Certified insurance cannot be canceled until at least ten days after a notice is filed with the commissioner.

Fees

Where filing proof is a prerequisite to reinstatement, the fee is $50, once per person however many licenses and registrations are reinstated. A separate restoration fee of $65 applies for each offense that provides for revocation or suspension, unless the law specifies otherwise.

Your insurer has to file it

Tennessee puts a duty on the insurance company. Where proof may be given by written proof of insurance and the person is insured, it is the company's duty to file the certificate on the insured's request. A company that fails or refuses to file within the required time forfeits $100 to the insured, and is liable for any damages the insured suffers as a result.

Without a car

An operator's policy covers the named insured's use of vehicles they do not own, at the same limits, and the certificate need not describe a vehicle if the policy is issued to a non-owner. The non-owner guide compares the states.

What this page does not cover

Tennessee's DUI penalties, the lengths of suspensions and revocations, and interlock conditions are in provisions this site has not read. Because the proof period equals the suspension, the notice that sets the suspension is also the notice that sets how long you keep proof.

A note on sources

The Tennessee Code is published officially through a third-party service, so chapter 12 of Title 55 was read from a published reproduction of the 2025 edition.

Getting a comparable quote in Tennessee

Match the policy term to the suspension

The filing only has to last as long as the suspension or revocation. Ask how the policy handles an end date that falls mid-term.

Check the limits window

25/50/25 for proof required now, or the $65,000 single-limit alternative.

If the insurer will not file

The statute makes filing the company's duty on request.

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

Common questions about the Tennessee SR-22