Reader question:

How long does it take to go through with all of my SR-22 filing in Texas?

Rick

That is an excellent question, Rick.

SR-22 filing has often been a drawn out procedure, involving getting on the phone with your car insurance company and requesting the form, and then possibly waiting for it to come in the mail, or become available on your car insurance company’s web page for your personal account. Overall, your limbo between getting your driver’s license suspended and getting it reinstated could be as long as two or three weeks while you waited for the relevant information to come in the mail.

Now, though, Texas SR-22 auto insurance has this great service offered by the Texas Department of Public Safety. It’s called the DPS Express (thankfully, it’s a lot faster than the pony express). As soon as you get your Texas SR-22 form from your auto insurance company, instead of going through all of the red tape that is the DPS and spending a long time without your license, you can do the same SR-22 filing online at the Texas department of public safety’s website and get everything done with in that very day, so that you can get back on the road. It does have a small cost of twenty five dollars, though. However, this is nothing for anyone who would lose much more by being without a car.

Cheers,

Fashun Guadarrama.

Reader question:

A couple of days, I got arrested for drunk driving and now I have to file an SR 22 form. What is it? Thing is, I’m going to be getting a new car. Will I have trouble getting it financed because of my SR 22 insurance requirement?

Becca

You shouldn’t.

The SR 22 auto insurance form doesn’t do much at all to hurt you except that it makes your car insurance rates go up, except for in special circumstances when your car insurance company allows you forgiveness for your very first drunk driving offense. It is, essentially, a form that the company must file so that the state has proof that you are covered by an auto insurance policy. In most states, you are required to have an auto insurance policy anyway, but the SR 22 helps these states keep track of you in this special case so that if you cancel your auto insurance, the department of public safety is notified so that your license may be suspended.

A new car can easily be financed while you are using SR 22 auto insurance, because the only thing that the financer looks at is whether or not you have the right kind of coverage. All they want to know is that, if you get into a car accident and have to make a car insurance claim, they will still get their paycheck for the amount of the loan. I do think I should call into question how wise it would be to finance a new car while you have SR 22 auto insurance, just considering what the rates would be. Already, SR 22 auto insurance rates are much higher than usual, as are those for new car insurance. Putting the two together might be a hard hit on your budget.

Cheers,

Fashun Guadarrama.

Reader question:

Can I buy SR-22 auto insurance online?

Michael

That’s a really good question, Michael.

The entire car insurance industry has been moving most of its dealings over onto the internet. While many people still do it the traditional way, and drive their car up to the auto insurance agent’s office to take out a car insurance policy and fill out forms, many many more have realized that it just takes so much less time to do things online, and companies are making this more and more possible. Services are cheaper to offer online, and this is why a lot of online customers end up getting special discounts that regular office customers would not receive. This is extremely important, especially for someone like you who is already having to pay the higher than standard price for SR-22 auto insurance.

You definitely are able to buy an SR-22 car insurance policy over the internet, and it can actually be a much less exhausting experience, too. You can easily search to find out the many different companies that cater more specifically towards customers who need SR-22 auto insurance. One such company is The General, an auto insurance provider which has been in business many years and offers special low rates for customers who need cheap SR-22 auto insurance in Texas and around the country.

Cheers,

Fashun Guadarrama.

Reader question:

I need San Antonio SR22 car insurance and I don’t even have a car! What gives? I thought car insurance was attached to the car?

Gloria

Normally, it is.

When you have a regular insurance policy, your car insurance coverage goes with the car that you have listed on the policy. Most of the time, it does not touch any other car that you drive that is not listed on the policy, although there are instances in which your car insurance covers you regardless of which car you drive (such as rental car insurance coverage). This is the reason that, if you have car insurance for your car, you can allow other people to drive it even if they are not listed names on your car insurance policy, because they will still be covered by your own car insurance since the policy goes with the car. However, this rule does not always apply, especially when it comes to proof of insurance filing like the SR22 form.

San Antonio car insurance law requires you to file an SR22 form whether you have your own vehicle or not, so long as you have your driver’s license reinstated. For one thing, SR22 insurance puts you in a higher risk category which means you will have to pay higher rates for car insurance, which would not apply if you used your friend’s car with her car insurance policy at normal rates. It doesn’t make sense for a high risk driver to be using a low risk driver’s policy.

Another thing is that the SR22 car insurance is required to make sure that you have insurance coverage. The Texas department of public safety cannot track whichever friend’s car you might be driving, and cannot require that friend or relative to file any kind of SR22 form since you are driving their car. Therefore, if you want to have your license, then the responsibility lays on you, car or no car.

Cheers,

Fashun Guadarrama.

Reader question:

How do I remove my Texas SR22 auto insurance?

Emily

Glad you asked.

Texas SR22 auto insurance is something that you have to file with whatever car insurance company that you are with for the three or five, or however many years you ended up with, that you are required by the state to show proof of auto insurance for your car. If you fail to file it during that period of time, or your car insurance policy gets cancelled or it doesn’t get renewed, then until you can get your SR22 filing for car insurance back, your license will be suspended. This is a hassle, especially since in most cases you are required to pay a reinstatement fee. All in all, the removal of your SR22 car insurance should be taken seriously and should not be something that you do until the required time period has ended, or you decide that you will not be driving until it does.

Now, when you remove the SR22 form from your insurance policy, your car insurance company has to file another form, which is called the SR26. The SR26 gets filed whether your period is over or not, but if you want to continue having insurance with a company and also want to have an SR26 filed, then you have to show them some kind of proof that you are no longer required to have it. If the SR26 form is filed and you do still have to have Texas SR22 auto insurance, then your license gets suspended.

Cheers,

Fashun Guadarrama.

Reader question:

If I have an SR22 car insurance policy, can I drive other people’s cars with it and still be covered?

Luke

It depends on the type of car insurance you have.

Most car insurance policies are hooked to the car, so if you did not have SR22 car insurance but only had a regular policy, then you would probably only be covered if the person whose car you are driving had their own car insurance policy for it. This is one reason why it is a good idea to check if they have a car insurance policy before you take their car for a spin. However, with SR22 car insurance, the coverage follows you. In most cases, because of this, you can drive any car you like with the SR22 car insurance coverage so long as you have the permission of the vehicle’s owner. However, the only restriction that applies is if you have SR22 car insurance for non owners. With this type of insurance, you can only drive cars that do not belong to you and still be covered.

Cheers,

Fashun Guadarrama.

The SR 22 form is a specific form that you must submit to the department of motor vehicles as proof of your maintenance of financial responsibility for your vehicle insurance liability options. It is a lot like the SR 1 form, which has the same purpose but is used in the instances of traffic violations such as speeding tickets, or driving without proof of financial responsibility. The SR 22 form, however, is used for those who have been convicted of driving under the influence. Some may be embarrassed to request the form be filed by their auto insurance company considering that it is obvious why it is needed, but unfortunately it is the only acceptable way to approve financial responsibility.

The SR 22 is not automatically required by California SR 22 auto insurance laws if you are arrested or convicted for driving while intoxicated. It only applies to you if you want to get your license back at some point during the three year period in which SR 22 car insurance coverage is required. If you do not intend to get your license back in that time, then you may get regular car insurance coverage as soon as you do get your license after the end of the period.

If you intend to take a restricted license during this period instead of just going without, then there are some rules you must follow. First, you have to spend a hundred and twenty five dollars just to get the license, about five times more than what a normal California license would cost. Then, you will have to provide the department of motor vehicles with your California SR 22 auto insurance form. Normally, eithe your car insurance company will mail this to you, or you can print it off their website. Last of all, you have to show proof that you are part of a DUI program or school.

Cheers,

Fashun Guadarrama.

The drunk driving laws in Oregon mandate everyone who has been convicted of driving while intoxicated to file an SR 22 form for Oregon auto insurance. The purpose of this form is to affirm with the department of motor vehicles that you possess a valid liability car insurance policy. It has to cover every car you own or drive, regardless of the frequency with which you drive them. The required coverage for an Oregon SR 22 auto insurance policy is a total of seventy five thousand dollars for injury or death to persons; a total of ten thousand dollars for property damage; a total of twenty five thousand dollars in personal injury protection insurance for each person involved; and, finally, a total of seventy five thousand dollars coverage in uninsured/under insured motorist insurance.

In Oregon, SR 22 auto insurance is also used for when you are ticketed for driving without car insurance. In most states there is a different form for this particular violation, which is called the SR 1. However, the SR 22 here applies to both this and drunk driving. For the first offense without an auto accident for those without insurance, the SR 22 filing must go on for three years so long as there is a vehicle registered in their name and they have a license. For those who get into a car accident and aren’t insured, their license will be under suspension for a year, and then after that the three year SR 22 filing period begins.

When you are required to have SR 22 auto insurance, and you cancel or lose it for some reason, as soon as the department of motor vehicles of Oregon fins out, your license will be suspended. You can get it back easily if you can get another Oregon SR 22 auto insurance policy within thirty days of the original loss of insurance coverage. However, it is important to wait to start driving until you are sure that the SR 22 filing has been completed with the department of motor vehicles.

Cheers,

Fashun Guadarrama.

Reader question:

For how long are you required to have SR 22 filing done?

Adam

Excellent question, Adam.

The truth is that the necessity and length of the SR 22 filing process depends on a number of factors. The SR 22 filing requirement is one that comes after you have been convicted for something such as driving while intoxicated, driving under the influence of mind altering drugs (which also comes with even heavier penalties, along with the drunk driving), and driving without proof of financial responsibility; the requirement becomes even more strict when any of these actions result in a car accident. If you are simply caught from being pulled over by a police officer, then the requirements are less strict.

The first factor that affects how long you have to do SR 22 filing is your possession of a license. Normally, if you are required to file an SR 22 form, then you must first have had your driver’s license suspended. Sometimes the suspension lasts for a certain amount of time before you are able to reinstate it with SR 22 auto insurance coverage proof. Other times, it is only suspended until you pay a fee (which varies from state to state) and provide the DMV with your SR 22 form. The key to all of this is that the period during which you are required to do SR 22 filing applies whether or not you have a driver’s license. Theoretically, you could simply choose to take the bus for three years after your license was first suspended before reinstating it. If you did this, then you would never have to pay for expensive SR 22 auto insurance coverage.

The other factor that affects your SR 22 filing requirement is the number of times you have committed the offense in question. For example, if this is your second time getting thrown in jail for driving while intoxicated, then the amount of time you have to file an SR 22 form lengthens considerably. The normal amount for most first time cases is three years. For drunk driving, though, it is five years in most states. The second time you are caught drunk driving, that number of years doubles to ten years. The third time, it doubles again, to twenty years.

Cheers.

Fashun Guadarrama.

A couple of years ago, soon after I got my license, I got pulled over twice within two months for driving without insurance and was ticketed both times. I ended up missing both court dates, and going in a few months later to post bond and set up a payment plan. Of course, in Texas you can’t do this, because of the point system where you’ll automatically have points added if you pay on a plan for things like lack of insurance. So, instead, I rescheduled my court date. I was told by the girl behind the glass window that I was on what was called ‘probation’, and was required to have car insurance without any lapses through the date of my court appearance, and be able to prove it.

I guess I wasn’t listening too hard. What I was supposed to do was get an SR 1 insurance form filed by my auto insurance company so that the department of motor vehicles would have continuous proof of my car insurance coverage. I didn’t do that, because I had no idea that I was supposed to. I did keep my auto insurance coverage going for the whole time, but when I got to court and didn’t have an SR 1 to show for the time, the judge was not impressed.

The reason why I am mentioning this under an SR 22 topic is because I think it is important for those doing Texas SR 22 filing to realize that there is a difference between having an SR 22 form and having three years of insurance cards. One the judge will accept as proper proof, and the other just doesn’t work.

It’s a funny system, considering that both methods prove the same point–that you had car insurance coverage during the time of punishment after your Texas DUI conviction. However, what the SR 22 accomplishes that the regular insurance card doesn’t is that it keeps the department of motor vehicles constantly informed of your insurance status. On the other hand, just the insurance card can only provide proof of this after your period is over. That’s the emphasis that I want to put behind proper Texas SR 22 filing–it has to be done because it is the only approved method. You can’t just prove financial responsibility any which way.

Cheers,

Fashun Guadarrama.