SR 22 Forms - California Financial Responsibility Insurance
WHAT IS AN SR-22 FORM
An SR-22 form is a document that helps the DMV and the state of California ensure that motorists are financially responsible for their driving. Certain drivers are deemed to be at risk because of past violations (as listed below) and are therefore required to file an SR-22 form with their auto insurance company. The auto insurance company will keep record of the SR-22 as well as providing the motorist and the state DMV with a copy.
In the state of California there are three different types of SR 22 forms:
- An Operator's Policy Certificate which covers the financial responsibility in the case the motorist does not own a vehicle.
- An Owner's Policy Certificate that covers the financial responsibility for vehicles owned by the motorist.
- A Broad Coverage Policy Certificate covers financial responsibility for all the vehicles that are owned or not owned by the motorist.
WHEN IS AN SR 22 REQUIRED?
The SR-22 financial responsibility insurance form is required for specific drivers in California. The form(s) may be required for the following reasons:- If you have any safety responsibility suspensions. For example, if you were an uninsured driver and were involved in an accident in the past but did not pay the requisite compensation.
- If you have any unsatisfied judgment suspensions. For example, if you, as a driver were involved in an accident in the past and then you had an unsatisfactory judgment entered against you.
- If you have a restricted license.
- If you have had your license revocated.
- For individuals convicted of DUI.
FILING FOR AN SR 22 FORM
- Contact a DMV-authorized auto insurance agency or broker to request for a SR-22 filing.
- Pay the correct processing fee to the agency. The fee amount may vary between agencies. You can request an insurance quote from our California auto insurance page and where we offer quotes from companies who will allow you to request an SR 22 filing automatically. This can all be done online and will often allow you to save on auto insurance rates.
- As per the State laws of California, the minimum amount of coverage for one accident should be $15,000 for one person killed or injured, $30,000 for two or more persons killed or injured and $5,000 for property damage.
- Upon receiving the request from the agent the central office then sends the SR-22 directly to the DMV in about 30 days.
- If accepted, you will receive the SR-22 from the agency along with a letter from the DMV.
- The SR-22 has to be maintained for a minimum period of 36 months. If this is not done, the DMV may suspend the driving record of the motorist until the insurance is reinstated.
FOR OUT OF STATE RESIDENTS
In case you move to another state, the requirements of your new state of residence will be applicable to you. Contact your insurance company for more information.ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
- An amount of $35,000 in cash or as a surety bond may be deposited with the DMV in place of liability insurance.
- DMV-approved self-insurance is also considered adequate proof of financial responsibility.
Reviews of SR 22 Forms - California Financial Responsibility Insurance
I was arrested for a DUI in Nov. 2011. I have retained a lawyer (Mr. DUI) in SanDiego, who feels he can get it reduced to a lesser violation (not a DUI). I have a clean driving record and have not been arrested for anything, ever! My question. I have insurance coverage for 3 cars that I own with 2 insurance companys. One renewed for a year in Dec. 2011 and the other for a year this month (Jan. 2012). Why should I have to contact an insurance company and pay extreme insurance costs for a SR22 when I have a year of existing coverage until 2013. If I have current coverage for a year, why should the DMV request a SR22 if I can show proof of current coverage for the first 12 of 36 months. Can anyone explain this to me. Thanks
First off stop whining - you were drinking and driving. To answer your question - your insurance cannot raise the rates until expiration, but insurance premiums have nothing to do with complying with the DMV requirements to keep your license in lieu of your DUI ticket. Having a license is a privilege - not a right. Therefore provide the SR22 or the DMV suspends your license - if getting the SR22 requires a new insurance policy or paying a high fee for the SR22 that is the penalty for drinking and driving.
I was rear ended at a stoplight on 7-16-11. I was driving my fathers car, he's 85 and forgot to pay the insurance, so his van was not insured when I was hit. Since I carry insurance with AAA of So. Cal I knew they would cover me like they do when I rent a car. And after being told AAA would cover me, then wouldn't, then would, then wouldn't etc. for about 5 months they finally denied me coverage for this accident because I carry a set of keys for the van. As a result, my license is being suspended on 12/29/11 for one year. I personally did nothing wrong except trust that my father had current insurance on the van. I am going to loose my business, probably my marriage, and home because I will have no income. I can't even appeal DMV's decision because in their eyes, because of AAA's decision not to cover me with my paid insurance, I was uninsured. Can anyone help me with this or know anyone who could help me not loose my license?
That seems highly unusual. You wrote: "I was rear ended at a stoplight on 7-16-11." You should be not at fault with the entire claim being able to be submitted through other party's insurance. You were driving with permissive use another person's vehicle - in CA insurance goes with the vehicle no matter who is driving it. Your father had no insurance but you had no way of knowing that. Your AAA insurance covers you as secondary liability when driving somebody's else's car when you are at fault in an accident. It will not pay the collision damage on the vehicle you were driving because it was not an insured vehicle on your AAA Policy, but it should pay liability to the other party if you were somehow found to be at fault - but you were rear-ended so what gives? Collision coverage is not required by CA Law - only Bodily Injury and Property Damage Liability - so if you had AAA insurance your license should NOT be suspended no matter who's car you were driving. There is no reason DMV should suspend your drivers license since you carried AAA insurance. You were driving a borrowed vehicle. If AAA is refusing to pay Liaiblity you should fight this by going up the ladder at AAA and filing a complaint with CA Dept of Insurance http://www.insurance.ca.gov/contact-us/0200-file-complaint/ (http://www.insurance.ca.gov/contact-us/0200-file-complaint/). The wrinkle here you did not explain is if you and your father live at the same address/same household. If so then it is your responsibility to disclose all licnesed household residents on your AAA auto policy and failing to do so can cause you problems - concealment and denial of coverage. But again this can be fought. That being said - you need to burn up the phone lines with AAA and DMV, but the details don't add up...
i need to get a sr22 but when i found out that i need to take "saftey driving" classes and get insurance before i can file for an sr22 i got stuck at where to take the saftey classes at. i live in fresno california and everytime i look to see how much it is to enroll into these classes or just even look where to see where they would be at i get stuck. i have never had a dui but it is a dwi and i have at least 3 major tickets i ignored and a driving with a suspended. if anyone can help me out a bit on how to get started on gettin my sr22 please email me at hurryup2w8@yahoo.com. thanx
I am new at this so please help me out , the vehicle is not under my name but has insurance and i need to file an sr -22 . how do i go about that ?
I am a 23 yr old unliscensed resident of california i live in la got a dui without ever having had a valid drivers license. What process do I need to take to get a license and drive legally?
Usually whenever you get a DUI (no injuries - 1st conviction), your license will be suspended for at least 6months. If you had no license at the time of the incident, you can use your CA identification # to file for an SR22; however, you won't be able to file for an SR22 until the 6 month suspension period is over and until you finish the DUI classes or all court requirements. (Insurance agent - 6+ year experience - located in San Diego County - Feel free to call us for questions 760-758-1600)
I only have 7 more months left before I am not required to have a sr-22 . I received a dui in 2009 and was told by my attorney and california law to maintain a Sr-22.I found an brooker right next door to the mandated drug and alchol classes. Told the broker i had a dui i need a sr-22. He asked me if i owned a vehicle I was truthful and said no. He told me i needed non owners insurance. I asked him what was that. He toldme it was insurance for people who didnt actually own a vehicle that was it. $42 dollars a month never been late in fact paid ealy. Last month in june I was in a fender bender in slow traffic going about 10 miles per hour. The vehicle i hit just stopped. My car was fine the other vehicle had problems with the back bumper.We exchanged ino it was going to cost 1700 . So i said just go through my insurance co. I get a call from my insurance saying their denying the claim because i was driving my girlsfriend car and she lives with me. WTF! I was never told that and i went over y contract declaration it does mention something to that effect but I dont remember signing that agreement. They didnt send me the contract I supposedly intialed just the declartion. My point is I make enough money to pay regualr insurance for true liabilty.....What the hell have I been paying $42 dollars a month for over 2yrs... Anybody with any feed back appeciated
Nearly same thing happened to me with access insurance. I pre-paid to a broker a year of insurance with access, got in a accident halfway in the year with somebody (who had access too). Then after the year passes, I sell the car, cancel the insurance and buy a motorcycle, I get told that I need SR22 insurance for getting into an accident 7 months ago and not having insurance!!! FUCK YOU!! WHAT DID I PAY FOR THEN!! I WANT TO BE A FLY BY NIGHT BROKER OR START A RIP OFF INSURANCE COMPANY! Problem is I an too poor and so no money to pay a lawyer and I can not find a lawyer willing to work for after settlement cost only. I am straight edge (no drinking, no smoking, no prescriptions), had friends killed by drunks, and always felt that the drunks should be kept off the road but now I am rethinking how I felt about SR22. It could happen to you.
I am an insurance agent in CA.
In CA, insurance follows the vehicle, not the driver; therefore, you should have filed you accident under your girlfriend's insurance policy (if she has one, she should) unless she is SPECIFICALLY stated under your policy and listed as a additional driver for which you pay premiums for.
Her insurance would not have gone up, just yours (even though hers paid out). In the case that she did not have insurance, yours would have paid out and she would have been fined under CA's law stating that she may lose her license for up to 4 years for having a uninsured vehicle and permitting someone else to use it.
Hope this answers your question.
I have an SR22 filed in California with a year and a half more to go. I recently moved to Arizona and need to know if I have to file another SR22 here or just keep the California SR22. Please help!
You need to contact AZ DMV within 10 days of moving and they will let you know.
I've been an insurance agent for over 10 years now and I have to be honest about SR22 forms. I think that obtaining and maintaining an SR22 is the biggest scam in California. Your insurance identification card should stand as solid proof that you are maintaining financial responsibility. Filing a form with the state for $16-$40 (depending on the insurance company) is nothing but another method for the state to make money for 3 years straight after someone receives a DUI. Unfortunately, if you don't maintain it, your license will be suspended until you get one. But keep in mind that all an SR22 does is just informs the state of California that you are maintaining an active insurance policy after having got a DUI or into an accident when you didn't have insurance. Just another scam! Good job California! Keep screwing your residents!
As a CA insurance agent, I believe the SR22 is a GREAT idea. It is only for drivers who have been deemed irresponsible because of either:
-Safety
-Failure to abide by insurance requirements
-DUI
-Restricted Licenses
So these people have already shown NOT to be responsible, especially in the insurance sense of those who were involved in an accident and did not have insurance. They are considered "at-risk" drivers and it is a precautionary to ensure that these people, who HAVE already broken the law (an may or may not have cause significant bodily/property damages to another) maintain some sort of obligation to the law until they show themselves fit to be trustworthy of meeting the insurance requirement on their own.
As an insurance agent, especially for 10 years, I would hope that you knew, understood and supported it. Your license your be in question because your ethics are out of order.
I am required to get an sr22 form even though I was not convicted of a DUI. The police department did not have sufficiant evidence to charge me so they dropped the case but now I am required by the California D.M.V. to obtain one in order to get the suspension lifted. What a crock of sh*t. I don't even live in the state of California anymore.
I couldn't agree with you more! Just one more way to make people who "are trying to do the right thing", lose money. Money, Money, Money. I wish they would go after all the people who have lose dogs, not on leash, my area is full of em. The police just drive by. HELLO?! There is a leash law and we are bankrupt!
waaa waaa waaaa
I have insurance policy #37493026-0 with Progressive Casualty
insuranse Co. for my RV license #6NUC649 , 1992 Fleetwood ,
Bounder Motorhome registered in my name Nikolaos Dritsakis and
I have received a suspention notice for no financial responsibility
on 12-1-2010. I called my insurance and I was told that they have reported to DMV as the law mandates. I did go to Daly City DMV
and I was told that I should do this on line as they can not do it from
their office... So I hope this time is coming to the right office and I
will be notified that I am in good standing with my registration..
Respactfuly , Nikolaos Dritsakis 702-460 8328
I think the SR-22 thing is a bit overboard for a DUI especially since I've always had proof of and valid insurance. Just because I took medication that didn't agree with me doesn't mean I'll ever do that again.
Overboard is an understatement! All I've heard from every attorney since I got into an accident the other night is OOOOOOO YOU NEED A SR-22, give me, give me $$$, and I'll take care of it for you? I don't even know what it is. I already called AAA and told them about the DUI and the accident, they didn't seem very worried, they said it would be "1" point on my record, no talk of cancellation. Guess, I better call them tomorrow just to make sure. What a hassle. Time to leave California!
And to keep it on the record for 10 years is totally rediculous and unfounded.