Auto Insurance

FR44 Insurance Requirements in Florida and Virginia

FR-44 insurance reads like a bureaucratic footnote, yet in Florida and Virginia it is a genuine financial barrier standing between a serious traffic conviction and a driver's license that works again. Filing the form costs almost nothing, but the coverage it obligates you to buy can double or triple a premium and has to hold for three years without one gap. Below: the two states that use FR44 insurance, how it departs from an SR-22, the exact liability limits it forces on you, and what drivers generally pay.

What an FR-44 Filing Really Does

An FR-44 is a certificate the insurance company sends to the state DMV confirming that a driver carries liability limits well beyond the state minimum. Only two states use it: Florida and Virginia. Each treats it as an added penalty once a driver is convicted of driving under the influence, driving while intoxicated, or in certain cases refusing a chemical test. After the order comes down, the certificate remains on file for three years starting from the day the license is reinstated. Any lapse inside that window obligates the insurer to tell the state, and the license goes back under suspension.

The paperwork itself is cheap — most carriers bill a filing fee of $15 to $50 — while the mandated coverage is anything but. FR-44 drivers are barred from buying the plain state-minimum liability policy, and that restriction is what separates this filing from an SR-22.

How an FR-44 Differs From an SR-22

On paper the two are nearly twins. Both are financial responsibility filings the insurer submits. Both come from a court order or DMV action. Both have to run continuously, normally for three years. Where they split is the coverage they compel you to carry.

An SR-22 confirms nothing more than that the driver holds the state's ordinary minimum liability limits. An FR-44 confirms limits running roughly double that minimum. Florida and Virginia both issue SR-22 filings for non-alcohol matters like uninsured driving or repeated at-fault crashes, saving the FR-44 for DUI-related convictions.

Detail	SR-22	FR-44
States that use it	About 40	2 (FL, VA)
Typical trigger	Uninsured driving, multiple violations	DUI or DWI conviction
Coverage required	State minimum liability	Roughly 2x state minimum
Duration	3 years typical	3 years
Filing fee	$15 to $50	$15 to $50

What Florida Requires

Florida's ordinary financial responsibility floor is notoriously thin — 10/20/10 in bodily injury and property damage terms — and most drivers there hold only $10,000 in personal injury protection alongside property damage liability. An FR-44 leaves all of that behind.

Florida statute 324.023 requires a driver ordered to file an FR-44 to carry:

• $100,000 in bodily injury liability per person
• $300,000 in bodily injury liability per accident
• $50,000 in property damage liability

That is the familiar 100/300/50 package. No scaled-down version exists, no phase-in, and no carve-out for non-owner drivers who still need a filing to hold an active license.

Florida holds the FR-44 for three years counted from the reinstatement date rather than the conviction date. A lapse of any kind — even a single day between carriers — restarts the clock and suspends the license again. Drivers also have to clear any DUI reinstatement fees, usually $150 to $500, before the insurer's filing will be accepted.

What Virginia Requires

Virginia's version tracks Florida's closely, just with smaller absolute figures. The state's baseline liability minimum rose to 50/100/25 in 2025, but FR-44 drivers answer to their own required limits regardless of that general floor.

Under Virginia Code 46.2-472, an FR-44 has to certify no less than:

• $60,000 in bodily injury liability per person
• $120,000 in bodily injury liability per accident
• $40,000 in property damage liability

Call it 60/120/40 — twice the older 30/60/20 floor and still well clear of the newer 50/100/25 default. Virginia used to let drivers satisfy the general financial responsibility rule by paying an uninsured motor vehicle fee instead of buying coverage, but that door is shut to FR-44 drivers. Actual liability insurance is the only option.

The filing lasts three years from license reinstatement. Drivers who leave Virginia during that stretch generally have to keep the FR-44 in force through a Virginia-licensed carrier, or the reinstatement is void.

The Real Price of an FR-44 Policy

The filing is inexpensive. The premium behind it is not. Two forces compound: the serious offense sitting on the driving record, which typically pushes a full-coverage premium up 70 to 150 percent for three to five years, and the far higher liability limits, which pile on another 15 to 40 percent over a state-minimum policy.

Concretely, a Florida driver paying roughly $1,400 a year for state-minimum coverage before a DUI should expect renewal quotes in the $3,500 to $5,500 range on the same car once an FR-44 is attached. Virginia usually comes in several hundred dollars lower, thanks to smaller required limits and a cheaper auto insurance market generally, but the shape is the same: FR-44 pricing lands around two to three times what that driver paid before the conviction.

Not every company writes FR-44 policies. Standard-market carriers will handle them for customers they already have but frequently refuse new applications from drivers with a fresh DUI. Non-standard specialty insurers — Dairyland, Bristol West, and The General among them — pick up most of the new FR-44 business.

The Steps to Get Filed

Once a carrier agrees to write the policy, the mechanics of an FR-44 filing are straightforward.

1. Ask for a quote that explicitly includes the FR-44 filing — many online quote tools never surface the option, so calling the carrier usually beats clicking through a website.
2. Pay the first premium in full, or set up whatever installment plan the carrier permits on FR-44 policies. Paid-in-full or six-month bulk pay is a common requirement for this class of business.
3. Verify the insurer will send the FR-44 electronically to the Florida DHSMV or the Virginia DMV. Both states take electronic filings now, generally processed inside two business days.
4. Finish any state reinstatement requirements, reinstatement fees and a state-approved DUI education program included.
5. Check that the license is reinstated by pulling a current driving record. Whatever date the record shows as active is the day the three-year FR-44 clock begins.

The Cost of Letting It Lapse

An FR-44 policy is fragile in ways an ordinary auto policy is not. Cancel it for non-payment, switch to a carrier that will not file the FR-44, or leave a short gap between policies, and state law obligates the insurance company to notify the DMV, usually inside about 15 days. The DMV suspends the license, and the three-year filing clock restarts at day one whenever coverage comes back.

A driver 30 months into a 36-month FR-44 window can lose all of that progress to a single lapse and face another three full years of high-limit coverage. Anyone shopping for a cheaper premium mid-term should verify the incoming carrier will file the FR-44 before canceling the outgoing policy — the two need to overlap rather than simply meet end to end.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are the FR-44 and the SR-22 the same thing?

Both are financial responsibility filings an insurer submits to the state, but the FR-44 demands far higher liability limits — roughly twice the state minimum. Only Florida and Virginia use it, mostly for alcohol-related convictions, while the SR-22 covers a wider set of offenses like driving uninsured or piling up violations in most other states.

How many years does an FR-44 stay in place?

Florida and Virginia both require it continuously for three years measured from the date the driver's license is reinstated, not from the conviction. A lapse anywhere in that stretch typically resets the three-year clock and suspends the license again until a new policy carrying the filing takes effect.

Is there an FR-44 option for drivers with no car?

Yes. Non-owner FR-44 policies exist in both states and satisfy the filing requirement for drivers who need a valid license without owning a vehicle. They usually price 40 to 60 percent below owner FR-44 policies, since there is no physical damage coverage and no garaged car to rate against.

How is the FR-44 fee different from the premium?

The filing fee is what the carrier charges to submit the form to the DMV — usually $15 to $50, paid once when the policy is issued. The premium is the ongoing cost of the auto policy itself, which for an FR-44 driver typically lands at two to three times a state-minimum quote, because a serious conviction and doubled liability limits are both priced in.

Will any insurance company write an FR-44 policy?

No. Plenty of large carriers turn down new FR-44 applications, though they will often keep the filing going for an existing customer after a covered driver's conviction. Non-standard specialty insurers such as Dairyland, Bristol West, and The General are usually where new FR-44 shoppers find the broadest availability, even if their rates sit above the standard market.

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