Car Insurance After a DUI: What to Expect and What to Do

What happens to my car insurance after a DUI?

Two things happen, and they are not the same thing. First, the state deals with your license. It may suspend it, and it may require your insurer to send the state proof that you carry coverage. That proof is a form called an SR-22 (or an FR-44 in Florida and Virginia). Second, your insurer looks at your driving record and decides what to do about you.

The cost is real. Published 2026 averages put a DUI at 77% to 92% above a clean-record price. If you were paying $2,400 a year, that is roughly $1,850 to $2,200 more. These are national averages from several studies, not quotes, so your number will differ.

The good news is that most of this is manageable if you move early. A DUI does not automatically end your coverage. The bad news is that some deadlines are short, and the biggest mistake is letting your policy lapse.

Will my insurance company drop me?

It might, but not always. Your insurer can see your driving record, so a license suspension can reach your policy before your court date, and a conviction can reach it afterward.

In Texas, regulators say an insurer may cancel at any time once a license is suspended. That also applies if someone else in your household, or someone else who uses the car, is suspended. The insurer has to give 10 days’ notice. One guide says most standard insurers cancel after a conviction. Another says a DUI does not cancel a policy automatically. Plan for either.

Some insurers skip the price increase and simply refuse to renew. Then you are shopping for a new policy with a DUI on your record. Answer every application question honestly. The record will show the conviction either way.

If your insurer does cancel, you still have options. The next sections cover them.

What is an SR-22 or FR-44, and do I need one?

Neither form is insurance. It is a certificate your insurer files with the state to show you carry the required liability coverage. Liability coverage pays for harm you cause to other people. If your coverage ends, the insurer tells the state, and your license can be suspended again.

Whether you need one depends on your state and your notice. In the states we read:

• Texas: an SR-22 for two years from conviction.
• Florida: the FR-44, with much higher limits, for at least three years.
• Virginia: the FR-44, with double the standard limits, for three years.
• Mississippi: proof of insurance for three years after a first conviction. The state page does not name a form.

Your court or DMV paperwork names the form and the end date. Not every insurer files these forms, so ask before you buy. Some states require neither form.

Florida has the biggest jump. Its ordinary rules do not require bodily-injury coverage for most drivers, according to Insurance.com. The FR-44 requires $100,000 per person and $300,000 per crash. If you are in Virginia, see the limits note in the table near the end of this page, because published guides disagree on the dollar figures.

A plea deal does not necessarily avoid any of this. Florida applies the higher limits after a guilty or no-contest plea, even if the judge withholds a formal finding of guilt. Mississippi treats a non-adjudication like a conviction for license suspension.

How much will my insurance go up?

Plan on a large increase. Three 2026 studies of a 40-year-old driver with full coverage found national increases of 80%, 87% and 92%. A fourth, which did not state its driver profile, found 77%. In dollars, CarInsurance.com (May 2026) found a national average of $2,578 a year for a clean record and $4,959 after a DUI.

Texas studies of a 40-year-old with one DUI found increases of 51% to 65%. That works out to about $2,676 to $5,137 a year. The studies use different cars and insurers, so treat the range as a rough guide.

Your price depends most on which insurer you pick. One analysis found one company averaging a 36% increase and another averaging 156%. The same conviction is priced very differently from one company to the next. That gap is the best reason to get several quotes.

For FR-44 drivers, MoneyGeek (October 2026) put typical total yearly costs, filing fee included, at $1,800 to $3,200 in Florida and $1,200 to $2,400 in Virginia.

How long will a DUI affect my rates?

It depends on the state and the insurer, and the sources disagree. Texas is the one clear case. By law, an insurer there can charge the DUI surcharge for no more than three years from your conviction. A new conviction in that period adds three more years.

We did not check other states’ rules. Published guides describe a surcharge of three to five years, and some say up to ten.

A DUI also stays on your driving record much longer than it stays in your price. One guide’s table runs from 5 years in Arizona to a lifetime in Illinois, Ohio and Vermont, though we did not check each entry. A long record does not mean a long surcharge. Ask your insurer in writing when its DUI surcharge ends, and shop again at the three-year and five-year marks.

What if no regular insurer will cover me?

Insurers fall into three groups: standard companies, non-standard companies that specialize in risky drivers, and the state’s assigned-risk plan. Being called “high-risk” does not put you in the plan. A first DUI does not automatically do that either.

A standard insurer sometimes costs less than a specialist, and a specialist is not always cheaper. Get quotes from both.

The assigned-risk plan is the last resort. In Texas it asks you to certify that two companies refused you in the past 60 days. It sells basic liability, injury and uninsured-driver coverage only, with no collision or comprehensive. That matters if you finance your car, because lenders usually require collision and comprehensive. A lender who finds you without it can buy coverage that protects only the lender and add the cost to your loan payment.

The Texas plan offers a way out. After three years without tickets or accidents, the company must offer you a cheaper policy outside the plan.

What about my license and the deadlines?

Many of the earliest deadlines belong to the licensing agency, and they start before your criminal case is over. Missing one can cost you a hearing you could have had.

In Texas, a failed breath or blood test starts a license suspension on day 40 after your notice. You have 15 days after receiving the notice to ask for a hearing. In Connecticut, the DMV suspension usually starts about 30 days after arrest, and you have seven days to ask for a hearing. In Mississippi, the arrest receipt works as a 30-day permit, and you must contact the court inside that window.

These suspensions are separate from whatever the court orders later. An attorney or the agency can tell you which deadline applies to you. This guide cannot.

What to do next

1. Write down the deadline on every notice. Hearing windows can be a week or two long.
2. Keep your coverage in force. A lapse can bring the suspension back and force a new filing. If you will not be driving, ask about excluding yourself or a non-owner policy (see our non-owner SR-22 guide).
3. Ask your current insurer three questions: will you renew me, do you file the form in my state, and when does the DUI surcharge end?
4. If you are declined, get quotes from non-standard insurers. Use the assigned-risk plan only after you have been refused.
5. Check your policy limits against your state’s requirement before the insurer files the certificate.
6. Mark the end date from your state’s notice on a calendar. Then ask your insurer to remove the filing, and confirm the state shows you eligible before you cancel anything.

Our SR-22 explainer and FR-44 explainer cover the forms in more depth. The high-risk insurance guide covers other violations.

What does this look like in real life?

These numbers are an example, not a quote. Say you live in Texas and were convicted on September 1, 2026. Your policy cost $200 a month, or $2,400 a year.

Your insurer sends a renewal at $350 a month, which is a 75% increase. You ask two other companies for quotes. One declines you. The other offers $290 a month, and it files your SR-22 for a small fee.

You switch, and you keep the new policy active without a gap. Your SR-22 is required through September 1, 2028. Texas law lets insurers surcharge you through September 1, 2029 at the latest. So you shop again in 2028 and again in 2029, because your best price is likely to arrive after the paperwork ends, not before.

Common mistakes

• Counting the years from the wrong date. Texas counts from conviction, Virginia from the date you are eligible for a license, and Florida’s statute from reinstatement.
• Buying an FR-44 policy at last year’s limits.
• Dropping the policy while your license is suspended.
• Assuming a plea deal avoids the filing.
• Forgetting that an out-of-state DUI usually follows you home. Most states share driver information.
• Treating one published average as your price.

Details by state

This table holds the figures that are easy to scan but rarely change your next step. Confirm anything specific with your state’s licensing agency or insurance department.

The Virginia limits are the one to double-check. The state says FR-44 limits are double the standard ones but prints no dollar figures. The standard limits changed on January 1, 2025, from 30/60/20 to 50/100/25. Doubling the new figures gives 100/200/50, which is our own arithmetic. Insurance.com shows 100/200/50. MoneyGeek shows 60/120/40, which matches the old base. Confirm with your insurer or the DMV before the filing goes in. If you live outside Virginia, you can send a letter on your insurer’s letterhead stating the doubled limits.

Our state pages cover the rest: Texas, Florida, Virginia, Mississippi, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Vermont. This guide is general information, not legal advice.

Bottom line

If your insurer renews you, keep the policy active, ask when the surcharge ends, and get other quotes anyway, because the price gap between companies is large. If your insurer drops you, quote non-standard companies first and use the assigned-risk plan only as a last resort. If your state requires an SR-22 or FR-44, your notice sets the end date, so follow that date and not a national guide.