FR-44 insurance explained: the Florida and Virginia statutes side by side

An FR-44 is a certificate your insurer files with the state to prove you carry high liability limits after a DUI. Florida’s statute sets $100,000, $300,000 and $50,000 for at least three years. Virginia’s code sets double its minimum limits for three years, which for policies effective since 2025 works out to $100,000, $200,000 and $50,000, by our arithmetic from two sections.

The form is not a kind of insurance, and the numbers differ by state and by date, which is why articles that give one set of figures disagree with each other. This guide reads the statutes themselves, puts the two states in one table, explains why Virginia figures of $60,000, $120,000 and $40,000 still circulate, and covers the questions the searches ask most: whether you need one without a car, how it differs from an SR-22, and what order the steps go in. It names the things we could not verify: the Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles and Virginia DMV pages on the form would not load for us, so the statute text is our source. No premium figure appears, because this site has no verified dataset of what an FR-44 policy costs.

Estimates and published averages, not a quote. Not insurance advice. State rules and insurer rules vary. Confirm requirements with your state insurance regulator or a licensed agent in your state.

What the form is, and what it is not

Virginia’s code describes the mechanism in section 46.2-439. Proof of financial responsibility in the future is made by filing a certificate from an insurer authorized to do business in Virginia, confirming that there is in effect a motor vehicle liability policy for the benefit of the person required to furnish proof. The certificate is either the Uniform Financial Responsibility Form (SR-22) or the Virginia Uniform Financial Responsibility Form (FR-44), and the choice depends on the circumstances. The section requires the certificate to show its own effective date and the policy’s effective date, in a form prescribed by the Commissioner.

Three points follow from that text. The form is the certificate, not the policy: you buy a liability policy, and the insurer files the form. The form tells the state a policy is in force, so a cancellation or lapse is a reportable event, which is why the older SR-22 guide on this site calls it a monitoring loop. And the form comes in more than one kind, with the higher-limit kind used after the offences the state names. The Florida statutes we read use different words: they require proof on a form adopted by the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles and do not use the label FR-44. The label is common in practice, and we could not confirm it from a Florida agency page, so we say so rather than assume.

What the form is not matters just as much. It does not insure your own car, it does not pay for your injuries, and it does not by itself restore a license. The policy behind it is liability coverage: what the policy pays to others for injury or property damage you cause. Everything else on the policy, such as collision or comprehensive, is optional unless a lender requires it.

Florida and Virginia side by side

The two states differ on the limits, the period and what starts the clock. The table gives what each statute says on the points we could read, with the section number.

Read the first two rows together. Both states tie the filing to a DUI conviction, and both set limits well above the ordinary minimum. Florida writes the dollar amounts into the statute. Virginia writes a multiple, so the dollars change when the minimums change, which they did on January 1, 2025.

Why you see two sets of Virginia numbers

Search results for Virginia FR-44 limits often show $60,000, $120,000 and $40,000, and others show $100,000, $200,000 and $50,000. Both are right for different dates, and the statutes show why. Section 46.2-472 sets the minimum limits depending on the policy’s effective date. For policies effective on or after January 1, 2022 but before January 1, 2025, the minimum is $30,000 for one person, $60,000 for two or more persons and $20,000 for property damage. For policies effective on or after January 1, 2025, the minimum is $50,000 for one person, $100,000 for two or more persons and $25,000 for property damage. Section 46.2-316 C then requires, for a DUI conviction, limits not less than double those minimums.

Two cautions apply. The date that matters for the doubling is the effective date of the policy that is filed, so ask the insurer which effective date it treats as controlling for your filed policy, and to state the limits on the filed certificate in writing. And because Virginia’s statute uses a multiple, a future change to the minimums will change these figures again, so use the arithmetic as a check and the DMV as the source.

What higher limits mean in a crash: a stated-inputs illustration

A reader who has been quoted a far higher price than a standard policy often asks what the extra coverage buys. The answer is more money available to the other person, not to you. The illustration below runs one crash through a standard lower-limit policy and the Florida FR-44 limits. The $25,000 comparison limit is an assumption chosen for round numbers, not a state minimum.

This is why the state requires the higher figures after a DUI: the legislature has judged that a driver with that conviction should have more money behind the policy for others. It is also why the higher limits raise the price of the policy, though by how much depends on the insurer and the driver, and we publish no figure. The limits question for ordinary drivers is in how much car insurance do you need and in the minimums guide.

Do you need an FR-44 if you have no car?

This is among the most searched questions about the form, and the statutes give a partial answer. In Florida, the statute that sets the high limits speaks of owners and operators, and the statute on policy types says an operator’s policy insures the named person for liability for driving a vehicle the person does not own, under the same limits as an owner’s policy (324.151(1)(b)). So a policy for a person who owns no car exists in the statutes, and it is the kind of coverage a certificate can be filed against. What we could not read is the agency’s rule on whether a person without a vehicle must file to reinstate a license; the DHSMV pages blocked our fetch.

In Virginia, the code speaks of proof of financial responsibility under a motor vehicle liability insurance policy that satisfies 46.2-472, and the section we read has no separate non-owner or no-vehicle provision. The practical step is therefore the same in both states: ask the agency what it requires of a person who owns no vehicle, ask insurers whether they write a policy for a non-owner operator with a certificate filing, and read the order or letter you received, which should state what proof is needed.

A non-owner policy is not a general answer. It is a liability policy: it responds to harm you cause to others while driving a car you do not own, and not to your own injuries or to damage to the car you are driving, so ask the insurer exactly what it covers. If you plan to drive any car, a non-owner policy with the filing is one route, and an owner’s policy on a car you buy is the other. Most readers who ask this question have a license to reinstate and no vehicle, and the question for the agency is whether the filing is required before reinstatement.

FR-44 or SR-22: how to tell which one an order requires

The statutes do not give a list of triggers by form. Virginia says the certificate is the SR-22 or the FR-44 “depending on the circumstances” (46.2-439), and Florida’s limits attach to a DUI conviction. So the form you need is the one the agency’s letter or the court order names. If it names neither, call the agency and ask which certificate and which limits. Our general guide to the standard filing is SR-22 explained, and the cost side of a DUI on a policy is in what a DUI does to car insurance.

A common mistake is buying a policy at the standard minimum limits and asking the insurer to file whichever form is needed. An insurer cannot file a certificate that shows limits the policy does not have. Confirm the limits before you pay.

The order of steps, from letter to filing

The steps are the same in most states with a high-limit filing, and the order matters because the certificate is filed after the policy is in force.

1. Read the letter or order. Note the form, the limits, the period and the deadline, and keep a copy.
2. Confirm the limits against the statute. In Florida the statute is 324.023; in Virginia it is 46.2-316 C with the minimums in 46.2-472 for your policy’s effective date.
3. Ask each insurer whether it writes your situation and files the form, before asking for a price. A quote from an insurer that does not file the form does not help.
4. Buy a policy with the required limits. Ask the insurer to put the limits and the effective date in writing.
5. Have the insurer file the certificate with the state, and ask for the filing date and confirmation. Keep both.
6. Pay any fee the agency charges and follow its reinstatement steps. The agency’s page controls here; the fees we could not read.
7. Calendar the end of the required period, and keep continuous coverage throughout. A lapse is reported to the state.
8. At the end of the period, ask the insurer whether to remove the filing and what happens to the premium. Do not cancel the policy at the end date without checking with the agency that the requirement has ended.

Moving states during the filing period does not end it. Our guide to moving states and car insurance covers how Virginia treats a person who lives outside the state, and the general rule that an obligation in the state that imposed it follows you until it ends.

Finding an insurer that files, and what this site can and cannot say about price

Not every insurer writes drivers who need a high-limit filing. The insurer directory on this site profiles each insurer from its own published pages and states the eligibility limits each one gives; there is no filter for filings, so read the profiles for filing and high-risk eligibility first, then request quotes only from those that fit. This site does not rank insurers.

On price, we publish benchmarks from the NAIC for average premiums by state, which describe the whole market and say nothing about a driver with a DUI. There is no verified public figure for what an FR-44 policy costs in either state, and any number you find on a third-party page should be treated as a marketing estimate. What you can do is compare real quotes on the same limits and the same filing, using the quote worksheet, and ask each insurer for the filing fee separately from the premium.

Two checks make the quotes comparable. The limits must be the statutory limits, and the effective date must match what the agency expects. After that, the usual levers, such as paying in full and shopping at renewal, apply as for any policy, and the cost of a DUI fades over time as described in the DUI guide.

Counting the period: a worked timeline with stated dates

The statutes count the period from different events, and an example makes the difference visible. The dates below are assumptions for illustration. They are not a prediction of when any agency will treat a requirement as ended, and the agency’s own notice controls.

Two lessons follow. The clock does not start when you buy the policy or when the insurer files the form, so a late purchase does not push the end date forward; it delays the reinstatement that starts the count. And a lapse inside the period is the event to avoid, because the filing is how the state sees it. Ask the agency, in writing, for the date it shows as the end of your requirement, and keep the answer with the policy.

Mistakes that cost money or time

These are the errors the statute text and the filing mechanism make likely, listed with the check that prevents each. The wider Florida framework, including the reinstatement fee schedule after a lapse, is on Florida car insurance rules.

• Buying a policy at the wrong limits. The insurer cannot file a certificate that shows limits the policy lacks. Ask for the limits in writing before paying.
• Using a figure from an old article. Virginia’s dollar limits changed with the January 1, 2025 minimums, so a 2022 figure on a 2025 policy is wrong.
• Cancelling the policy before the replacement filing is in place. The state sees the old filing end, and the new filing arrives late.
• Letting the policy lapse for non-payment inside the period. The certificate exists so the state can see exactly that. Pay on autopay and calendar the date.
• Assuming the filing follows you out of the state with no action. The obligation was imposed by the state that convicted you; the moving-states guide explains how another state treats it.
• Treating the filing as proof of other coverage. It proves liability limits only; collision, comprehensive and your own medical coverage are separate choices.
• Shopping only on price. An insurer that does not file the form cannot sell you the policy you need; check eligibility first.

If you are unsure which of these applies, the agency’s reinstatement letter and the insurer’s written statement of limits and filing date are the two documents that settle most disputes. Keep both until the requirement has ended and the agency has confirmed it.

Questions readers ask

Before you ask for quotes, read the directory profiles for filing and high-risk eligibility so you only request prices from insurers that state they write drivers in your situation.