Being required to prove you have car insurance even if you don’t have a car can be an annoying circumstance. If you’ve been ordered to hold SR-22 non-owner insurance or if you just need it for whatever reason, you may be wondering how to make it as cheap as possible. Keep reading for an introduction to the world of non-owner SR-22 insurance and what you can do to make it cheaper.
What Is an SR-22?
An SR-22 is a form that proves you have car insurance. It’s submitted by an insurance company to the state or institution that ordered the policyholder to get one. An SR-22 form shows that you carry the minimum required insurance to legally operate a vehicle in your state.
People generally find out they need an SR-22 form at a court hearing or from the state through the mail. More often than not, these are required due to violations of some sort, including:
- Driving without insurance or not having enough insurance
- Driving without a license
- DUI or DWI
- Multiple traffic violations
One of the biggest problems that come with being required to get an SR-22 form is that it can label the person ordered to have it as being “high risk.” This in turn can cause insurance prices to significantly raise for that person.
How to Tell How Much Insurance You Need
You can visit the Insurance Information Institute to find out what the minimum required insurance in your state is. If you need a quick reminder on how to read insurance limits, let’s take Alabama’s minimum insurance requirements as an example.
Most states require a minimum of liability insurance. This type of insurance protects you financially, but only when it comes to paying for the cost of other people’s bodily injury (BI) and property damage (PD). If you look at the III’s list of minimum insurance requirements by state, you’ll see that Alabama requires minimum liability limits of 25/50/25.
These numbers should always be in this order, from left to right:
- Bodily injury per person
- Bodily injury per accident
- Property damage
Alabama’s 25/50/25 limits mean that your insurance plan must offer $25,000 of coverage for bodily injury per person, $50,000 of coverage for total bodily injury per accident, and $25,000 to cover property damage.
The point of the story here is that any liability insurance plan that you’re signing up for needs to meet these minimum requirements as laid out by your state. This is true for SR-22 non-owner insurance as well.
What Is SR-22 Non-owner Insurance?
SR-22 non-owner insurance is specifically meant for people who meet the following criteria:
- You need SR-22 insurance
- You don’t own a car
- You don’t live with someone who owns a car
- You aren’t required to install an ignition interlock device
Getting SR-22 non-owner insurance instead of a conventional liability insurance plan can save you some money compared to someone who needs to insure a vehicle they own and also needs to file an SR-22. However, finding cheap options for auto insurance may still be important, especially if you’re not planning on driving anyway.
Who Sells Cheap SR-22 Non-owner Insurance?
According to ValuePenguin, the average annual rates of some of the best insurance companies to find cheap SR-22 non-owner car insurance in Los Angeles were:
- The General: $1,004
- SafeAuto: $855
- National General: $831
Not all of you will be looking for cheap SR-22 non-owner car insurance in Los Angeles. These numbers are to give you a general idea of what you’re looking at when it comes to purchasing this type of insurance in one of the United States’ major metropolitan areas. These rates do not apply to all metro areas, though, as the same SR-22 non-owner insurance plan from The General runs an average of $2,628 in Chicago, more than double the price it costs in Los Angeles.
Part of the reason for this is that location plays an important role in determining how much you’re going to pay for SR-22 non-owner insurance. Though The General charges much more for their services in Chicago than in Los Angeles, National General on average charged less in Chicago than they did in Los Angeles. If you live in a less populated area, you may be looking at much lower costs for your SR-22 non-owner insurance.
Something else you may notice from this list of cheap SR-22 non-owner plans is the absence of some of the bigger insurance company names. Since drivers who need SR-22 forms filed on their behalf are considered high-risk, those drivers may have their options limited when it comes to finding an insurance company that will sell them a policy. Find insurance companies that specialize in high-risk drivers, such as The General and SafeAuto.
That being said, some big-name companies do offer SR-22 insurance. Be sure to ask agents about your option. If you’re already signed up for insurance, check on your current company’s rates.
How Can I Make My SR-22 Non-Owner Insurance Cheaper?
There aren’t many ways to bring down the cost of your SR-22 non-owner insurance, but you do have options.
The first and best thing you can do to make sure you get the best deal for yourself is to shop around. Don’t accept the first company that offers you a quote on SR-22 non-owner car insurance. Get as many quotes from as many companies as you can to ensure you’re getting the best price for your situation. The criteria and methods used to calculate the cost of your insurance vary from company to company, so what might be greatly increasing the cost in one quote may have lesser weight in another quote.
Another effective way of keeping down the cost of your SR-22 insurance is to make sure you don’t lose coverage during the period in which it’s required. Allowing this to happen can add to the time you’re required to have SR-22 insurance.
At FIXD, our mission is to make car ownership as simple, easy, and affordable as possible. Our research team utilizes the latest automotive data and insights to create tools and resources that help drivers get peace of mind and save money over the life of their car.
