A DUI conviction usually brings a state filing requirement, and the insurance has to stay in force for every day of it.

10 years. California's DMV says all DUI convictions remain on your driver record for 10 years. How a carrier rates that record is a separate, carrier-by-carrier decision (California DMV, California Driver Handbook, Section 9: Alcohol and Drugs, accessed September 22, 2026).

Two things happen after a DUI, and they run on different clocks

A DUI starts two separate problems, and most people deal with the license and forget the insurance until it bites. The DMV or the court decides when you get to drive again. Your insurance company decides what it thinks of the new record, and it does that on its own schedule, not yours.

The license side comes with deadlines in writing. The insurance side stays quiet until a renewal notice shows up with a new price on it, or with word that they're done. By then you may also be under an order to keep an SR-22 on file, which means whatever policy you replace it with has to start before the old one stops.

Oregon calls the offense DUII, and Colorado splits it into DUI and the lesser DWAI. California, Arizona and Nevada just say DUI. The insurance side works the same way for all of them, and where a state rule differs, we name the state.

What usually happens to the policy you already have

Most personal auto policies run six or twelve months at a stretch. A conviction that lands mid-term doesn't automatically end yours. What happens next comes down to the policy wording, the company's own rules and your state's cancellation law.

The common outcomes look like this:

• A new price at renewal. The company pulls a fresh motor vehicle record, finds the conviction, and renews you at a higher price.
• A non-renewal. The company decides it doesn't write records like yours and sends notice that it won't renew. Our page on insurance after a non-renewal covers what that notice means and how to read the dates.
• A refusal to file. Some companies don't do SR-22 filings at all. If the state orders one and yours won't file it, you need a company that will.
• Nothing, for now. Some companies don't do a thing until the record reaches them at renewal.

None of that is certain, and the same company can handle two households differently. What you can control is timing. Once you know a filing is coming, or that a non-renewal looks likely, start the replacement quote then instead of in the last week of the term.

Whatever else happens, don't let the old policy drop before the new one starts. A gap piles a second problem on top of the first one. Our page on car insurance after a lapse explains why that second problem is harder to fix than it looks. If the driver also uses a company vehicle, a DUI and your business auto policy is a separate question.

The SR-22 filing in each of the five states

An SR-22 is a certificate your insurance company files with the state to show you carry at least the liability coverage the state requires. It also puts the company on the hook to tell the state if your policy ends. The Colorado DMV calls it a rider on the liability policy. It says that if the filing lapses while it's still required, your license "will be suspended for that reason alone." Our SR-22 insurance hub covers the form in general. The state pages carry the detail.

• Oregon. Under ORS 806.245 a DUII filing runs three years. For a suspension or revocation recorded on or after July 3, 2020, OAR 735-050-0100 moves when that clock starts: it runs from reinstatement of driving privileges rather than from the date the filing was required. Waiting out the suspension doesn't shorten it. ORS 806.075 also raises the bodily injury liability a DUII driver must carry, to $50,000 per person and $100,000 per accident, for three years from the date the first filing is required. See Oregon SR-22.
• Arizona. ADOT's MVD says a DUI conviction suspension requires the filing for three years from the end date of the suspension. The same applies to an implied consent suspension for refusing a test. See Arizona SR-22.
• Colorado. The Colorado DMV says the period depends on the offense, generally from 9 months to 3 years, and that repeat alcohol offenses sit at the long end. See Colorado SR-22.
• California. The California DMV says a court DUI conviction requires the California Insurance Proof Certificate, the SR 22, and that you'll be required to keep it for three years. See California SR-22.
• Nevada. Nevada's DMV says the SR-22 after a DUI must be kept for three years, 36 consecutive months. It also says a break in the filing suspends the license and restarts the three-year requirement. See Nevada SR-22.

Each state counts from its own starting point. Arizona counts from the end of the suspension, while Nevada and Oregon both count from the day you're reinstated, which is why two people convicted the same week can finish months apart. The notice from your DMV is what sets your date, not anything you'll read here.

If you don't own a car

The filing requirement often applies whether you own a vehicle or not. Oregon's DMV says so directly: the SR-22 is required "even if you don't own a vehicle," and it offers an operator filing for people who don't. GEICO says on its own site that a non-owner SR-22 policy is available for people who need a filing but don't own a car.

A named non-owner policy gives you liability coverage when you're driving a car you don't own and don't have the run of. It usually won't pay for the car itself. Our page on non-owner car insurance explains where it fits and where it doesn't. If you'll be driving a car from your own house every day, that's the wrong policy, and you belong on the household one instead.

Ignition interlock and the insurance policy

An ignition interlock is a device on the car that wants a breath sample before the engine will start. In these five states the court or the DMV orders it, and it has nothing to do with the SR-22. You may be told to do both, and doing one doesn't get you out of the other.

What we could verify at the state level:

• Oregon. ORS 813.602 sets out when a DUII driver must install and use an interlock. Oregon's hardship permit also requires an SR-22 filed with DMV.
• Colorado. The Colorado DMV says an interlock is required for a high blood alcohol content over 0.15, a test refusal, repeat offenses, or driving on a revoked license. It also says letting the SR-22 lapse after reinstatement can lead to a new suspension.
• California. The California DMV says that when a court orders an interlock, the DMV places a restriction on your record and marks the license. For an administrative suspension, it describes a restricted license that lets you drive anywhere as long as the vehicle has an interlock installed.
• Nevada. Nevada's DMV lists installing an interlock, where required, as a reinstatement step, and issues a license with a Y restriction after proof of installation.

We haven't found a rule in any of these states that changes your insurance because an interlock is installed. The practical part is simpler than that. The interlock goes on one specific car, and that car needs to be on a policy with your name on it as a driver. If all you carry is a non-owner policy, ask the company how it handles a car you'll be driving under an interlock restriction before you assume you're fine.

How long a DUI affects what you pay

There's no single answer, because it depends on the company and the state. Each one picks how far back it looks at violations and how much weight to put on each. Two companies can read the same record and come back hundreds of dollars apart.

What the states do publish is how long the record lasts. California's DMV says all DUI convictions stay on your driver record for 10 years. That's how long the conviction is visible, and it says nothing about how long a company can charge you for it. The other four states have their own record rules. We haven't listed them, because we didn't verify them from primary sources.

The filing clock and the pricing clock are also two different things. When the SR-22 period ends, the filing comes off. The conviction can still be sitting on the record, and a company can still charge you for it. Our Learning Center piece on what drives an auto rate change explains the renewal side of that.

Shopping while the filing is active

You can usually switch companies during the filing period. Just overlap them. The Colorado DMV puts it plainly: if you change companies, you must get a new SR-22 filed before the old one expires. Nevada says a break in coverage suspends the license and restarts the three-year clock, and the other states have their own version of the same punishment.

A sensible order for a switch:

1. Get the new policy bound with a start date on or before the day the old one ends.
2. Confirm the new carrier has filed the SR-22 with the right state.
3. Only then cancel the old one, in writing, effective the day the new one starts.

It's worth shopping again as the record ages. A company that wouldn't look at you in year one may write you in year three.

Check the liability limits on whatever replaces your policy. The SR-22 only proves you carry a minimum, and in Oregon the DUII minimum sits above the general one. Even that can leave you paying out of pocket after a bad at-fault crash. Our Learning Center explainer on auto liability limits walks through what each number pays.

Be accurate on the application

Every application asks about violations and license actions. Answer them straight, including the date of the conviction and any suspension. Companies pull motor vehicle records anyway, so the real question is whether your answer matches what they're about to find.

When it doesn't match, what happens depends on the policy wording and state law. The company may reprice the policy, cancel it, or fight a claim on the grounds that the application got the risk wrong. None of that is worth whatever the wrong answer saved you at the quote.

Same goes for everyone else in the house. If somebody with a DUI lives with you, the company will want to know about it. Some households list that driver and some exclude them, where the company and the state allow it. Our page on excluded and household drivers explains how that works and what an exclusion costs you if the excluded driver ever takes the car.

What to send us

• The DMV or court notice that orders the filing, with the dates
• The conviction date and the state where it happened
• Whether you own a vehicle, and the VIN if you do
• Every driver in the household, with license numbers
• Your current declarations page and any non-renewal or cancellation notice
• Whether an interlock has been ordered, and on which vehicle
• Other violations, accidents or lapses in the last several years

Where we usually start

We shop this out to more than one company. Three that write drivers with a DUI, DUII or DWAI are Kemper, National General and GEICO. Kemper says it serves drivers who need an SR-22 or have a suspended license, and its guide to high-risk car insurance discusses DUI and DWI convictions and says it offers "flexible solutions for drivers with challenging histories." National General says on its own site that an SR-22 may be required after a DUI or DWI, and it writes personal auto in all five states listed here. GEICO files SR-22s and offers a non-owner SR-22 policy.

We put their answers side by side, along with other companies where they fit. Each one decides on its own whether to write you and what to charge, subject to underwriting. You can pay in full or finance, depending on what's offered on that policy. And if none of them will touch it, we'll say so instead of stretching a quote to look like progress. The wider set of options is on our non-standard auto insurance page.

This page is general information for drivers in Oregon, Arizona, Colorado, California and Nevada. It isn't legal advice or an offer of coverage. For questions about the criminal case or the license action itself, talk to an attorney.

Reviewed for insurance accuracy by Richard Sweet, owner of Vantage Point Risk and an independent insurance advisor. Last reviewed September 24, 2026. How we review this.