A DUI, a lapse or a few at-fault claims change which insurers will quote you and on what terms.

91 days. In Nevada, the DMV says a driver whose insurance has lapsed for 91 days or more must maintain an SR-22 for 3 years. A gap by itself is enough to put you in this market (Nevada DMV, Insurance, accessed September 22, 2026).

What non-standard means, and what it doesn't

Insurance companies sort drivers into two rough groups. The bigger one is for people with clean records and no gaps in coverage, and that's where most drivers sit. Everybody the first group turns down or prices out of reach ends up in the second one, which the industry calls non-standard and everybody else calls high risk.

Non-standard describes which companies are willing to write you, not anything printed on the policy. The Insurance Information Institute describes these insurers as companies that write non-standard policies for people with bad accident records, high-performance cars, or homes in high-risk neighborhoods (Insurance Information Institute).

The policy itself looks familiar. There's liability on it, and usually the option of uninsured motorist, medical payments or PIP, collision and comprehensive. It has to meet the minimum liability limits of the state where the car is registered, same as anybody else's. You'll pay more, you may get fewer choices on the policy, and the company will pull your record again at renewal.

There's one more layer under that. If no company will sell you a policy at all, most states run a backstop, often called an assigned risk plan. The state hands your name to an insurer, and the Institute says that insurer has to take you. It's a last resort. Most people with a rough record never get near it, because an ordinary high risk company writes them first.

The records that land a driver in the non-standard market

Every company writes its own rules, so the same record can be standard at one and non-standard at the next. The Insurance Information Institute lists poor driving history, limited experience, no insurance record or payment lapses, poor credit, high-theft areas and specialized vehicles as common reasons. Here's what we run into most.

A DUI or DWI conviction. This is the most common reason people end up here, and it usually drags a state filing along with it. Our DUI car insurance page covers what changes after a conviction.

A lapse in coverage. Go without insurance even for a short stretch and there's no recent history for a company to price you on. In Nevada, the DMV says a lapse of 91 days or more brings a three-year SR-22 requirement (Nevada DMV). See auto insurance after a lapse.

A suspended or revoked license. Getting the license back often depends on proof of insurance, and a lot of standard companies won't write you during a suspension or right after one. See insurance with a suspended license.

At-fault accidents and moving violations. One ticket rarely moves anybody. Several recent ones, or an at-fault wreck where somebody got hurt, often will. How far back a company looks is up to that company.

No US license history. If you're new to the country, or still driving on a foreign license, there's no US record to price you on. Whether a company takes a foreign license, a passport or a Matrícula Consular as identification is that company's own practice, not state law. See car insurance without a US license, also available in Spanish as seguro de auto sin licencia de EE. UU.

Young and newly licensed drivers. Not much time behind the wheel counts against you all on its own. A young driver with one ticket or one wreck can land here with nothing else on the record.

Minimum liability in the five states we focus on here

Every non-standard policy still has to meet the state minimum. Here are the floors in the five states we write most of this in, with the SR-22 page for each.

Oregon is the one state of the five where the DMV lists more than liability as the minimum. Every Oregon policy also needs personal injury protection of $15,000 per person and uninsured motorist coverage of $25,000 per person and $50,000 per crash (Oregon DMV). Arizona's statute, A.R.S. 28-4009, applies the 25/50/15 limits to policies issued or renewed from July 1, 2020.

A minimum limit is a legal floor and nothing more. One bad at-fault crash can run past it, and whatever the policy doesn't pay can come out of your own pocket.

How non-standard policies usually differ

No one rule covers every company out here. Here's what tends to be different, though it all comes back to the specific policy in front of you.

Limits. Most of these policies come in at or near the state minimum, because that's what people ask for or what the filing requires. Some companies cap how high they'll go on a rough record. If you want more than the minimum, say so up front, because not everybody will sell it to you.

Payment plans. There are usually more ways to pay here, including a down payment and monthly installments, and you can still pay in full if you'd rather. Missing one matters more than it would on an ordinary policy. If you carry a filing, a cancellation for nonpayment can put the state back in the loop.

Fewer optional coverages. Rental reimbursement, roadside assistance and the rest of the add-ons may be cut back or missing, depending on who's writing it. Collision and comprehensive are often there, subject to underwriting, and your lender will usually insist on them anyway.

More frequent re-rating. Short policy terms are common here, so the company looks at your record more often than it otherwise would. That cuts both ways: a new ticket shows up faster, and so does a clean stretch.

Tighter underwriting on drivers and vehicles. They'll want every driver in the house listed, plus where each car sits overnight. Leaving somebody off is one of the fastest ways to turn a claim into an argument. See excluded and household drivers.

SR-22 and other filings

Many non-standard drivers also carry a state filing. An SR-22 is a certificate your insurer files with the state to show you carry at least the minimum liability coverage. It isn't a policy by itself. National General describes it as a certificate provided by your insurance company to your state's DMV (National General). It says one may be required for no prior insurance, DUI or DWI, a license suspension, or other major violations.

Plenty of drivers out here have no filing at all, and the price you're quoted tracks the record behind the filing rather than the filing itself. Our SR-22 insurance hub explains who files, how long filings last, and what happens if the policy cancels. If you don't own a car but still need a filing, a non-owner car insurance policy is usually how that requirement is met.

Getting back to the standard market

Nobody publishes a timeline for this, and we're not going to invent one. What the Insurance Information Institute will say is that the longer you keep your driving and financial records clean, the better your chances of getting back with a standard company.

A few things help. Keep the policy going without a gap, all the way through any filing period, and pay on time, because a cancellation for nonpayment puts you right back where you started. Keep everyone in the house listed. Then, once the filing is finished and the record has some age on it, ask to be quoted with standard companies again. Your current insurer won't move you there on its own.

Tickets and accidents age off at different speeds depending on who's looking, because each company picks its own lookback. Somebody a standard company turned down last year can get written by that same company this year. That's the argument for shopping again at every renewal once your record starts to improve.

Why quoting several non-standard markets matters

These companies are all over the map. One turns down a recent DUI that the next one will write without blinking, and one takes a foreign license where another insists on a US one. An SR-22 only helps if the company writes in the state that asked for it.

An agent who works for one company can only tell you what that one company says. We run the same drivers and the same cars through several of these companies and show you every answer that comes back, including the no's and the reason behind them when we get one.

We don't promise anybody will take you. Every quote is subject to underwriting, and each company decides for itself who it will write.

What to compare on non-standard quotes

Two quotes for the same driver can land within a few dollars of each other and still be very different policies. Here's what to read.

The liability limits. Are both quotes at the same limits? A minimum-limits quote and a higher-limits quote aren't the same thing, and comparing them on price tells you nothing.

Uninsured motorist and medical coverage. Is uninsured motorist on there, and at what limit? Oregon requires it. Elsewhere it may have been signed away on the application without you noticing.

Collision and comprehensive. Are they on there, and at what deductible? If the car's financed, your lender will usually require them.

Listed and excluded drivers. Does each quote show the same people? If one looks cheaper because somebody got left off, you're not comparing anything.

Payment terms. What's due at signing, what the installments look like, and whether paying in full changes the price. Ask what happens if a payment is late.

The filing. If you need an SR-22, confirm the carrier will file it in the state that required it, and whether there's a filing fee.

The term. How long the policy runs before the company reprices it, and when it'll pull your record again.

What catches people

Buying the state minimum without looking at the claim. The minimum keeps the car legal. It may not come close to covering a bad at-fault wreck, and the difference can land on you. Our guide to auto liability limits walks through what each number pays.

Missing one installment. A cancellation for nonpayment starts a brand new lapse, and if you've got a filing attached, the state usually hears about it.

Leaving a driver off to lower the price. It may lower the quote. It may also leave a claim unpaid or contested if that driver has an accident.

Staying put after the record improves. The company that wrote you after a DUI or a lapse won't always hand you better terms on its own. Shopping again once a filing ends is worth the hour.

Assuming one turndown means they'll all turn you down. These companies set different rules for the same record. One no tells you about one company and nothing else.

What to send us

• Every driver in the household, with license numbers and the date each was first licensed
• The license state and type for any driver with a foreign or international license
• Every vehicle, with VIN and the address where it's parked overnight
• Any DUI, suspension, accident or violation, with dates
• Any gap in coverage, with dates, and your most recent declarations page if you have one
• Any court or DMV letter that mentions an SR-22 or other filing, including which state sent it

Where we usually start

We shop this out to more than one company and put the answers next to each other. Three companies that write drivers like this are Kemper, National General and GEICO. Kemper says its personal auto program serves both standard and non-standard drivers. It names drivers who need an SR-22, drivers with suspended, revoked or canceled licenses, and drivers without a US license. Its guide to high-risk car insurance also discusses DUI convictions and coverage gaps. National General, an Allstate company, writes personal auto in all five states listed here, and its underwriting guides provide for SR-22 filings and named non-owner policies. GEICO writes some of these drivers and says it files SR-22s electronically or by mail.

Each one decides for itself. We'll tell you who quoted, who passed, and what's actually in each quote.

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.