Car Insurance With A Suspended License

Getting car insurance with a suspended license can problematic. If your driver’s license has been suspended, then you might have questions about how to find cheap car insurance. While you may still be able to buy insurance for drivers with a suspended license, your current company may decide to cancel your policy or prevent you from renewing your coverage. Depending on the reason for your suspended license, there may be a workaround that can get you and your vehicle insured by a good provider.

Here’s everything you need to know about how to get auto insurance with a suspended license, including ways to get cheap rates and the top insurance companies to work with.

Can You Get Car Insurance With A Suspended Driver’s License?

This is one of the biggest questions people ask after having their driver’s licenses suspended. On the one hand, if your license is suspended, you can’t legally drive a car. On the other, if you do not maintain insurance coverage, the lapse may affect your rates in the future.

Unfortunately, when it comes time for your insurance company to renew your policy, your insurer will pull a DMV report and discover your suspension. At this point, most carriers will either cancel your policy right away or refuse to renew it once the policy expires.

Furthermore, most auto insurance companies won’t issue a new policy to a driver with a suspended license. This is because most suspended licenses are a result of reckless driving or serious traffic violations, including a DUI, DWI, a number of moving violations that accumulate points, or simply driving without a license.

To an insurance company, a driver who ignores the law is a high-risk driver who will eventually cost the company money in terms of a claim. This is why some providers will charge very high premiums or deny coverage altogether.

How To Get Insurance With A Suspended License

Suspended license insurance can be difficult to find since the suspension alone makes you a tremendous risk to insurance companies. Nonetheless, you may have some options. First and foremost, call your insurer and ask whether you can keep your insurance policy if you agree to sign an affidavit of non-use.

Essentially, this affidavit is a legal statement that says you will not be driving the car. Once filed, the insurance company is under no obligation to pay for any claims that arise out of your use of the car.

Another option involves purchasing comprehensive insurance coverage, which can cover your car in the event of theft, vandalism, weather, or other non-use accidents. Some insurance providers will offer comprehensive coverage without the previously mentioned affidavit because it is illegal to drive your car without liability coverage.

So if you were to drive with comprehensive only, the insurance company would not be held responsible when it comes to damages. It would only be responsible for damages that occur during non-use events.

Best Insurance Companies For Suspended License

Finding the best insurance companies for a suspended license can be tricky. Although there is no comprehensive list of auto insurers that will provide you with suspended license insurance, there are a few factors to consider that will make your search easier.

While most companies in the US will not sell you collision insurance unless you first purchase comprehensive coverage, there are some providers that will sell you a stand-alone comprehensive policy regardless of your license status.

In fact, this is referred to as OTC coverage, which stands for “other than collision”, but these carriers do not make your car legal to be on the road.

If you struggle to find an insurance company to provide you with this sort of coverage but you own your home, take a look at your homeowner’s insurance policy to find out whether vandalism, theft, and damages would be covered as long as the car is on your property.

You may just discover that you don’t need to purchase a suspended license insurance policy after all, but be aware that the limits your homeowner’s insurance company will pay are typically quite low.

Why Your License Might Get Suspended

Your license may get suspended for any number of reasons, so if you want to avoid the hassle and expense associated with lapses in coverage and trying to keep your car insured despite your suspended privileges, you will want to steer clear of them. They include:

• Driving without insurance
• Driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol (DUI or DWI)
• Refusing to take a blood-alcohol or breathalyzer test
• Leaving the scene of an accident (with or without injury)
• Failing to pay your child support
• Failing to pay your tax debts
• Accumulating a maximum number of “points” on your driver’s license in a predetermined time-frame
• Reckless driving

This list represents the most common reasons for license suspension, bit it is not all-inclusive.

Keep Your Insurance After A License Suspension

Despite this, there are several reasons why you might want to carry suspended license insurance, even if you can’t drive your car yourself.

• You aren’t the only driver. If you’re married, or if you have licensed children who are driving your car, then maintaining insurance is vital. In most states and locales, driving without car insurance is illegal and very, very risky.
• You don’t want the gap in coverage. Lapses in auto insurance coverage for any reason will hurt your insurance credit score, and this means your rates will go up quite a bit when your suspension is over.
• You want to keep your car protected. Finally, even if your car won’t be out on the road, you might want to keep it protected in the event of theft, vandalism, or damage caused by severe weather.

Whether or not your insurance provider will give you coverage for any of these reasons depends solely on the provider. The best thing you can do is contact your insurer and ask about their options for suspended license insurance.

How To Get Your License Reinstated After Suspension

If your license has been suspended and you want to get it reinstated, there are a few things you will need to do beforehand. First, if you disagree with the reasons why your license was suspended in the first place, find out if you can appeal the decision – but do so within 30 days.

Next, determine how long your suspension is slated to last. It may be definite, which means it ends on a certain date, or it may be indefinite, which means there is no set end date. Ultimately, you must fulfill the court’s conditions before you can reinstate your license.

If it is a definite suspension, you must wait until reinstatement is available, ensure that you have paid any relevant fines and court costs, and then visit your local DMV. You may be required to take a written or driving test, and you may even need to pay more fines or fees before you can reinstate your license.

If it was an indefinite suspension, you will need to meet the criteria attached to the suspension. You can find this information online in most states, or you can call your local DMV to learn more.

The Difference Between A Suspended and Revoked License

Many people mistakenly use the terms “suspended” and “revoked” interchangeably, but it is important to note that the two are not the same. A suspension simply indicates that you have temporarily lost your driving privileges, which may allow you to purchase non-operating or non-use suspended license insurance to avoid coverage gaps until your license is reinstated.

A revoked license is much more serious. Though it is much like a suspension, once a revocation ends, you can’t simply pay a fee and start driving again. In this case, you must start over to obtain your license. From taking the written driver’s test to passing a road test with an instructor in the vehicle, you will have to go through your DMV to get a new driver’s license.