FR-44 Insurance Costs After a Florida DUI Conviction

Overview
We interviewed subject matter expert Robert Malove, a Board Certified criminal trial attorney (one of fewer than 400 in Florida) and founding member of the National College for DUI Defense, of The Law Offices of Robert David Malove, to give you the best possible answers on FR-44 insurance after a Florida DUI conviction. This article explains what the FR-44 certificate is, who must carry it, how long it lasts, and what drives the cost.

A Note Before You Read
This article answers the question the way Florida law answers it for most people. Your case has its own facts, and small details change outcomes. Nothing here is legal advice for your specific situation. If you want an answer about your case, call The Law Offices of Robert David Malove at (954) 861-0384. There is no pressure to hire anyone; you will simply get a straight answer.

The conviction is entered, the revocation notice from the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (the Department) is sitting on the counter, and the reinstatement checklist names a form your insurance agent has never brought up: form FR-44. Your renewal quote came back higher, or the carrier sent a nonrenewal notice.

If that is you, and you are trying to work out what FR-44 insurance is, who has to carry it, and what it will cost you over the next three years, the answer sits in Florida law and in how carriers respond to it. An FR-44 is a certificate of financial responsibility your insurer files with the state proving you carry liability coverage of $100,000 per person, $300,000 per crash, and $50,000 for property damage, kept in force for three years after your license is reinstated. The cost reflects the higher limits the statute sets and the way carriers reprice a driver with a DUI conviction.

This article covers the certificate itself, the limits under section 324.023, the three-year clock, what a lapse triggers, the levers that move the premium, and the point in the case where the FR-44 requirement is decided. The insurance mechanics come from Florida’s financial responsibility statutes and the Department’s published guidance; the practice notes come from a recorded interview with Robert Malove, a Board Certified criminal trial attorney and founding member of the National College for DUI Defense.

FR-44 insurance is Florida’s proof of financial responsibility after a DUI conviction: a certificate your insurance company files with the state showing you carry $100,000/$300,000 in bodily injury liability and $50,000 in property damage liability, maintained for three years from the date your license is reinstated.

The requirement breaks into five pieces:

• Who must file: every driver found guilty of, or who pleads guilty or no contest to, DUI under section 316.193, for convictions after October 1, 2007
• The limits: $100,000 per person and $300,000 per crash in bodily injury liability plus $50,000 in property damage liability, or a $350,000 combined single limit
• The duration: three years from the date the Department reinstates the driving privilege
• The lapse rule: the insurer reports a cancellation within 10 days, and the license and registration are suspended until new proof is filed
• The cost drivers: the required limits, the carrier’s repricing of a convicted driver, cancellation and the smaller market after it, and the three-year duration

Board Certified criminal trial attorney Robert Malove of The Law Offices of Robert David Malove tells clients that “the conviction for a DUI is an expensive … issue,” and the FR-44 obligation is where that expense keeps running long after the courtroom part ends. Section 324.023, Florida Statutes sets the requirement: coverage of “$100,000 because of bodily injury to, or death of, one person in any one crash,” $300,000 for two or more persons, and $50,000 for property damage, and it directs that “such higher limits must be carried for a minimum period of 3 years.”

Key Takeaways

• The trigger is the conviction. A guilty or no-contest resolution to DUI under section 316.193 after October 1, 2007 creates the FR-44 requirement. A reduction to reckless driving does not.
• The limits are 100/300/50. Section 324.023 requires $100,000 per person, $300,000 per crash, and $50,000 in property damage, against a $10,000 property damage baseline for ordinary drivers.
• The clock runs from reinstatement. The Department counts three years from the date the driving privilege is reinstated, not from the arrest or conviction date.
• A lapse suspends the license. The insurer must report a cancellation within 10 days, and the Department suspends the license and registration until new proof is filed.
• No fixed price exists. Florida sets the limits and carriers set the premium. The conviction moves a driver into repricing, possible cancellation, and a smaller pool of willing insurers.

An FR-44 Is a Certificate Your Insurance Company Files With the State

The FR-44 is a form, filed by your insurer, certifying to the Department that a policy meeting the post-DUI limits is in force. You buy a policy carrying the required limits from a carrier willing to make the filing, and the certificate rides on that policy.

The Department’s DUI FAQ spells out the mechanics: for a DUI conviction after October 1, 2007, the driver must obtain form FR-44 showing the 100/300/50 coverage, or a $350,000 combined single limit, and maintain it for three years from reinstatement.

In practice, there is no FR-44 shelf product; the form certifies a policy, so the shopping question is which Florida carriers will both write the policy and file the form. The filing also tells the Department who insures you, which is what makes the lapse rule in section 324.0221 enforceable.

Florida Sets the FR-44 Limits at 100/300/50 Under Section 324.023

After a DUI conviction, Florida requires liability coverage of $100,000 per injured person, $300,000 per crash, and $50,000 for property damage. Those limits come straight from section 324.023, Florida Statutes, which applies to anyone “found guilty of or entered a plea of guilty or nolo contendere to a charge of driving under the influence under s. 316.193 after October 1, 2007.”

The size of the jump is the first cost driver. Florida’s general financial responsibility statute, section 324.022, requires an ordinary driver to carry $10,000 in property damage liability. The FR-44 multiplies that property damage figure five times and adds $100,000/$300,000 in bodily injury coverage that the general statute never required in the first place. A carrier pricing that much additional exposure for a driver with a fresh DUI conviction charges accordingly.

The Department also accepts a combined single limit of $350,000 in place of the split limits, and which structure prices better varies by carrier.

The Three-Year Clock Starts When Your License Is Reinstated

The FR-44 must stay in force for three years, and the period begins on the date the Department reinstates your driving privilege, whether that reinstatement is for a hardship license or a full license. The Department’s DUI FAQ states it directly: the driver “must maintain the FR-44 form for three years from the date of reinstatement of their driving privilege.”

That start date matters for planning. A first DUI conviction carries a license revocation of six months to one year, effective on the conviction date, per the same Department page, and the FR-44 clock starts when you get the privilege back. Section 324.023 also describes the way out: after three years without a new DUI conviction or felony traffic offense, a driver can return to standard coverage requirements.

A Lapse in FR-44 Coverage Suspends Both License and Registration

Cancel the policy early, or let it lapse, and the suspension machinery starts on its own. Under section 324.0221, Florida Statutes, the insurer must report a cancellation or nonrenewal to the Department within 10 days, and the statute provides that “the department shall suspend, after due notice and an opportunity to be heard, the registration and driver license” when required coverage terminates.

Getting the license back after that kind of suspension means filing new proof of coverage and paying a reinstatement fee, which the statute scales at $150 for the first reinstatement, $250 for the second, and $500 for subsequent reinstatements within three years. The practical rule: through the full period, the policy stays paid, and any carrier switch happens with the new filing in place before the old one ends. The Department learns about the gap from the insurer, on the insurer’s clock.

Florida and Virginia Are the Only States That Use the FR-44

The FR-44 exists in exactly two states, Florida and Virginia. Every other state handles post-conviction proof of insurance with the SR-22, and the difference between the two forms is the coverage level. An SR-22 certifies that a driver carries the state’s ordinary minimum coverage; the FR-44 certifies the elevated 100/300/50 limits that section 324.023 reserves for DUI convictions. Florida uses the SR-22 as well, for financial responsibility events other than DUI, so if your notice from the Department names the FR-44, the DUI limits apply, and a quote built on an SR-22 filing will not satisfy the requirement.

What Drives the Premium After a Florida DUI Conviction

The premium starts with the limits the state mandates and rises with the risk class the conviction puts you in. Because statute fixes the limits, the movement in the numbers happens on the risk side.

“Your insurance is going to go up, a lot, if you can get insurance,” Robert Malove said in our interview. “Insurance is probably going to get canceled by whoever it was that was carrying you.”

In the interview, Robert Malove put the insurance aftermath at the center of the expense he warns clients about. Carriers reprice a convicted driver, some decline to renew, and some decline to write drivers with open DUI cases at all. At one point he reached toward the mail on his desk: “I have a letter here somewhere from… an insurance company wanting information.” Insurers watch open DUI cases, because the case outcome determines what they are pricing.

The premium after conviction reflects the mandated jump to 100/300/50, the move into a high-risk rating class, the smaller set of carriers willing to write an FR-44 filing, and the three-year duration that multiplies the annual number. No honest fixed dollar figure exists for that total, because the state sets only the limits and each carrier prices each driver on its own terms.

What You Can Do About the Cost Before Reinstatement

The cost can be managed before reinstatement, and none of the work requires a courtroom.

• Put the dates on a calendar. The conviction date starts the revocation; the reinstatement date starts the FR-44 clock.
• Keep your current policy in force. A lapse now adds a separate suspension problem under section 324.0221.
• Quote the filing with more than one carrier. Split limits versus the $350,000 combined single limit can price differently, even at the same carrier.
• Talk to your defense attorney before answering an insurer’s letter about an open case. Carriers ask questions while cases are pending, and the answers belong inside the defense strategy.

The FR-44 Requirement Is Decided in the Criminal Case

The certificate, the limits, and the three-year clock all depend on a DUI conviction under section 316.193. A case that resolves as reckless driving, or ends in a dismissal, carries no FR-44 requirement at all, which is why the most consequential FR-44 decision happens in the criminal case, before any policy gets priced.

A plea to DUI locks in a conviction that Florida law places beyond expungement or sealing; it stays on the record permanently. Many Florida counties run first-offender diversion programs that resolve qualifying cases to reckless driving with a withhold of adjudication and, after completion, a sealed record. Eligibility has real edges, and the local rules have traps: in Broward County, where the firm’s Fort Lauderdale DUI lawyer office sits, and in Palm Beach County, served by its West Palm Beach DUI lawyer office, demanding discovery at arraignment waives diversion eligibility.

When Robert walks clients through the fee decision, he keeps it to arithmetic. A conviction carries three years of FR-44 premiums at high-risk rates, and a resolution that avoids the conviction carries none. Whether that resolution is available depends on the facts, the county, and the record, and he is direct about the limits of the craft: “There’s no guarantees. Despite our most brilliant and best effort.” He is equally direct with clients whose real problem is not the case; when someone shows signs of a substance problem, he pushes them toward treatment, so the case ends with the client better off than when the firm found them. Board Certified criminal trial attorney Robert Malove of The Law Offices of Robert David Malove spent 12 years as an Assistant Public Defender before private practice, and his first-offense strategy is built around resolutions that leave no DUI conviction on the record.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is FR-44 insurance?

FR-44 insurance is the high-limit liability coverage Florida requires after a DUI conviction, documented by a certificate your insurance company files with the Department. The policy behind it must provide $100,000 per person and $300,000 per crash in bodily injury liability and $50,000 in property damage liability, or a $350,000 combined single limit, under section 324.023, Florida Statutes.

How long do you have to carry FR-44 insurance in Florida?

Three years, measured from the date the Department reinstates your driving privilege, whether on a hardship license or a full license. After three years without a new DUI conviction or felony traffic offense, section 324.023 allows a return to standard coverage requirements.

How much does FR-44 insurance cost in Florida?

Florida law sets the coverage limits, and each carrier sets its own premium, so there is no fixed price. The cost reflects the mandated 100/300/50 limits, the high-risk rating class that follows a DUI conviction, the number of carriers willing to write the filing, and the three-year duration. Quoting several carriers is the reliable way to find your number.

Does a first DUI conviction require an FR-44?

Yes. Section 324.023 applies to any driver found guilty of, or who pleads guilty or no contest to, DUI under section 316.193 after October 1, 2007, with no line drawn between first and repeat convictions.

What happens if the FR-44 policy is canceled early?

The insurer must report the cancellation or nonrenewal to the Department within 10 days under section 324.0221, and the Department then suspends the driver license and registration after notice and an opportunity to be heard. Reinstating requires new proof of coverage and a fee that scales from $150 to $500 for repeat lapses within three years.

Is an FR-44 the same as an SR-22?

No. Both are certificates of financial responsibility filed by an insurer. An SR-22 certifies coverage at a state’s ordinary minimums, while the FR-44 certifies the elevated 100/300/50 limits Florida ties to DUI convictions. Only Florida and Virginia use the FR-44.

Talk to a Florida DUI Lawyer Before the FR-44 Question Is Settled for You

Robert Malove is a Board Certified criminal trial attorney, one of fewer than 400 in the state out of more than 100,000 active members of the Florida Bar. The distinction requires at least 25 contested cases and a minimum of 20 jury trials every 5 years.

If you are under investigation, have been arrested for DUI, are facing a second charge, or have a conviction on your record and want an expert criminal defense attorney on your side, fill out this form or call us now at (954) 861-0384.

The Law Offices of Robert David Malove serves clients across Florida, with DUI defense teams in nine offices: Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Orlando, West Palm Beach, Fort Myers, Fort Pierce, Gainesville, Key West, and Sarasota.