Colorado Insurance and dui's

Any Colorado resident who has had their drivers license revoked for driving under the influence must provide "Proof of Insurance" in order to reinstate their driving privilege. This proof must be in the form of insurance known as an "SR22" An SR22 is an agreement with an insurance carrier that such carrier will report any lapse of insurance coverage to the Colorado Department of Revenue. Where there was no accident, the SR22 must be maintained for a period of time equal to the duration of the revocation, e.g., three months for a first time revocation. If an accident was involved in the drunk driving incident the SR-22 may have to be maintained for as much as three years.

Even persons who had valid insurance at the time of their arrest must obtain SR22 coverage. While nobody knows for sure why Colorado imposes his requirement on drivers who have not broken the mandatory insurance law, you can bet the insurance companies lobbied heavily for provision to assist them in detecting persons convicted of dui.

How will an dui conviction effect my insurance? The answer to this question depends on which insurance company you use. Secondly, how a dui or dwai effects you insurance will depend on your driving record. Many insurance companies are actually "insurance groups" which are made up of several subsidiary companies. These subsidiary companies may treat drivers with identical records completely different. Generally, a driver with even one dui or dwai conviction can look for higher insurance rates or outright cancellation of his or her policy. This is especially true if the insurance company is on which offers relatively low rates for drivers with clean records.

Insurance companies can be divided into three types, conservative risk, moderate risk and high risk insurers:

Conservative Risk Companies - Without naming any names, conservative risk insurers will refuse to insure a driver with a record of any serious traffic violations, particularly drunk driving offenses. If a driver is insured by one of these companies at the time they receive a dui, dwai or drug related driving conviction, the insurance company will probably terminate their coverage.