Q: No car insurance and wrecked my car. Nobody else was involved and no property was damaged. What will happen to me?

A: It depends. If this is your first citation for no insurance, your license will be suspended until you provide proof of insurance for 90 days and pay a $250 reinstatement fee. If this is your second offense, you must pay a $500 reinstatement fee and you will be required to provide proof of financial responsibility (form SR 22) to the BMV for three years. If this is your third or subsequent citation for no insurance, your license will be suspended until you pay a $1000 reinstatement fee and provide proof of financial responsibility for five years. Typically, drivers who are obligated to provide proof of financial responsibility are considered "high risk" drivers and often pay thousands of dollars per year more for their insurance.

You have the burden to make certain that your insurance is current. For example, if this was your second citation for driving without insurance, you are obligated to pay $500 reinstatement fee and provide proof of financial responsibility to the BMV for three years. When you purchase insurance, you will advise your insurer that you are under this obligation and your insurance company transmits compliance documents to the BMV to confirm that you are in compliance and you do have valid insurance. If you are late on a payment or you miss a payment, your insurance company is obligated to advise the BMV if that occurs any time within the three years. So, if you miss an insurance payment, 30 months after your license is reinstated, your license is automatically suspended when the BMV receives that information from your insurer. Remember, this is not the old days where the insurance company would generate a report on a weekly basis and print notification cards the next week which were deposited into the US mail. In those days, it could be as long as a month between your missing and insurance payment and your license being suspended. Today, communication is electronic and your license is likely to be suspended within 72 hours or less of any lapse in your insurance policy. As you can imagine, that level of efficiency will cost you money and headaches if you ever miss an insurance payment or otherwise cause your policy to lapse.