Every answer here is checked against what the Texas Department of Public Safety publishes. Where we could not confirm something, we say so instead of guessing.
Licensed in Texas · Serving Travis, Williamson, Hays and Bastrop Counties
Downtown Austin. Photo: Gabriel Guzmán via Google Maps
Here is what applies:
Minimum coverage required: Texas’s minimum liability limits are 30/60/25 — $30,000 bodily injury per person, $60,000 bodily injury per accident, and $25,000 property damage per accident (Texas Transportation Code ch. 601 / Texas Dept of Insurance).
Source: Texas Department of Public Safety — Financial Responsibility Insurance Certificate (SR-22). See also Texas Department of Public Safety — Reinstating your Driver License or Driving Privilege.
No — they are separate offences in separate codes. DWI (Penal Code 49.04) means driving while intoxicated, which the code defines as losing the normal use of your faculties or having an alcohol concentration of 0.08 or more. It applies at any age and is a Class B misdemeanour. DUI (Alcoholic Beverage Code 106.041) applies <strong>only to drivers under 21</strong>, triggers at <em>any detectable amount</em> of alcohol, and is a Class C misdemeanour. Most national sites use the two words interchangeably; Texas does not.
No, and this is the single most common misunderstanding. An SR-22 is <strong>not</strong> a policy and not a coverage type — it is a certificate your insurance company files with the state to prove you carry at least the minimum liability coverage the law requires. The policy is the insurance; the SR-22 is the proof. You cannot buy an “SR-22 policy”, and you cannot send the certificate yourself.
No. The two-year period is set by the date of your most recent conviction, not by how you drive afterwards. A clean record during the two years is what gets you to the end of it without the clock resetting — it does not shorten it. Confirm your actual end date on your own record through License Eligibility rather than assuming, and do not cancel before it.
Two years from the date of your most recent conviction, or from the date judgment was rendered against you. Not three years — that is a figure borrowed from other states.
No, and this is the most valuable thing on this page. The two years run from the conviction date. DPS gives the example itself: file a year after your conviction and you carry the certificate for one more year, not two more. A new qualifying conviction can extend it.
No. Your insurance carrier files the certificate with the Department of Public Safety. Not every company offers SR-22 filings, which is the department’s own wording, so the company you have now may not be able to do it.
Allow up to 21 business days. We can bind a policy and get the certificate sent quickly, often the same business day — but the department’s processing time is the department’s. Pay any reinstatement fees online through License Eligibility and that part clears in about 24 to 48 hours instead of three weeks.
30/60/25 — $30,000 for injuries per person, $60,000 total per accident, and $25,000 for property damage. Note that this is higher than the 25/50/25 most states use, so a policy written to another state’s minimum does not meet the Texas one.
Yes — DPS answers this directly. You are still required to file, and a Texas non-owner SR-22 policy satisfies it. It is usually the cheapest way to reinstate, because there is no vehicle to insure for physical damage.
No. A policy card or declarations page does not substitute for the certificate. The SR-22 is a separate filing your carrier transmits to the department.
Your licence or driving privilege is re-suspended, and you need a new SR-22 plus a $100 reinstatement fee to get it back.
Yes, but the handoff is the risky part. The new carrier has to file before the old policy cancels. If the old carrier reports a cancellation and nothing has replaced it, the department sees a lapse. Line the two policies up rather than cancelling first and shopping after.
Possibly not. Your insurance company can submit a letter on company letterhead by fax, email or mail stating you did have coverage on the date in question. Allow 21 days for the department to process it. Check this before you buy anything.
You petition a court — the Justice of the Peace, county or district court where you live, or the court of original jurisdiction for the offence — not DPS. The signed court order works as a driver licence for 45 days while DPS processes your request, and DPS needs the certified petition and order, an SR-22, the licence fee, and all reinstatement fees. It cannot be issued for a commercial vehicle.
No. TexasSure is a lookup database, not a notice-and-fine programme. Law enforcement, registration offices and — since House Bill 1693 — justice and municipal courts query it directly. You find out at the traffic stop or at renewal, not by mail. Worth checking that the VIN on your policy matches your registration; a mismatch makes an insured car read as uninsured.
Texas has a backstop most drivers have never heard of. Once two companies decline you, you can get liability, PIP and uninsured/underinsured coverage through the Texas Automobile Insurance Plan Association. It costs more and will not write collision, comprehensive, or above-minimum limits — but it exists, and after three clean years your carrier must offer you something cheaper outside it.
Yes. We work with carriers that write drivers other agencies decline, and we will give you a realistic price range before you apply.
Texas DPS driver licence offices work by appointment, and which offices are open and what each handles changes. Use the department’s own office locator rather than a list on a website like this one. Most of the reinstatement process — reading your requirements and paying fees — you can do online without going anywhere.
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The most common route into the SR-22 system. A drug offence can suspend a Texas licence even when no vehicle was involved.
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The compounding one. Each new conviction resets the two-year clock to the most recent date, so driving on an invalid licence pushes the finish line further out.
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One no-insurance citation is a fine. A pattern of them, or a crash with no coverage in force, changes your legal status.
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Not a violation in itself — but if you want to drive during a suspension, the certificate is one of the items DPS requires before it will issue the licence.
Not sure which applies to you? Call us at (737) 247-7900 and we will walk through it with you at no charge.
Any grouping of these items is ours, to make the list easier to scan. Source: Texas Department of Public Safety — Financial Responsibility Insurance Certificate (SR-22).
Most SR-22 sites state everything with equal confidence. These are the points where the published record is thinner than the internet suggests:
Most Central Texas drivers get a quote in under 10 minutes and have the filing sent the same business day.
Tell us your conviction and its date, your ZIP code, and whether you own a vehicle. We will compare carriers, give you a real number, and get the filing sent as soon as you are ready.
Or call (737) 247-7900 · Text (737) 247-7900 · Open Monday-Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.. Se habla español. No obligation, no credit card to get a quote.
Submitting this form does not bind coverage and is not an application. Coverage begins only when a carrier issues a policy.