FR-44 Insurance in Virginia
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FR-44 insurance may only be needed in two states, but it can cause considerable confusion all the same. We’re here to clear a few things up: namely, the name. FR-44 insurance in Virginia is not actually insurance; it’s a financial certificate of responsibility that insurers provide to prove you have the legally required amount of insurance to drive. It’s also known as an FR-44 form, but has become widely known as FR-44 insurance.
While we’re at it, let’s clear a few more things up about FR-44 insurance and what you can expect for cost, coverage, and timelines, should you need it.
FR-44 insurance comes into play for high-risk drivers that have committed serious driving infractions, like driving under the influence or maiming someone while driving. It’s designed to help protect other drivers by ensuring you carry more than the minimum amount of car insurance. If your license is suspended, you may need FR-44 insurance to get back on the road. Your car insurance provider will contact the DMV directly, confirming that you have purchased the higher liability limits of insurance, which ensures you can cover potential damages if you cause an accident.
If you’ve been ordered to get FR-44 insurance, don’t panic: the steps to get back on the road are fairly straightforward. Your first step is to find insurance providers that offer FR-44 insurance, because not all do. You will want to contact multiple providers to get quotes, because FR-44 insurance is pricier than standard auto insurance, so it will be important to compare quotes and find the best possible rate.
Here’s the breakdown on how much is fr44 insurance in Virginia:
Coverage | Standard Auto Insurance | FR-44 Insurance |
Bodily Injury | $50,000 per person / $100,000 per accident | $100,000 per person / $200,000 per accident |
Property damage | $25,000 | $50,000 |
It’s important to note, the above coverage was recently increased in 2025; before that, the minimum coverage for both standard and FR-44 insurance was lower.
As you can see, the amount of coverage needed for FR-44 insurance is significantly higher, but it’s by design: because you’re a higher risk driver, the state wants to ensure that you can cover damages, should you cause an accident.
The good news is, this isn’t permanent. Getting rid of FR-44 insurance is entirely possible by maintaining a clean driving record over time. You’ve got this!
We won’t sugarcoat it: FR-44 insurance is expensive. It has to be, to help cover the higher liability insurance. So, how much does it cost? The truth is that there are many factors that will impact the cost of FR-44 insurance, including your personal driving history, your credit history, your age, the type of vehicle you drive, and more.
While there’s no one-size-fits-all pricing we can share, you can expect to pay around $1,200 per year (compared to an average of $800 annually for minimum coverage in Virginia). Keep in mind, you’ll also have to cover any FR-44 filing costs and related fees.
There’s always a silver lining though: there are ways to save on car insurance, even with an FR44 in Virginia.
Tempted to get rid of your car after an FR-44 ruling? Unfortunately, this won’t work: even if you don’t have a car, you’re still required to have FR-44 insurance in place to get behind the wheel. You’ll instead look for non-owner insurance with an FR-44 form, which usually only provides liability coverage. Having non-owner coverage does have an added benefit, besides making sure you’re covered if you do drive: you’ll maintain continuous insurance coverage, which will eventually pay off by avoiding price hikes caused by a lapse in coverage.
FR-44 insurance is often confused with SR-22 insurance, and they do function in a similar way in order to confirm financial responsibility, but there are some key differences. Namely, FR-44 insurance is only used in Virginia and Florida, while in these states, SR-22’s is usually reserved for less serious driving offences, like reckless driving.
Most importantly, the amount of insurance you need to have differs. With SR-22, you just need to have the state’s minimum liability insurance in place. With FR-44 insurance, you need higher liability insurance, in order to be allowed on the road. Read more about the differences between these two SR22 vs FR44.
The fact of the matter is that if you’re required to have FR-44 insurance, you will need to maintain it until the legal requirement period is over. This is usually at least three years. There isn’t much you can do until then except drive as carefully as you can, to avoid any new infractions. Once the requirement period is over, you can let your insurance provider know and they can remove it from your file. This typically leads to a reduction in insurance costs, but it doesn’t hurt to shop around for new quotes to be safe.
We know it can be frustrating to have FR-44 insurance, but it doesn’t have to be for forever. Although you’ll need to have FR-44 for at least three years, you can eventually drop it if you maintain a clean driving record. Those three years will fly by if you drive safely and maintain your insurance, and while you’re at it, keep up a good credit score and you’ll see a significant reduction in car insurance costs once you are no longer required to have FR-44 insurance.
Mistakes happen, and an FR-44 form is a way to fix that mistake while ensuring protection for other drivers on the road. Most important is making sure you maintain a clean driving record going forward, and in the meantime find ways to save on car insurance costs to make FR-44 insurance a little less painful.
Lauren Lewthwaite Lauren Lewthwaite has been freelance writing for almost five years writing content that ranges from health to insurance and everything in between. Lauren is also a trained translator in French and English and is a dog-mom to an adorable Australian Shepherd.
