dcsimg
  About AAMVA/Contact Us | Online Member Directory | System Alerts | Career Center
Login

  • Auto Insurance and Financial Responsibility

  • Financial responsibility essentially refers to auto insurance, or the ability of drivers to pay for damages in the event of an accident.  The FR Glossary of Terms provides technical descriptions for a variety, of common terms. 

    AAMVA and its members address a number of issues such as:

    • The administration of existing FRI laws.
    • The need for consumer protection, consumer awareness, and public education.
    • The uniformity between jurisdictions regarding FRI requirements, implementation, and statistical reporting.
    • The need to provide service to the public through better response time, improved timeliness and accuracy of information used to determine FRI compliance.
    • The cost of effective and efficient programs as viewed by the jurisdictions, industry and the pubic.
    • The lack of effective jurisdictional programs by other jurisdictions, industry and the public.
    • THe need to address requirements of FRI filings in jurisdictions other than a driver's home jurisdiction.

     

    The following documents contain information on reporting:

     

    Each Year, financial losses from automobile collisions in the United States are estimated to exceed $150 billion.  Canadian estimates is losses at $7.5 billion.  Insurance industry estimates place the uninsured motorist population in each U.S. jurisdiction at a range of between 5 percent and 30 percent.  These statistics have caused legislators to revisit the issues of auto insurance and liability for automotive crashes.  Legislative debate has resulted in all Canadian provinces and territories requiring vehicles to be insured and more than 47 American jurisdictions passing laws requiring some sort of compulsory insurance for those operating a vehicle on a public roadway.

    The AAMVA Financial Responsibility Resource Guide provides a wealth of information on uninsured motorists.  From the availability of records and privacy concerns to a comprehensive review of insurance laws and procedures, this resource guide will prove an invaluable resource.

    In an effort to encourage uniform reporting requirements between jurisdictions, the Insurance Industry Committee on Motor Vehicle Administration (IICMVA) initiated a project to explore providing Online Insurance Verification via the Web.  AAMVA's Financial Responsibility and Insurance (FRI) Committee worked with IICMVA to determine how such a system could be structured.  The documents provided here show how jurisdictions might implement an Online Insurance Verification system in a uniform manner, and the findings of the FRI Committee regarding the impact and potential benefits of such a system.

    Certain high risk or problem drivers who have been convicted of serious moving violations are required by state financial responsibility (FRI) laws to file an SR22 form (a certification of future proof of financial responsibility) with their state motor vehicle departments to prove they have insurance.

    Failure to provide such proof, results in the suspension of the license.  Driver must ask their insurer to file the SR22 form with a state by a certain date.  When done manually, this process can take days and may result in the driver's license being suspended if the SR22 form is filled out incorrectly or filed late. 

    An SR26 form cancels the SR22 once future proof is no longer required.  Although variations exist among states, the Uniform Vehicle Code, from which all state FR laws are derived, requires that a jurisdiction be notified at least 10 days prior to the termination of an SR22 filing. 

    SR22/26 Forms

    AAMVA helped design the universal SR22/26 paper forms, but does not distribute the forms.  Paper forms must be obtained from private vendors.  Please consult the AAMVA Associate Member directory to find a list of insurance companies that may be of assistance. 

    AAMVA's Application

    AAMVA's electronic SR22/26 application automates SR22 and SR26 filings.  An insurance company transmits SR22 and SR26 batch records to a jurisdiction, usually in the evening and the jurisdiction responds as soon as the next morning with the status of the filing--that is, accepted or rejected. 

    Learn more about the application here.