SR-22 · Updated September 2026
While an SR-22 is on file, your insurance company has an obligation to notify the state if the policy cancels or is not renewed. That notification is usually automatic and quick.
What follows is typically suspension of your license or registration, reinstatement fees, and in many cases a restart of the filing period. A missed payment can therefore cost considerably more than the payment.
A declined card or a failed bank draft. A payment due date that moved after a policy change. A policy cancelled for an unrelated reason, such as a vehicle sold and not replaced. Switching carriers and allowing a gap of even a day between policies. And moving without updating the address, so the notices never arrive.
Almost none of these are deliberate, which is why they are worth defending against deliberately.
Set the policy to pay automatically and keep a card on file that will not expire mid-term. Pay in full if you can, which removes the risk entirely for the term and usually earns a discount.
If you are switching carriers, make the new policy effective the same day the old one ends — not the next day. Tell us before you sell a vehicle or make any change that could cancel the policy. And keep your address current so notices reach you.
Call us the same day. Getting a new policy in force and a fresh filing submitted quickly limits the damage, and electronic filing means the part we control happens immediately.
You will likely owe reinstatement fees to the state, and the filing period may restart. Neither improves by waiting, and driving on a suspended license turns a billing problem into a legal one.
Your insurer notifies the state, which generally suspends your license or registration and can restart the filing period. Reinstatement fees usually apply.
In many cases yes. That is why a lapse is so much more expensive on an SR-22 policy than on an ordinary one.
Call us the same day. We can get a policy in force and file electronically immediately; the state then takes up to five days to process it.
Sometimes a policy can be reinstated within a short window, depending on the carrier. Often it cannot, and a new policy with a new filing is required. Either way, call rather than waiting.
Questions about your own situation? Call 417.623.8300 or send us your current policy. We are licensed in Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma.
We file electronically, usually the same day the policy is in force. Tell us where things stand and we will get moving.