What Happens If Your Car Insurance Lapses in Georgia
A lapse is not only a gap in protection. In most states it is a reportable event with its own penalties.
- If you are under an SR-22
- Driver's license cancelled
Insurers report an SR-22A cancellation directly to DDS, which cancels the licence. The three-year clock does not carry over.
- Reinstatement fee
- $60
A suspended registration is restored on proof of coverage plus the $25 lapse fee and a $60 restoration fee. On a third or subsequent suspension within five years the registration is revoked and the restoration fee rises to $160.
- Proof at a traffic stop
- Required, unless state records show coverage
Proof must be kept in the vehicle, on paper or on a phone. But because insurers report policies electronically to the Department of Revenue, the in-car proof requirement does not apply when the state's database already shows coverage in force — and an officer may not cite you solely because that database lookup failed.