What Happens If Your Car Insurance Lapses in North Carolina
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
- Restored license suspended 30 days
A driver who had to show proof of financial responsibility to get a license back must keep it in effect for three years. Letting it lapse is grounds for a 30-day suspension of the restored license (G.S. 20-19(k)).
- Reinstatement fee
- $50
$50 restoration fee to re-register a vehicle whose registration was revoked for a lapse, paid on top of the civil penalty and the plate fee (G.S. 20-311(e)). Both the penalty and the restoration fee are waived for a service member deployed outside the continental United States for 45 days or more, and for an owner who moved away and registered the vehicle in the new state within 30 days.