If your car insurance lapses and you still own a registered vehicle, then you have one of two options. The first option is to immediately purchase additional insurance so that you will be in compliance with your state car insurance laws. The other option is to turn in your license plates so that it is no longer a registered vehicle.

The thing is, most car insurance companies will automatically renew your policy when your previous term expires. Most will send you information letting you know that your policy is about to expire and what action you should take if you no longer wish to carry your car insurance.

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If you don’t receive notice of a cancellation and your policy lapses, then you need to contact your insurance company to find out why. While it is rare, there is the possibility that the cancellation was an oversight and you can reinstate your policy without the additional fees associated with starting a new policy.

My insurance company cancelled my policy because of excessive insurance claims–is that legal?

An insurance company can choose not to offer you car insurance. This is a practice that is perfectly legal. If you have a lot of claims on your policy, the insurance company may determine that that it is not cost effective to continue to offer you auto insurance.

The good news is that just because an insurance company chooses to drop you as a customer doesn’t mean that you can’t get insurance somewhere else. Now, it is important to understand that any claims that you make are placed into a database that is accessible to any car insurance company.

The reason that this is important to understand is that if you have excessive claims, another insurance company may insure you, but they will charge you higher rates to do it. Because the claims weren’t paid by them, you will likely still be able to purchase their insurance, but they still know that there is a risk that you will file additional claims with their company.

My insurance company cancelled my policy for DUI convictions–what do I do now?

If your policy is cancelled because of a DUI/DWI conviction, or multiple convictions, then you may have to look to a specialty company to help you with future insurance. There are many companies that offer car insurance to individuals who are considered to be extremely high risk, such as people who have been convicted for driving under the influence.

With that being said, if you have multiple DUI convictions there is every possibility that your driver’s license has been suspended. If this is the case, and you don’t have other drivers on your vehicle, you may want to turn in your license plates until you are able to drive again. There is no point in paying excessively high insurance rates for a vehicle that you cannot even drive.

Even when you have your license back and some time has elapsed between your DUI and your current driving, you can expect to pay more for your car insurance. DUI convictions stay on your driving record longer than most other driving incidents.

According to the Insurance Information Institute, 32% of all crash fatalities occur because of people who drive drunk. If you have multiple DUI convictions, even if you are now sober and in a rehabilitation program, you are going to be considered a high-risk driver for a very long time!

If an insurance company won’t sell car insurance coverage to me, is there another alternative?

There are some situations that will simply make you a driver that is too high of a risk for a typical insurance company to insure. When this happens, in many states, you have the option of buying a state auto insurance plan.

What’s more, if you can’t afford car insurance at all, some states provide affordable options for you as well. For example, the California Department of Insurance offers the California Low Cost Automobile Insurance Program. You should check with your state to see if it offers any plans like this.

If you purchase state-supported car insurance because of a bad driving record, this will have an impact on your rates just like it would with any insurance company. Don’t expect to get a lower rate if you have multiple claims, DUIs, and so on, listed on your driving record.

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