DUI With Property Damage in Florida: Complete FR-44 Roadmap

Florida mandates 100/300/50 liability minimums under FR-44 filing: $100,000 bodily injury per person, $300,000 per accident, $50,000 property damage. These limits are double the state's standard minimum requirements and apply for the full three-year filing period. Before the DMV will accept your FR-44 and reinstate your license, you must complete a DUI program (Level I for first offense, Level II for second offense or property damage exceeding $500), pay a $150 administrative reinstatement fee, pay all court fines and restitution for property damage, and secure an FR-44 policy from a carrier authorized to file in Florida. Most counties require proof of restitution payment or a payment plan before they'll issue the completion letter you need for reinstatement. The FR-44 certificate itself must be filed electronically by your insurance carrier directly to the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. You cannot file it yourself. The carrier transmits the SR-26 form electronically, and the DMV typically processes it within 3 to 5 business days. If any lapse occurs during your three-year period, the carrier files an SR-26 cancellation notice and your license suspends again automatically.

Most standard market carriers — State Farm, Geico, Allstate, Progressive — will file FR-44 for existing customers but typically non-renew at the next policy period. A DUI with property damage creates a major violation that pushes you into high-risk underwriting tiers where these carriers don't compete. The non-standard market becomes your primary option: Bristol West, Direct Auto, Dairyland, GAINSCO, The General, Safe Auto, Acceptance, and Mendota all write FR-44 policies in Florida. Monthly premiums typically run $250 to $450 for minimum FR-44 limits depending on age, county, vehicle, and whether you have an ignition interlock device requirement. Property damage restitution creates a complication most carriers evaluate during underwriting. If you owe $5,000 in property damage restitution on a payment plan, some carriers view this as ongoing financial liability and either decline coverage or require higher deposits. Carriers want confirmation that restitution is being paid as ordered because failure to pay can trigger probation violations that lead to additional license actions.

Florida courts frequently order ignition interlock devices for DUI cases involving property damage, especially if BAC was .15 or higher or if this is a second offense. The IID requirement runs separately from FR-44 but overlaps in timing and creates carrier complications. You must list the IID on your FR-44 policy as a required vehicle equipment item. Not all non-standard carriers accept IID-equipped vehicles, which narrows your options further. The General, Bristol West, and GAINSCO typically accept IID vehicles in Florida; Safe Auto and Direct Auto vary by underwriting region. The combined cost of FR-44 premiums plus IID monthly lease fees ($70 to $100) and calibration appointments ($60 to $80 every 60 days) runs $400 to $600 monthly during the overlap period. Most court IID orders run 6 to 12 months for first offense with property damage, meaning you'll pay the combined cost for that period, then FR-44-only premiums for the remaining compliance time.

Miami-Dade County courts require proof of property damage restitution payment or an approved payment plan before issuing DUI program completion letters in nearly all cases. This adds 30 to 60 days to most reinstatement timelines because restitution negotiations happen after sentencing but before you can start the administrative reinstatement process. Broward County uses a similar restitution-first approach but processes completion letters faster once restitution is addressed — typically 10 to 14 business days. Orange County (Orlando) courts issue completion letters with restitution payment plans in place, allowing you to start the FR-44 process sooner, but the DMV monitors payment plan compliance and can re-suspend if you miss payments. These county-level variations don't change the FR-44 requirement itself but they control how quickly you can move from conviction to reinstatement. A driver in Miami-Dade often faces a 90-day conviction-to-reinstatement timeline; the same case in Orange County might complete in 50 days. Every additional day extends your total FR-44 filing period.

If your FR-44 policy cancels for non-payment or you switch carriers without maintaining continuous coverage, Florida law requires an automatic license suspension. The carrier files an SR-26 cancellation notice electronically, and the DMV suspends your license typically within 7 days of the lapse date. Reinstatement after an FR-44 lapse requires paying a new $150 reinstatement fee, securing a new FR-44 policy, and in most cases, restarting your three-year filing period from the new reinstatement date. A lapse that occurs 18 months into your original filing period can reset the clock to zero, turning a 36-month requirement into a 54-month actual compliance period. The second reinstatement after DUI with property damage also triggers enhanced review in some Florida counties. Broward and Miami-Dade DMV offices flag repeat reinstatements and may require in-person hearings before approving the second reinstatement, adding another 30 to 45 days to the process.

Your FR-44 filing period ends exactly three years from your license reinstatement date, not your conviction date, sentencing date, or DUI school completion date. If your reinstatement date was June 10, 2024, your filing period ends June 10, 2027. The DMV sends no advance notice that your filing period is ending. You must track the date yourself. Approximately 60 days before your end date, contact the Florida DHSMV Bureau of Records at (850) 617-2000 to confirm your filing period end date and request written confirmation that no additional administrative holds exist on your license. Once your filing period ends, your carrier will stop filing FR-44 and you can switch to a standard policy with normal liability limits. Most drivers moving from FR-44 to standard coverage see monthly premiums drop $150 to $300, but the DUI conviction remains on your driving record for 75 years in Florida and continues to affect underwriting for 3 to 5 years after the FR-44 period ends.