Using Financial Responsibility Bonds to Comply with Ohio Law

How Ohio’s Financial Responsibility (FR) Law Works

In order to drive legally in Ohio, you must be able to prove you can pay for damages and injuries that occur in any traffic accident you cause. You must have coverage for a minimum of $25,000 per person / $50,000 total per accident for bodily injury caused to another person, passengers in another car, pedestrians, and $25,000 for damage to property other than your vehicle.

You cannot drive legally in Ohio without being able to demonstrate your Financial Responsibility (FR). To do this, you must have the minimum requirements of liability coverage in case you are responsible for a traffic accident. Any time a police officer stops you for a traffic violation or if you are involved in an accident, the officer will ask you for proof of Financial Responsibility (FR). If you cannot prove Financial Responsibility you may be facing severe penalties. Up to 2 years suspension, up to $500 Reinstatement Fee, impounding of your license plates and certificate of registration for repeat offenders.

If your license is suspended because you fail to prove FR, Ohio law specifies the steps you must take to have your driving privileges restored. These include paying any Reinstatement Fees and filing an SR-22 Form with the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles.

With the issuance of your FR Bond (SR22), the insurance company will electronically file your SR-22 with the Ohio BMV. This is the fastest way to get your filing to the BMV without you going there. The BMV states that it takes them up to 3 business days to record a filing onto your record once it has been received. If you are in a super hurry, the fastest way to reinstate your license is to go directly to a local BMV Office with your SR-22 Form and any other requirements. Your SR-22 Form will be available to you several minutes after we have confirmed your payment. You can have your driving privileges restored the same day if it is early enough for you to make it to a BMV office with all your requirements.

How an FR (SR22) Bond Works

FR Bonds, at times called SR22 Bonds, are like automobile insurance in that they provide both bodily injury and property damage liability coverage for injuries and damages you cause. The FR Bond will cover you if you are at fault for injuries caused to another person, passengers in another car, pedestrians, and damage to property other than your vehicle. The FR Bond is available with only minimum liability limits of $25,000/$50/000/$25,000. There are no options available to add on to a FR(SR22) Bond. The FR Bond was designed for people who want the “Bottom Line” of coverage and want to purchase only the minimum protection required by Ohio FR Law. No one else who operates your vehicle is covered by your FR Bond. The FR Bond will not pay for injuries to you. The FR Bond may pay for passenger’s injuries if you are liable for an accident but will not otherwise pay for passenger injuries. The FR Bond does not cover damages to the vehicle that you are driving. The FR Bond provides restricted coverage only for bodily injury and property damage liability which you might cause while driving a vehicle.

The FR Bond (SR22 Bond) follows an individual and does not provide coverage for any particular vehicle.

We have been providing SR22 Bonds to Ohioans for over 40 years and we represent many major companies that sell FR (SR22) Bonds. We use our state-of-the-art comparative rating software to track down the lowest possible price for your SR22 Bond without adding any Additional Agency Fees

No Additional Agency Fees

Additional Agency Fees are a charge that Most Agencies add to your down payment that is over and above the amount required by the insurance company to start your policy. These fees range from $15 to over $100 in some instances. Fees are legal in Ohio under certain circumstances but must be fully disclosed as "Agency Fees" with a notice of such displayed in plain sight, even for a purchase online.

What is an SR-22?

An SR-22, also known as SR22, sr22 bond, sr-22 bond, sr22 filing, or sr-22 filing is a form issued by an insurance company and used to prove your "Financial Responsibility" to the State Bureau of Motor Vehicles. This is a reinstatement requirement for most BMV ordered suspensions including those for 12 points, hit/skip, ticket or accident without insurance, random selection, noncompliance, DUI, and others. The SR-22 guarantees to the Bureau of Motor Vehicles that an insurance company has issued at least minimum liability coverage for the person making the filing. The filing also requires that the insurance company notify the BMV if the coverage is cancelled for any reason. This is a way for the BMV to keep tabs on whether someone has insurance. The BMV usually requires that you file an SR-22 for a period of 3 years from the beginning date of the suspension. Some suspensions may have a 5-year period. The Ohio BMV will accept SR22 filings showing the purchase of either an Auto Liability Insurance Policy, for vehicle owners who want more than the minimum, or a Financial Responsibility Bond, designed for those who want just the minimum coverage.

What is an SR-22/FR Bond?

The SR22/FR Bond is a minimum liability instrument that follows an individual and no specific vehicle. The FR Bond covers you for Ohio State Minimum Liability while operating ANY 4-wheel private passenger automobile for personal use, owned or non-owned. The FR Bond is a “stand-alone” instrument; you do not need any other coverage to comply with Ohio’s Financial Responsibility Laws. The FR Bond was designed for those who want the minimum amount of coverage accepted by Ohio's FR Laws. The SR22 Bond will pay up to $25,000 per person / $50,000 total per accident for bodily injury that you may cause to people in another vehicle or to a pedestrian. It will also pay up to $25,000 for any damage that you may do to another person's property. The FR Bond does not cover damages to the vehicle that that you are driving nor does it cover your medical expenses or those of your passengers.