Financial Responsibility
Most Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

A1:

It depends upon the type of suspension that caused your privileges to be taken away. You may have to serve a suspension period, pay a reinstatement fee(s), file proof of financial responsibility insurance, petition for driving privileges from the court or the BMV and/or re-take a driver license examination. See suspensions for more specific answers.

A2:

Section 4509.101 of the Ohio revised Code (ORC) states that a person must show "proof of insurance or other acceptable financial responsibility" at the time of a violation or accident. If none is in force at the time of the infraction the license is suspended pursuant to that section of the ORC.

A3:

Limited driving privileges may be granted by the court during the term of a first or second non-compliance suspension.  During a first-time non-compliance suspension, limited privileges may be granted immediately.  A second non-compliance suspension requires a fifteen day waiting period.  Privileges will not be granted on a third or subsequent non-compliance suspension.  Individuals must file and maintain insurance with the Bureau in the form of an SR-22 or bond and pay the reinstatement fee to the Bureau before limited privileges may be granted.  Some courts may allow the individual to utilize a payment plan for the reinstatement fee.  The individual should apply to the local court having jurisdiction over his/her place of residence, or to the court having jurisdiction over the traffic offense that resulted in the non-compliance suspension.  A court is not required to grant limited privileges and may decline to do so based upon the individual’s driving record and other factors.

A4:

Under section 4509.101 of the ORC, in the case of a motor vehicle accident, both driver AND owner are responsible for making sure the operation of the vehicle was covered by insurance.

A5:

For certain major offenses committed prior to January 1, 2004, Section 4509.31 (Repealed - effective date: 01-01-2004) of the Ohio Revised Code required the filing of an SR-22 for either a three-year or five-year period, depending upon the offense.  For certain offenses committed on/after January 1, 2004, this requirement is no longer in effect.  The new law is not retroactive with respect to any offenses committed prior to January 1, 2004.

A6:

Under section 4509.37 of the ORC "The registrar of motor vehicles upon receipt of a certified copy of a judgment, shall FORTHWITH (at once) suspend the license and registration and any non-resident's operating privilege of any person against whom such judgment was rendered."

A7:

Due to the volume of SR-22s received daily, it would not be practical to tie up a fax machine to constantly run accepting SR-22s by fax. Therefore, an administrative decision has been made to only accept SR-22s by mail or by on-line transmission.

A8:

Under section 4509.101 of the ORC, once the conviction is received and processed by the BMV, an additional 30 days must be given prior to suspending an individual in order to give the person a chance to verify with the BMV that they indeed were insured at the time of the offense.

A9:

An administrative decision has been made by that section's division not to accept faxes from persons walking in. Authenticity of the document is the main question, as the document is not coming directly off a fax machine to verify where it was faxed from.

A10:

Under section 4509.101 of the ORC when a ticket is issued, and "FR proof not shown" is noted on the ticket, it is the responsibility of the person in whose name the ticket was issued to provide proof that financial responsibility did exist. If no proof is in existence the operator's license is suspended. If the infraction also resulted in an accident, and a State Crash Report is filed by the other party, the suspension would then also carry over to the owner of the vehicle.

A11:

Under section 4509.45 of the ORC there are specific items that are deemed acceptable as proof of financial responsibility. These consist of (A) A certificate of insurance as provided in section 4509.46 (SR-22) or 4509.47 (out-of-state SR-22) of the ORC; (B) A bond as provided in section 4509.59 of the ORC; (C) A certificate of deposit of money or securities as provided in section 4509.62 of the ORC; (D) A certificate of self-insurance as provided in section 4509.72 of the ORC In addition section 4509.49 of the ORC sets forth the requirement for a motor vehicle liability insurance policy, and section 4509.51 sets forth the minimum requirements of such policy.

A12:

Under section 4509.05 of the ORC "upon request the registrar of motor vehicles shall search and furnish a certified abstract of the following information with respect to any person:"

1. An enumeration (inventory) of the motor vehicle accidents in which such person has been INVOLVED;

2. Such person's record of convictions for violation of the motor vehicle laws.

A13:

The BMV can accept any payments on reinstatement fees due. If a customer wishes to have the partial payment applied to a certain case the individual must specify the case number, along with his/her social security number, on their personal check, bank check or money order. Payments should be made out to the "Ohio Treasurer Richard Cordray."

A14:

Under section 4509.05 of the ORC when reporting a record of convictions to a person "The registrar shall collect for each abstract a fee of two dollars." Since the points accessed are part of the record of conviction the fee must be collected before the information is released.

A15:

There is no section of the ORC that states convictions ever come off of a driver record. However, an administrative decision is in effect that allows for Driver Abstracts to only reflect the last three years driver record activity.

A16:

At this time there is no section of the ORC that allows for the BMV. to accept credit card payments nor defer the service charges of such transactions. A change in the law would have to be made to allow for these transactions.

A17:

Under section 4507.16(E) of the ORC "Any person whose driver's or commercial driver's license or permit or nonresident operating privilege has been suspended pursuant to division (B) [DUI conviction] or (C) [DUS] of this section or pursuant to division (F) [Positive Breath Test] of section 4511.191 of the ORC may file a petition that alleges that the suspension would seriously affect the person's ability to continue his employment." This section also specifies periods of suspension without driving privileges that must be served prior to driving privileges becoming active. These periods increase depending upon the prior DUI's on the driving record. There is now a provision of this kind in section 4509.101 (financial responsibility law) of the ORC, covering first and second time offenses.

A18:

Under section 4509.09 (Repealed - effective date: 03-31-1997) of the ORC "The registrar may suspend the license of any person who fails to report an accident, as provided in sections 4509.01 to 4509.78, inclusive, of the ORC, until the report has been filed.

A19:

Some insurance companies obtain information from independent abstract companies. Some of these abstract companies release information from as far back as they have. Make sure the insurance company is receiving their information directly from the BMV. You can obtain an OBMV Record Request - Form BMV Form 1173, Either directly from any BMV Regional office, your local Deputy Registrar's office, the BMV or by downloading at the BMV's Internet Web Site. There is a $2.00 fee to obtain an official copy of your driving record. After completing BMV Form 1173, mail it to: BMV, Attn. Abstracts, P.O. Box 16520, Columbus, OH 43216-6520. Include your name and address, DOB, SSN, and a two dollar ($2.00) check or money order payable to the "Ohio Treasurer Richard Cordray."

A20:

Under various sections of the ORC, when an out-of-state resident is suspended, what is actually suspended is the nonresident's Ohio operating privilege. This means the person may no longer operate a vehicle in this state. This may also effect the nonresident's license if the home state runs a National Driver Registry (NDR/PDPS) check for suspensions in other states. If a check is done and a match is found, the home state will suspend the individual's license until the out-of-state suspension is cleared.

A21:

If you have further questions about a returned check, you may contact the BMV Tax Distribution Section at (614) 752-2084.

A22:

Pursuant to Ohio Revised Code 4509.05 all accidents must be listed on the driver record. However, no where on a driver record will you see the wording "at fault." Generally, the way to determine if a person is at fault is to also view the convictions. If there is an offense, i.e., speed, failure to control, etc. that matches the date of the accident, then the person was at fault as they were cited for the violation.

It is suggested that you complete form BMV 1173 requesting a driver record. This will show you what is actually on your record with the Bureau of Motor Vehicles. This form can be downloaded from the BMV Forms for Downloading page.

A23: