What happens to the policy you have
Two things can happen, and which one depends entirely on the carrier.
- Non-renewal. The policy runs to the end of its term and is not offered again. The common outcome.
- Cancellation mid-term. Less common, and usually only where something on the application turns out to be wrong.
Either way you get notice in writing, and that notice is the moment to start shopping — not the week it expires. Letting it run out creates a lapse on top of the DWI, which makes everything that follows more expensive.
The SR-22
Most DWI convictions come with an SR-22 requirement: a form your carrier files with the state proving you carry at least the minimum liability.
Commonly two years in Texas and three in New Mexico, from a date the state sets. The filing has to stay continuously in force for that entire period — if the policy lapses the carrier notifies the state, the licence is suspended again, and the clock frequently restarts.
Set up automatic payments on day one. This is the single most common way people extend a two-year problem into a four-year one.
How long it follows you
Most carriers look back three to five years for rating, and a DWI is at the far end of that range. It does not disappear the day the SR-22 requirement ends.
But it fades. Each renewal it counts for less, and the day it ages out of the look-back period is a step change. Put a note in your calendar for the month it happens and re-shop the policy — most people do not, and they keep paying for it.
Why the first company to say yes is rarely the right one
After a DWI a lot of doors close, and the relief of finding one that opens is real. It is also how people end up paying considerably more than they have to for years.
Carriers differ enormously on this business. Some decline it outright, some take it and price it punitively, and some specialise in it and price it sensibly. That spread is wider here than on almost any other kind of policy, which makes shopping it properly worth more here than anywhere else.
What to do, in order
- Do not let the current policy lapse. Shop before it ends.
- Tell the agent about the DWI up front — it changes which carriers are worth quoting, and it will be found anyway.
- Ask whether an SR-22 is required and get it filed with the new policy.
- Put the premium on automatic payment.
- Note the date the filing requirement ends, and re-shop that month.
- Re-shop again when it ages out of the rating look-back.
- Shop the moment the non-renewal notice arrives, not when it expires.
- A lapse during an SR-22 period usually restarts the clock.
- Automatic payments are not optional here.
- Re-shop when the filing ends, and again when it ages out of rating.