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Texas insurance glossary

Lapse

A lapse is any period with no auto policy in force, whether the policy was cancelled, not renewed, or simply never paid.

Sources checked

It has two consequences and copy that runs them together is wrong about both. Ordinarily it makes a driver harder to place: carriers rate a lapse as a predictor and some decline outright.

Where an SR-22 is riding on the policy it is also a state event. The carrier files an SR-26, the license can be suspended pending replacement evidence under § 601.057, and another reinstatement fee falls due. Section 601.056 speaks of the remainder of the original period rather than a new one, so a lapse does not start a fresh two years — a claim repeated widely and supported by none of the Texas primary sources.

What a lapse actually does, day by day, is answered in full here.

Sources: Tex. Transp. Code ch. 601 — Motor Vehicle Safety Responsibility Act; Texas DPS — SR-22 proof of financial responsibility FAQ (section 9). Verified .

A definition, not legal advice and not a quote. Rules and figures change; confirm your own situation against the source named above, or with us, before you act on it. Last checked .

See also

  • SR-26 An SR-26 is the notice a carrier files with the Department of Public Safety when a certified SR-22 policy is cancelled, terminated or allowed to lapse.
  • Cancellation A cancellation is the termination of a policy during its term, by the insurer or by the policyholder, rather than at the end of the term.
  • Non-renewal A non-renewal is the insurer declining to continue a policy at the end of its term, as distinct from a mid-term cancellation or a declination that never issued at all.
  • Reinstatement fee A reinstatement fee is the amount the Texas Department of Public Safety charges before it will reissue a driver license that has been suspended or revoked.

Where this is handled

A definition does not file anything. When the suspension date is closer than the research, one independent agency on FM 1959 can transmit the SR-22 to the DPS and tell you what the state wants before you pay anyone anything.

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