First DUI in Texas: SR-22 mechanics and cheapest carrier options

Your insurance situation changes at conviction, not arrest. Texas law requires SR-22 filing for 3 years from the conviction date under Transportation Code 601.371, and your current carrier receives notification from DPS within 15-30 days. Most standard-market insurers apply violation surcharges of 80-140% at the next renewal, but some trigger mid-term cancellation clauses for DUI convictions, giving you 10-30 days to find replacement coverage before your policy terminates. The critical window is between conviction and carrier discovery. If you're convicted mid-policy and your insurer hasn't yet pulled your updated MVR, you have roughly 20-40 days to shop and bind new coverage before the surcharge or cancellation letter arrives. Binding with a new carrier before your current one discovers the conviction preserves standard or mid-tier pricing that waiting until forced nonrenewal forfeits entirely. Texas operates as an at-fault state with comparative negligence rules, meaning a DUI on your record compounds financial exposure in future accidents. Your liability minimums remain 30/60/25 under state law, but most drivers with recent DUI convictions carry 100/300/100 to protect assets from judgment collection after an at-fault crash where alcohol history becomes evidence in civil proceedings.

SR-22 is not insurance. It's a form your insurer files with DPS certifying you carry continuous coverage meeting state minimums. Your carrier charges a one-time filing fee of $15-50 depending on insurer, then maintains the certificate electronically for 3 years. If your policy lapses for any reason, the carrier notifies DPS within 10 days, your license suspends immediately, and you restart the 3-year clock from zero when you refile. Not every carrier offers SR-22 filing. State Farm, USAA, and several standard-market insurers exit the relationship entirely after DUI convictions rather than file SR-22, forcing you into mid-tier or nonstandard markets. Progressive, GEICO, The General, and National General accept first-offense DUI profiles with SR-22, but price them in separate risk tiers with monthly premiums 70-180% higher than clean-record drivers. The 3-year requirement runs from conviction date, not filing date. If you're convicted January 15 but don't file SR-22 until March 20 because of license suspension proceedings, you still owe SR-22 through January 15 three years later. DPS tracks the conviction date in their system, and early filing doesn't shorten your obligation.

Progressive and The General dominate the first-offense DUI market in Texas, writing roughly 60% of new SR-22 policies statewide. Progressive segments first-offense DUI into two underwriting tiers: BAC under 0.15 with no refusal lands in mid-tier pools at $160-220/mo for state minimum coverage, while BAC over 0.15 or refusal cases price at $240-340/mo. The General prices more uniformly at $180-260/mo but accepts profiles Progressive declines, including drivers with DUI plus one additional moving violation in the prior 36 months. National General and Acceptance Insurance operate in the higher-risk tier, writing policies for drivers Progressive and The General reject. Monthly premiums run $280-480 for minimum liability, but approval thresholds accommodate BAC over 0.20, multiple violations, or DUI combined with at-fault accidents. These carriers function as the assigned risk alternative without entering the state's formal assigned risk pool. GEICO writes first-offense DUI in Texas but applies strict eligibility screens. You typically need 3+ years of prior continuous coverage, no other violations in 5 years, and BAC under 0.12 to receive a quote. When approved, pricing sits between Progressive's two tiers at $190-240/mo, but declination rates exceed 60% for first-time shoppers post-conviction.

Texas uses enhanced penalty structures for BAC 0.15 and above under Penal Code 49.04, and carriers mirror this threshold in underwriting grids. A first-offense DUI with BAC between 0.08-0.14 qualifies for mid-tier nonstandard pricing with most carriers filing SR-22. BAC 0.15 or higher triggers high-risk classification, reducing your carrier pool by roughly 40% and increasing monthly premiums $60-120 compared to lower-BAC convictions. Refusal to submit to chemical testing carries separate insurance consequences. Texas imposes automatic 180-day license suspension for refusal under implied consent laws, and carriers treat refusal as equivalent to BAC 0.15+ for pricing purposes even when the underlying DUI conviction proceeds on officer observation alone. Progressive, GEICO, and State Farm typically decline refusal cases entirely, leaving The General and National General as primary markets. These BAC and refusal distinctions persist for the full 3-year SR-22 period. Unlike point-based violations where carriers gradually reduce surcharges, DUI pricing tiers remain static until the conviction ages past the 3-year lookback window. A driver convicted with 0.09 BAC pays mid-tier rates for 36 months, while a 0.16 BAC conviction stays in high-risk pricing for the same period with no graduated relief.

Request your MVR from DPS immediately after conviction to confirm what appears in the carrier-accessible record. Court conviction dates and DPS posting dates sometimes differ by 10-20 days, giving you a narrow window to shop before your current insurer's next scheduled MVR pull. If your current policy renews within 60 days of conviction, the insurer will pull an updated MVR as part of standard renewal underwriting, but mid-term discovery depends on random audit cycles. Call your current carrier within 5 business days of conviction to ask about their DUI policy and SR-22 filing capability. Some insurers nonrenew automatically and won't file SR-22 under any circumstances. Others surcharge but maintain the relationship and file the required form. Knowing which scenario applies determines whether you shop immediately or wait until renewal. If they indicate nonrenewal or inability to file SR-22, you're shopping under a deadline. Get quotes from Progressive, The General, and National General within 20 days of conviction, before your current carrier discovers the DUI if you're mid-policy. Binding new coverage before your existing insurer applies surcharges or cancels preserves gap-free coverage and avoids the license suspension that triggers when SR-22 lapses. Quotes vary by $80-160/mo between these three carriers for identical coverage, and acceptance criteria differ enough that one may approve while another declines.

Texas carriers apply DUI surcharges for a minimum of 3 years, aligned with the SR-22 filing period, but most extend lookback windows to 5 years for major violations. Your rate stays elevated the entire time the conviction appears on your MVR, even after SR-22 filing ends. DPS maintains DUI convictions on driving records for 10 years under Transportation Code 521.047, but carrier underwriting typically stops penalizing the violation after year 5. The first relief point arrives at 36 months post-conviction when SR-22 filing ends. You can shop standard-market carriers again, but most still apply minor surcharges of 15-30% for violations in the 3-5 year window. Real pricing normalization happens at the 5-year mark when the DUI exits active underwriting consideration for carriers like State Farm, Allstate, and Farmers. Drivers who maintained continuous coverage and added no new violations during the 5-year period typically see rates drop 50-70% compared to year-one post-DUI pricing. Some carriers offer step-down pricing at 12-month intervals for DUI violations if you complete defensive driving, maintain continuous coverage, and add no new violations. Progressive and National General both review DUI accounts annually and may reduce surcharges by 10-20% at each anniversary, but this is discretionary underwriting, not a guaranteed schedule.