12.3 Points, Suspensions, and Insurance

12.3 Points, Suspensions, and Insurance

Quick Answer: Points stay active two years from the conviction date. Examples: 1–15 over = 2, 16–25 over = 4, 26+ over = 6; headlights or no brake/signal lights 2; hand-held device, unsafe lane movement, or disregarding stop/yield 4; emergency-vehicle yield or following too closely 6; driving while suspended or a speed contest = 8. DSP is a 4-point credit, one per 3-year period; BMV-required DSP is 90 days or privileges suspend until completion is processed (7–10 business days). You may not drive without financial responsibility. Minimum insurance is 25/50/25. A COC is due within 90 days of the BMV request. No-insurance suspensions on or after 12/31/2021 are indefinite, stayed by SR22 and ended after 180 continuous days of SR22. Post-January 1, 2015 reinstatement fees are $250 / $500 / $1,000.

Driver's Manual Chapter 5 is the points, suspension, and insurance chapter. The knowledge exam does not require the entire downloadable point table at IN.gov/BMV, but it does expect the two-year active period, the sample point values, DSP timing, 25/50/25, COC and SR22, reinstatement fees, and a high-level Habitual Traffic Violator (HTV) picture. This is operator licensing, not a CDL lecture.

Points stay active two years from conviction

The Point Study Committee assigns points by severity and history. Points stay active on your driver record for two years from the conviction date — not from the ticket date, and not forever.

A "little" speeding ticket is still 2 points at 1–15 over. Crossing into 16–25 doubles that to 4. Twenty-six and above is 6, the same as following too closely or failing to yield to an emergency vehicle. The 8-point examples in the manual are driving while suspended and a speed contest. A hand-held device violation is 4, matching unsafe lane movement and disregarding a stop or yield.

Driver Safety Program (DSP)

A BMV-approved DSP is defensive-driving curriculum in classroom, online, or DVD formats. Any Indiana driver may complete a BMV-approved DSP and receive a four-point credit. You get one four-point credit during a three-year period.

If the BMV requires the course, you get mailed notice and must successfully complete a BMV-approved DSP within 90 days of the date on the notification. Failure to finish in 90 days suspends driving privileges until you complete the course and the BMV processes the completion.

Who may be required:

• Drivers 21 and older convicted of two or more traffic offenses within a 12-month period
• Drivers under 21 convicted of two or more traffic offenses (the manual does not attach the same 12-month window to the under-21 sentence)

A judge may also order DSP. Court-ordered DSP type is the court's discretion, but the four-point credit applies only if you complete a BMV-approved course. Completing a non-approved program the court liked may satisfy the judge and still give you zero point credit.

Allow 7 to 10 business days for the BMV to process completion. Provider lists: IN.gov/BMV or 888-692-6841.

You may not drive without financial responsibility

Indiana law: a person may not operate a motor vehicle in Indiana if financial responsibility is not in effect for the vehicle, or the person is not otherwise insured to operate it. Driving without current liability insurance that meets the state minimum is against the law.

The minimum is 25/50/25:

The BMV imposes privilege suspensions and financial penalties on motorists found to have operated without that proof, including reinstatement fees and suspensions.

When the BMV asks for a COC

Do not delay a BMV notice to prove insurance. Contact the insurer immediately and ask them to electronically submit a Certificate of Compliance (COC).

You may get that notice after:

• An auto accident
• A pointable moving traffic violation within one year of receiving two other pointable moving violations
• A serious traffic violation such as a misdemeanor or felony
• Any pointable moving violation by a driver previously suspended for failing to provide proof of financial responsibility

A properly filed COC shows the vehicle you were operating was insured to 25/50/25 at the time. The COC must be received electronically from the insurer and processed within 90 days of the BMV's mailing of the request, or privileges are suspended.

If you were in a company-owned or rental vehicle, the employer or rental company uses State Form 55434. Court convictions for no insurance are a court problem first — contact the court about removing the conviction. A paper card in the glove box is not an electronically filed COC.

COC proves coverage was in effect at the incident. SR22 is future proof that a policy meeting minimums is in force and cannot be canceled without notice to the BMV. Do not swap those forms on the exam.

SR22, indefinite no-insurance suspensions, and fees

If privileges are suspended because of a court conviction for operating without financial responsibility or for failing to file insurance with the BMV, Indiana requires the insurer to electronically file proof of future financial responsibility on an SR22 before reinstatement. No SR22 means the suspension continues until an effective SR22 is filed.

No-insurance suspensions effective on or after December 31, 2021 are indefinite. They can be stayed when the BMV receives an SR22 and terminated by maintaining SR22 continuously for 180 days. If the BMV receives an SR26 (cancellation of SR22) during that 180-day stay, the stay comes off and the suspension goes back to active.

Reinstatement fees after the insurance suspension expires (in addition to any SR22 requirement):

You may avoid paying the no-insurance reinstatement fee by having the insurer file SR22 and maintaining SR22 continuously for 180 days. An SR26 during that stay puts the fees back to active until payment or a new SR22. Pay at myBMV.com, 888-692-6841, a BMV Connect kiosk, or by mail with the coupon.

Other Chapter 5 suspensions to recognize without turning this into the OWI chapter: failure to appear or pay tickets; driving while suspended (serious; with a prior can be a misdemeanor or felony); chemical-test fail 180 days, refuse one year, refuse with a prior OWI two years; watercraft OWI hits the driver record; child-support delinquency; dishonored funds to the BMV (indefinite until paid plus fees). Check the free Viewable Driver Record at myBMV.com; the Official Driver Record costs $4. Court processing after a court sends reinstatement can take up to 10 business days.

Habitual Traffic Violator (HTV) — overview only

Indiana penalizes repeat offenses over a 10-year period. HTV is judgment counts, not a running points total.

The manual's Section C example: nine speeding tickets plus one reckless driving conviction in 10 years is the five-year HTV path — not a 10-year hit.

If a court grants specialized driving privileges, the person must:

• Maintain an effective SR22 with the BMV for the duration
• Carry a copy of the court order (or have it in the vehicle)
• Produce the order on a law enforcement request
• Carry a validly issued credential while operating

A Restriction 5 marks hardship, probationary, conditional, or specialized privileges on the license. Operating while suspended as an HTV can bring additional court-set suspensions. Do not treat specialized privileges as a full, unrestricted license.

Indiana scenarios

Evansville speeding. Sam is convicted of 18 mph over. That is 4 points, not 2. Those points stay active two years from the conviction date. A year-old conviction still counts; a conviction from 25 months ago is outside the two-year window.

Two tickets in 12 months, age 24. Taylor, 24, has two moving convictions in 11 months. The BMV may require DSP. The 90-day clock starts from the notification date. Finishing on day 91 is still a suspension until processing. Credit is 4 points, once per three years. Allow 7–10 business days for the BMV to post it.

Under 21, two offenses. A 19-year-old with two convictions may be required to complete DSP. Do not assume the under-21 rule copies the 21-and-older 12-month sentence word for word.

Indianapolis no-insurance letter. Chris wrecks. The BMV mails a financial-responsibility request. If the insurer does not get a COC within 90 days of mailing, privileges suspend. A no-insurance suspension on or after December 31, 2021 is indefinite until SR22 stays it and 180 continuous days of SR22 terminates it. A first post-2015 reinstatement fee is $250 unless Chris instead maintains SR22 for 180 days to avoid the fee.

SR26 during the stay. Midway through the 180 days, the insurer files an SR26. The stay comes off. The indefinite suspension is active again until a new SR22 or the requirement ends.

Nine speeder tickets and one reckless. That 10-year mix is the five-year HTV path because reckless driving is a major offense in the pile of 10. Two OWI-death judgments in 10 years is life, not five years and not 10 years.

Specialized privileges, traffic stop. The driver must have SR22 on file, carry the court order, produce it, and carry a valid credential. A verbal "the judge said I can drive to work" is not the list.

Exam traps

• Counting points from the citation date instead of the conviction date, or treating points as permanent.
• Mixing the 2 / 4 / 6 speeding bands, or giving driving-while-suspended only 4 points (it is 8).
• Thinking DSP credit is unlimited — it is one 4-point credit per 3 years.
• Missing the 90-day DSP clock or the 90-day COC clock, or the 7–10 business day processing wait.
• Reversing 25/50/25 (the $50,000 is for two or more people, not property).
• Assuming a 2022 no-insurance suspension "expires on a printed date" — it is indefinite.
• Confusing SR22 (future proof) with COC (proof that coverage existed at the incident), or ignoring an SR26 canceling the stay.
• Memorizing pre-2015 fees ($150 / $225 / $300) as if they were the current $250 / $500 / $1,000.
• Calling 10 tickets in 10 years a 10-year HTV hit — that path is 5 years if one is major.
• Skipping specialized-privilege duties: SR22 + court order + valid credential.