The General Files SR-22 in Idaho — But Tier Placement Drives Cost
You lost your Idaho license and the Idaho Transportation Department told you that reinstatement requires SR-22 filing for three years. You've heard The General advertises to high-risk drivers, so you're wondering if they'll file your SR-22 and what it will cost. The answer to the first question is yes — The General is licensed in Idaho, writes SR-22 policies, and transmits certificates electronically to ITD. The answer to the second question depends on what triggered your suspension, because The General — like every carrier writing suspended drivers — assigns you to an underwriting tier based on your violation type, and that tier determines your premium for the entire three-year filing period.
Most suspended drivers compare carriers by filing speed or filing fee. The structural reality: filing speed is nearly identical across carriers that support electronic transmission (The General transmits within 24 hours), and Idaho charges no state SR-22 filing fee — carriers set a small one-time fee themselves. The cost driver you should be comparing is tier placement. DUI filers land in non-standard tier at The General and most other carriers. Lapse-triggered filers often stay in standard tier. Reckless driving sits in between. The difference in total cost over three years between standard and non-standard tier is larger than the difference between the cheapest and most expensive non-standard carrier.
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Get Your Free QuoteIdaho SR-22 Filing Period
3 years
Idaho Code Title 49 chapter 12 requires SR-22 filing for three years following license suspension for DUI, reckless driving, or driving uninsured. The period begins on your reinstatement date, not your conviction date.
Idaho Code Title 49, chapter 12
What The General Actually Files in Idaho
The General files Form SR-22, the certificate of insurance Idaho requires after serious violations. The SR-22 is not a type of insurance — it is a filing your carrier submits to ITD proving you hold at least Idaho's minimum liability coverage: $25,000 bodily injury per person, $50,000 per accident, and $15,000 property damage. The General offers two SR-22 variants: owner SR-22 if you own a vehicle, and non-owner SR-22 if you do not currently own a car but need to satisfy the filing requirement to reinstate your license.
The General transmits SR-22 certificates electronically to ITD, which means the filing typically appears in the state system within 24 hours of policy binding. Manual paper filings take three to five business days. If you are approaching your reinstatement eligibility date and need the certificate on file before you visit the DMV, electronic filing matters. If you have weeks of buffer, it does not.
The filing itself costs a small one-time fee set by The General. Idaho charges no separate state SR-22 fee. Your reinstatement fee to ITD is $85, paid separately when you reinstate your license. The SR-22 filing fee and the reinstatement fee are distinct — do not confuse them.
The General will file your SR-22, but if your suspension was DUI-triggered, you will be quoted non-standard tier pricing — the same tier you would receive at most other carriers writing Idaho SR-22.
How The General Underwrites Idaho Suspended Drivers
DUI and reckless driving suspensions land you in non-standard tier at The General. Non-standard tier premiums reflect elevated risk: industry benchmarks for Idaho high-risk drivers range from $142 to $287 per month, 30 to 94 percent higher than clean-record rates. The General's pricing falls within this range. If your suspension was triggered by a DUI, expect quotes in the upper half of that spectrum.
The General writes non-owner SR-22 policies for suspended drivers who do not currently own a vehicle. Non-owner policies carry liability coverage only — no collision or comprehensive — and cost less than owner policies because the carrier is not insuring a specific vehicle against physical damage. If you sold your car after suspension or are living without a vehicle during your suspension period, non-owner SR-22 satisfies Idaho's filing requirement and costs significantly less than maintaining an owner policy on a car you are not driving.
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The Three-Year Filing Window and What Happens If You Lapse
Idaho requires continuous SR-22 filing for three years. Continuous means no lapses — if your policy cancels for non-payment or you drop coverage before the three-year period ends, your carrier is required to notify ITD electronically within 24 hours. ITD will suspend your license again immediately. There is no grace period. The three-year clock does not pause during the new suspension — it resets. You start over.
The General, like all carriers, monitors SR-22 policies closely. If you miss a payment and your policy cancels, the SR-22 filing cancels with it. You will receive a notice from ITD that your license is suspended again. To reinstate, you must obtain a new SR-22 filing, pay another $85 reinstatement fee, and restart the three-year filing period from the new reinstatement date.
This is the failure mode most suspended drivers do not anticipate: the cost of reinstatement is not the first year's premium and the $85 fee. The cost is maintaining continuous coverage for three full years without a single lapse. Carriers that offer payment plans, auto-pay enrollment, and lapse warnings reduce your risk of accidental cancellation. When comparing carriers, ask whether they offer these features — they matter more than the filing fee.
Idaho License Reinstatement Fee
$85
Idaho charges a $85 reinstatement fee when you restore your license after suspension. This fee is separate from the SR-22 filing fee your carrier charges and separate from any court fines or DUI program costs.
Idaho Transportation Department reinstatement fee schedule
Comparing The General to Other Idaho SR-22 Carriers
The General is one of nine carriers confirmed to write SR-22 policies in Idaho: Allstate, American Family, Bristol West, Dairyland, Farmers, GAINSCO, Geico, National General, Progressive, State Farm, The General, and USAA. Not all of these carriers write all suspension triggers. Allstate, American Family, State Farm, and USAA write SR-22 but may decline DUI-triggered suspensions or place them in a separate high-risk subsidiary. Bristol West, Dairyland, GAINSCO, National General, Progressive, and The General write DUI suspensions in their core non-standard programs.
If your suspension was DUI-triggered, your comparison set is the six carriers above that explicitly write DUI in Idaho. If your suspension was lapse-triggered or points-triggered without an accompanying DUI or reckless charge, you have access to the full set of carriers, and you should quote both standard-tier and non-standard-tier companies to see where you land. The General will quote you, but so will carriers that may place you in a lower tier.
The structural question is not whether The General will file your SR-22 — they will. The question is whether The General offers you the best total cost over three years for your specific suspension trigger. The only way to answer that question is to compare quotes from at least three carriers that write your trigger, looking at total premium over the three-year filing period, not just the first six months.
Next Step: Compare Carriers That Write Your Suspension Trigger
The General files SR-22 in Idaho and will quote you a policy. Whether that policy is your best option depends on your suspension trigger and how The General's tier placement for that trigger compares to other carriers writing the same risk. Get quotes from at least three carriers confirmed to write SR-22 for your specific violation type. Compare total premium over three years, not filing speed or first-month cost. If you do not own a vehicle, request non-owner SR-22 quotes explicitly — many agents default to owner policies and will not mention the non-owner option unless you ask. Use the comparison tool on this site to see which carriers write your trigger and request quotes from all of them before committing to The General or any other single carrier.