SR22 insurance, in Illinois called "Financial Responsibility Insurance" refers to the coverage for individuals who had breached some road traffic rules. In the event that you received a request from the State that you have to file an SR22, you need to know what you have to do, the requirements you need to have ready and the length of the Financial Responsibility.

There are a number of reasons why one will be required to have SR22 Insurance, some of which are described below:
1. When you are caught driving while intoxicated with alcohol or prohibited drugs(DWI);
2. When you are operating an auto under the influence (DUI) of alcohol or outlawed substances;
3. When you had an auto crash and had no active car insurance, and a decision was issued against you without you meeting the judgment;
4. Unsafe operators who get reported for too many road traffic violations in a short period of time;
5. Conviction of driving a motor vehicle with revoked or suspended license;

If you made any of the above infractions of traffic law, it would result in the suspension of your driving privileges, and an SR22 will be necessary.

How do you tell that you have to have SR22?
Only your state officials will tell you if and when you need or do not need financial responsibility filing. In Illinois, the Secretary of State will inform you of the requirement to have an financial responsibility certificate filed or not. Also, the Secretary of State will let you know when you do not need an SR22. Once filed, the SR22 must be kept unless told otherwise by the Secretary of State that you do not need it.

What to file
When you are required to have SR22, you need to file a document evidencing your financial responsibility. The certificate must be filed with the Department of Motor Vehicle or DMV. This filing will in effect remove the suspension of your license enabling you to operate a car again, assuming that you fulfilled all other requests set forth by the State.

In the State of Illinois, financial responsibility may consist one of the following certificates by the insurance company which shall be directly filed with the Secretary of State:

* The most comprehensive and most expensive type is called the Operators/Owners Certificate. This certification is issued covering any and all autos either owned or not owned by the driver. This is not a commonly used form, and is used mostly in connection with established entities.
* The most common type is called Owner's Certificate. The driver covered here is also the owner of the auto. In other words, you own a vehicle, and you get liability insurance on that auto which has to be scheduled on the policy, and ask your insurance company to file your policy with the Secretary of State as an SR22 Certificate.
*The least expensive type is called the Operator's Certificate: This is a document that you will use to confirm that you are insured when you drive any particular vehicle with the expressed approval of the actual owner, in the event that you do not own the car you will be operating. Remember the fact that the car itself ought to be insured as well. This type of insurance is also known as Non-Owner SR22 Insurance. People who ask for this coverage are those who do not own any vehicle but get this coverage to comply with the SR22 requirements. Operator's Certificate is the cheapest type of financial responsibility insurance.

Minimum requisites
It is required that you have an auto liability insurance coverage before you file for SR22. Your coverage should provide at least the minimum state required limits, which is:

Bodily injury (BI) of $20,000 per individual;
Bodily injury of $40,000 per accident;
Property damage (PD) per accident of $15,000;
Uninsured motorist bodily injury (UM BI) per person of $20,000;
Uninsured motorist bodily injury (UM BI) per accident of $40,000.

If you decide to terminate your insurance, forgot to make a payment, or simply forgot to renew it when it was mandatory to keep; then your insurance company will give notify the state. In that case the Secretary of State will re-suspend or revoke your driving privileges.

Who will file the SR22
Neither you nor your insurance producer are authorized to file the SR22 with the state. You need to get proof of SR22 and have the insurance company file it directly with the state. A while ago the system of filing was hand operated and was done by regular mail. Now the process is automated, and is done by using the internet infrastructure. It takes about three business days between the time you buy the SR22 and the time it gets filed with the state.