Non-owner car insurance in South Dakota

What companies provide non-owner car insurance in South Dakota?

We gathered prices from 7 insurers, ranked from lowest to highest.

In South Dakota, a driver without a car gets a legal exception. An insurer’s proof form must list each covered vehicle, but only if the policyholder owns one. Here, an SR-22 can be carried by a non-owner policy because of that exception; the policy attaches to you, not to a vehicle.

Coverage minimums for a South Dakota non-owner policy

The same liability minimum applies to every South Dakota auto policy, even one written for a person without a car. If you cause a crash, liability is the coverage that pays the other people. South Dakota coverage law, SDCL 32-35-70, requires $25,000 for each person hurt, and that rises to $50,000 when two or more are injured. Coverage for harm to another person's property has a required limit of $25,000.

The financial-responsibility proof rule in SDCL 32-35-2 uses those same three dollar figures. Because of that, a policy that meets the standard coverage rule also meets the proof rule for any driver ordered to carry an SR-22. The rule about certificates with the non-owner exception appears in SDCL 32-35-65.

Who has to file proof with South Dakota DPS, and how long does the requirement last?

To show a policy is active, your insurance company sends the state a certificate called an SR-22. It gets filed with the Department of Public Safety. You need it, according to the DPS article covering suspended and revoked licenses, if a court judgment, no-insurance conviction, vehicular homicide, or DUI caused your suspension or revocation. Also counted is a pair of reckless driving offenses committed within one year. No vehicle may be driven or re-registered by you until the proof is on file.

After a no-insurance conviction, the filing must last three years from the conviction date. DPS can end it after three years with no new conviction that would suspend your license, under SDCL 32-35-95. When the policy stops early, the insurer has fifteen days to notify DPS, per SDCL 32-35-80.

How to get your South Dakota license back

Reinstatement restores a license that has been suspended or revoked. On its driver license fee table, DPS shows reinstatement fees that run from $75 to $225; your own record sets the exact figure. A driver whose license was revoked also takes the vision and knowledge tests again.

Driving without insurance is a Class 2 misdemeanor. The possible penalties are a $100 fine, a 30-day stay in county jail, or both. Your license is also suspended, for 30 days up to a year. The state’s online license eligibility check lets you see any items still open on your record before you go to an office. The law also lets you deposit $25,000 in cash with the state treasurer instead of carrying a policy, as stated in SDCL 32-35-87.

How age affects South Dakota prices

Teen drivers pay roughly $454 per year. At age 40, a minimum-coverage owned-car policy averages $450 yearly. That is about $234 above the $216 cost of a non-owner policy.