The Virginia Department of Motor Motor (DMV) notes that all registered motor vehicles are required to be insured. If you cancel your Liability insurance coverage, you must return your license plates to DMV to deactivate your vehicle registration. That is how you can go without having insurance on a vehicle and not be penalized. You can discuss with the VA DMV if there is a way to suspend your registration so when you do get the car running it will be easier to place registration back on it.

There are some areas of Virginia that require you to have license plates on a car even if it is uninsured (probably depending upon where your vehicle is parked). The DMV notes that if this is an issue where you live you will need to discuss with the locality possible options.

It is illegal to buy plates for a vehicle that does not comply with state financial responsibility requirements. But by all means, do not declare to DMV that you have insurance for the uninsured vehicle. The penalty for declaring unsubstantiated insurance is a $500 fine, suspension of your driving and vehicle registration, and higher insurance premiums.

Now to reinstate your driving privileges that were suspended due to having an uninsured vehicle you must pay the VA DMV a $500 statutory fee, a $45 reinstatement fee and file proof of insurance, form SR-22, with DMV for three years.

The SR-22 certificate, proof of insurance, is required to be filed with Virginia because you did not voluntarily meet financial responsibility requirements to register a vehicle in the past. Consequently, VA law requires you to prove that you are insured, as a driver, whether or not you register a vehicle in your name. So if you end up not registering your vehicle, since it is inoperable, you would need to get a non-owner's insurance policy to file the SR-22 if you do not have another car to place insurance on.

For more questions about how to get your driver's license reinstated and what do do regarding the registration and insurance of your vehicle that is not running contact the VA DMV. To get the required auto insurance you need to reinstate your driving privileges you can click here for online car insurance quotes.