In New York if you have a lapse in insurance coverage and do not surrender your vehicle plates immediately, your registration is suspended for the same number of days that you did not have insurance coverage, but did hold the vehicle plates. If the time is more than 90 days, your driver license is also suspended for the same number of days as the registration. To reinstate your driver’s license, you must pay a termination fee of $25 when the suspension ends.

According to the New York Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) if your registration was suspended due you can go to a DMV office to get it reinstated. You must show proof of automobile liability insurance coverage when you pay the civil penalty to reinstate your registration at the DMV office. You can show a current NYS Insurance Identification Card (FS-20) as proof of auto insurance.

The civil penalty amounts that the NYS DMV site list are:

• $8 per day for each day of the lapse from day 1 through day 30, and
• $10 per day for each day of the lapse from day 31 through day 60, and
• $12 per day for each day of the lapse from day 61 through day 90.

You can pay the civil penalty with cash, a money order, a certified check or a credit card at most local DMV offices.

The NYS DMV does note though that you cannot clear the registration suspension in the above way if:

• the lapse of insurance was for more than 90 days, or
• you paid a civil penalty to clear a previous suspension in the last three years.

So if your registration was suspended due to not having insurance on your vehicle for more than 90 days or you have paid a civil penalty in the last 3 years for a previous registration suspension you cannot reinstate your registration in this manner and would need to contact the NYS DMV directly to find out what steps will need to be taken in order to get your registration reinstated.