The General SR-22 insurance

Dana Whitfield

Reviewed against state DMV/DOI sources · Updated July 16, 2026

The General exists for drivers other insurers turn away, and it's honest about that. What it isn't is cheap — which is the opposite of what most people assume about a non-standard carrier.

Who owns it (nearly every page gets this wrong)

The General is not part of American Family. Sentry Insurance bought it for $1.7 billion in a deal that closed January 1, 2025, and said it would adopt The General as its primary brand for the non-standard market.

Most of the SR-22 web — and even some review sites' own profile text — still says AmFam. That's not a trivia point: American Family now shows up as a separate competitor in the same DUI rate tables The General appears in.

There's a second consequence worth knowing. Sentry also owns Dairyland. So the two biggest non-standard SR-22 names now share a parent — Dairyland reaching drivers through independent agents, The General direct-to-consumer. If you're comparing them, you're comparing two doors into the same house.

(Not to be confused with National General, which is Allstate's. Even The General's own BBB responses have to untangle that one.)

Does The General file SR-22s?

Yes, and unlike most carriers here it says so plainly: "We provide SR‑22 filings in most states."

One real constraint: "The General can only file an SR‑22 in the state where your auto insurance policy has been issued." If you're moving, that matters.

On the fee, The General is one of the few that publishes a number — and it's higher than the web's favorite figure: "It varies by state, but you should expect to pay about $25 in fees when filing the SR‑22 form," included in the quote.

It confirms non-owner coverage — "for people who need to meet their state's SR-22 requirements but do not own a car" — and is explicit about who it's for: if you were "convicted of a DUI or had your license suspended or revoked...you might need SR‑22 auto insurance."

One thing not to over-read: The General advertises that "in just minutes, you'll have your SR‑22 form available." That's about the form being available to you, not a guarantee the state has it. Nobody promises same-day transmission to the DMV.

Why nobody can tell you what it costs

Here's the structural finding that explains this page. The General doesn't report rates to Quadrant Information Services — the data vendor behind MoneyGeek, Insurance.com, and most major rate studies. Insurance.com says so outright: it "doesn't provide rates to our data provider... As a result, we can't compare the company on price."

So The General is absent from MoneyGeek's 2026 SR-22 study, absent from its DUI study, and carries no rate data in Insurify's SR-22 guide. Which means any page confidently telling you "The General's SR-22 costs $X a month" is inventing it.

What does exist comes from publishers running their own data, and it demolishes the cheap-because-non-standard assumption:

• Insurify (July 2026): The General at $288/month with a DUI — against Auto-Owners at $114. That's 2.5×. It's beaten even by fellow non-standard carrier Direct Auto at $239.
• NerdWallet: $4,981/year with a DUI — 15% above the national average.

Non-standard means accepts you, not cheap. Estimate your own with the SR-22 cost calculator.

The $25 isn't the cost

This is the confusion The General's own customers keep running into. As a top reply put it to someone shopping SR-22s in 2026: "You are confusing the 'filing fee' that insurers add on for SR-22 with the entire cost."

The filing is $25, once. The violation behind it is thousands a year. See how much SR-22 insurance actually costs.

The real risk here: cancellation

The General's own page says a lapse means "you should expect revocation of your license and registration." Which makes its most-reported failure mode the one that matters most.

"I had auto pay set up... The general didn't take the money out of my account and canceled my insurance after one missed payment," one customer wrote in July 2026. Another described a cancellation notice arriving two days after the cancellation took effect.

The worst documented case: a New York customer's formal complaint that The General "falsely reported an insurance lapse to the DMV... resulting in my registration being suspended" when "I never had an actual lapse" — followed by calls on April 23rd, 24th, 25th, 27th, 30th, May 4th, and May 6th without resolution.

That's a state-reporting error rather than an SR-22 filing failure, and worth labeling precisely. But with an SR-22 attached, a false lapse report is exactly the thing that re-suspends you. Watch the autopay, and confirm your standing with the DMV yourself. See what happens if your SR-22 lapses.

In fairness: we found no first-hand account of The General's SR-22 filing itself being late or wrong. The filing works. It's the billing that bites.

The reviews, read honestly

The General's numbers look alarming and need context. ConsumerAffairs: 1.5 stars across 601 reviews, 386 of them one-star. BBB: 357 complaints in three years — alongside an A+ rating.

That paradox is explainable: BBB grades responsiveness, not satisfaction. The General answers its complaints, so it scores A+ while customers rate it 1.5.

The recurring themes are quote-jumping ("I got a quote for 60$. When I entered my credit card info the price jumped to 119$") and claims handling. A 14-year insurance agent's assessment: "they are usually also atrocious to deal with when you file a claim." A driver's own analogy: "You get what you pay for... It's like having Verizon Wireless versus Boost Mobile."

And the counterweight, which is just as real: "No other insurance company would help me... The General told me they would help me get back on the road."

The fair verdict

If standard carriers have declined you, The General writes and files, and that beats being uninsured — a genuine service, at a genuine price.

One driver with a seven-year-old DUI is the useful data point: Liberty Mutual and Allstate declined outright; GEICO quoted $350, State Farm $370, Progressive $500+; The General came in around $200. When the alternative is no coverage, The General wins.

But don't reach for it first out of an assumption it's cheap. Quote it against Direct Auto and the mainstream carriers, then decide — and treat it as a bridge, not a destination. Compare the field in our cheapest SR-22 guide and company comparison.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

1. The General — SR-22 insurance (files in most states, ~$25, non-owner)
2. The General — SR-22 basics
3. Sentry — completes acquisition of The General from American Family (closed Jan 1, 2025)
4. Insurance Journal — American Family sells The General to Sentry for $1.7B
5. Insurance.com — The General review (doesn't report rates to Quadrant)
6. NerdWallet — The General auto insurance review
7. Insurify — Car insurance with a DUI
8. ConsumerAffairs — The General (PGAC) reviews
9. BBB — The General complaints