344.34 until after the accident, the insurer had a responsibility to cover 3rd-party losses and was entitled to seek reimbursement from the insured under sub. (7). Acuity v. Albert, 2012 WI App 87, 343 Wis. 2d 594, 819 N.W.2d 340, 12-0382. The meaning of sub. (9) is plain: the minimum coverage requirements of the financial responsibility law can be satisfied only by one or more certified policies. In this case, there was only one certified policy. That policy was required to fulfill the financial responsibility law’s requirements. Among other requirements, the policy must “insure the person named therein using any motor vehicle,” which meant that the policy’s exclusion for injury or damages “resulting from the ... use of a motorized vehicle with less than four wheels” could not apply. Hechimovich v. Acuity, 2014 WI App 14, 352 Wis. 2d 513, 842 N.W.2d 493, 13-1011.
344.34 Notice of cancellation or termination of certified policy. When an insurer has certified a motor vehicle liability policy under s. 344.31 or a bond under s. 344.36, the insurance so certified shall not be canceled or terminated until at least 10 days after a notice of cancellation or termination of the insurance so certified has been filed in the office of the secretary. No
May 22, 2026, are designated by NOTES. (Published 5-22-26)
344.34
VEHICLES — FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
Updated 23-24 Wis. Stats.
10
insurance so certified may be canceled or terminated by the insurer prior to the expiration of 90 days from the effective date of the certification on the grounds of failure to pay a premium when due. Such a certified policy or bond subsequently procured shall, on the effective date of its certification, terminate the insurance previously certified. Any certification or recertification filed by the same insurer following cancellation shall be accompanied by a fee of $3 payable by the insurer.
In the foreclosure of such lien, ch. 846 on the foreclosure of real estate mortgages shall apply as far as possible.
History: 1973 c. 90; 1977 c. 29 s. 1654 (7) (c); 1979 c. 102 s. 236 (3); 1987 a. 27; 1991 a. 269; 1993 a. 213; 2009 a. 245. The failure of an insurer to comply with the notice requirement under this section precludes the insurer from asserting that a previously certified policy had lapsed. Lang v. Kurtz, 100 Wis. 2d 40, 301 N.W.2d 262 (Ct. App. 1980). The 10-day notice of cancellation requirement only applied to liability coverage of a policy acquired to satisfy proof of financial responsibility. Uninsured motorist coverage cancellation took effect immediately. Nutter v. Milwaukee Insurance Co. 167 Wis. 2d 449, 481 N.W.2d 701 (Ct. App. 1992). The 10-day notice requirement in this section results in a period of time in which the insurer owes coverage to the public despite the fact that its policy with its insured was not contractually in force. However, s. 344.33 (7) allows an insurer to recover from its insured any claims it paid that it would not have been obligated to pay but for the Financial Responsibility law. When the insured’s policy lapsed 3 days before an accident, but the insurer did not send a notice of cancellation to the state under this section until after the accident, the insurer had a responsibility to cover 3rdparty losses and was entitled to seek reimbursement from the insured under s. 344.33 (7). Acuity v. Albert, 2012 WI App 87, 343 Wis. 2d 594, 819 N.W.2d 340, 12-0382.