Does my FR44 time keep running while I am on a hardship or business purpose license?

Yes. Your FR44 time runs while you are on a hardship license, because the clock is tied to reinstatement, and a hardship license is a reinstatement of your driving privileges.

Florida Statute 324.023 is the one that governs this. It says the higher limits — 100/300/50 — must be carried for a minimum period of three years, and that the three years runs from the date of reinstatement of driving privileges for a DUI violation. It does not say three years from arrest, and it does not say three years from conviction. Reinstatement is the trigger.

A Florida hardship license, sometimes called a business purpose only or BPO license, gives you limited driving privileges during your suspension period. Limited privileges are still privileges. Getting one means the FR-44 has to be on file, which is why the state will not grant one to a driver with no financial responsibility filing on record.

What actually costs you time is a lapse. If the policy cancels and the filing drops, the state is notified and you are no longer maintaining the limits the statute requires. The requirement is served by continuous coverage, so every gap gets added to the back end.

That is the reason we tell people not to let an FR44 policy lapse to save money mid-term. It almost always costs more to restart than it saved, and it pushes your end date further out.

Source: Fla. Stat. § 324.023.