Auto Insurance Lapsed, Considering Submitting Statement of Non-Operation Form

Hello, I recently got my own policy for auto insurance and, in short, had a nearly 3 week lapse on my policy because I was not home at the time and did not see the warning in the mail that it was not paid(truly thought I had enrolled in auto pay, not to make excuses).

I thought that this would be resolved after paying/getting back on my insurance policy, but I now know the severity of this mistake as I received a letter from PENNDOT (Pennsylvania Department of Transportation) threatening a 3 month suspension on my registration.

There is an option of sending in a statement of non operation (MV-221) form. However, I did drive my car during this period.

If I did not get pulled over/ have any form of infraction or accident, would there be any way of proving that I did in fact drive during this period? I did drive to New Jersey during this period, would they be able to pull the plates from the tolls?

I know that this is not a great decision to send this form in but I am desperate as I only have my one car and need it to get to work.

Just looking for some advice here. Right now it seems as though there are two options on submitting the non operation form or losing my car for 3 months.

I did see another option being, “filing a complaint to the PA insurance department,” that states, “Upon your request and with proof of current insurance, a request will be made to PennDOT to hold any notice of suspension of the vehicle registration while the complaint is being reviewed.” However, this does not seem hopeful.

I appreciate any advice that I can get here as I’m in a really tough spot with this. I do understand how foolish I was on letting the policy lapse, and do not plan on letting this happen again. Thanks for any insight.