On August 12, 2026, New Hampshire Insurance Commissioner David J. Bettencourt issued Bulletin Docket No. INS 26-052-AB (the Bulletin), directed to all “personal lines automobile insurers” operating in the state. The Bulletin addresses the New Hamshire Insurance Department’s (the NHID) interpretation and enforcement of N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 417-A:5 as it relates to policy termination notices issued following an insured’s failure to make a renewal premium payment by its due date.
I. Background and Impetus
The NHID issued the Bulletin after identifying that “some personal lines automobile insurers may not be issuing policy termination notices that fully comply with the requirements of N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 417-A:5 in situations where an insured fails to make a renewal premium payment by its due date.” The stated purpose of the Bulletin is “to ensure that consumers receive the protections afforded under N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 417-A:5 and to promote the consistent administration of New Hampshire insurance law.”
II. Statutory Framework: N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann § 417-A:5
N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann § 417-A:5 governs the cancellation and refusal to renew policies of automobile insurance in New Hampshire. Under that statute, no cancellation or refusal to renew is effective unless the insurer physically delivers, mails, or electronically delivers to the named insured a written notice of cancellation or refusal to renew. That notice must be approved as to form by the Insurance Commissioner prior to use, must state the specific reason for cancellation or refusal to renew, and must advise the insured of the right to request the Commissioner’s review of the decision.
With respect to timing, N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann § 417-A:5, II(a) provides that the effective date of cancellation or nonrenewal “shall not be less than 45 days after the date the notice is mailed or physically or electronically delivered to the named insured,” except that the effective date “may be 10 days from the date of mailing or physical or electronic delivery when” the “policy is being cancelled or not renewed for nonpayment of premium, provided that nonpayment notices shall not be issued until nonpayment has occurred.”
III. The NHID’s Position
The Bulletin articulates the NHID’s position that when an insured fails to timely pay a renewal premium, “the insurer may issue a notice of termination,” but that “[t]o be legally compliant, that notice must provide the insured with a cure period of at least ten days during which the insured may pay the overdue premium and continue coverage without a lapse.” The NHID emphasized that “[o]nly if the insured fails to cure the nonpayment within the required notice period may the policy be terminated.” Stated differently, “[a] policy may not be terminated for nonpayment of a renewal premium until after the insurer has issued a legally compliant termination notice and the expiry of the cure period.”
IV. Compliance Directives
As such, the Bulletin instructs all personal lines automobile insurers to “review their current policy termination notices and related procedures to ensure compliance with these statutory requirements.” Any insurer “utilizing notices that are inconsistent with RSA 417-A:5 should file revised notices with the NHID no later than October 1, 2026.” (Emphasis added).
The NHID further announced that “[a]fter October 1, 2026, the NHID may audit insurer notices and business practices to verify compliance with N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 417-A:5.” Importantly, the Department clarified that “[p]rior approval of a notice does not relieve an insurer of its continuing obligation to comply with New Hampshire law.” Accordingly, even notices previously approved by the NHID must be revised if they are “inconsistent with the statutory requirements described in this Bulletin.”
V. Enforcement
The Bulletin concludes by stating that “[f]ailure to comply with N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 417-A:5 may subject an insurer to appropriate administrative action, including civil penalties authorized under New Hampshire law, where warranted by the facts and circumstances.”