New Hampshire Personal Lines Study Guide

Personal lines in New Hampshire lives or dies on the cancellation and nonrenewal statutes, and they are built as a matched pair that is not quite matched. Auto is RSA 417-A. Personal property is RSA 417-B. They share their notice periods word for word and differ in exactly one number — which is precisely the structure that manufactures wrong answers under time pressure.

Two chapters, one number apart

After a policy has been in effect 60 days — auto — or 90 days — property — an insurer may cancel only for enumerated grounds. Both statutes then add the same clause, and it is easy to read past: “or if a policy is a renewal, effective immediately.”

That means a renewal policy has no free window at all. An item describing a policy in its second term is describing a policy where the enumerated grounds already apply, no matter how few days into the term it is.

The grounds, and how many there are

Personal auto (RSA 417-A:4) — only three survive the 60-day mark: nonpayment of premium; the specific request of the insured; and the named insured not having been a New Hampshire resident when the policy was issued or renewed, with an exception where the vehicle was exclusively garaged in New Hampshire.

Homeowners and property (RSA 417-B:3) — six: nonpayment; conviction of a crime having as an element an act increasing an insured hazard; discovery of fraud or material misrepresentation by the named insured in pursuing a claim under the policy — not misrepresentation in the application; grossly negligent acts or omissions substantially increasing the hazard; physical changes making the property uninsurable; and the insured’s own request.

Three against six is itself a testable contrast, and the residency ground on the auto side has no property equivalent.

The notice periods — identical in both chapters

Both statutes use the same sentence: “The effective date shall not be less than 45 days after the date the notice is mailed or physically or electronically delivered.” Both cut that to 10 days for nonpayment.

Each then adds a second 10-day trigger, and the triggers differ. Auto: where the policy is not a renewal and the notice goes out within 60 days of the effective date. Property: within 90 days of inception. The second trigger tracks each chapter’s own freeze period.

Notice must state the specific reason or ground — this is proactive, not on request — and a private passenger auto insurer must separately record each cancellation and nonrenewal with its specific reason under rule Ins 1403.03(c) — with two carve-outs worth knowing: cancellations for nonpayment of premium and nonrenewals at the insured’s request are outside the requirement.

The single-claim rule — read it precisely

RSA 417-B:3-a is one of New Hampshire’s strongest consumer protections and one of the most under-read items on this exam: “The nonrenewal of a homeowner’s insurance policy is prohibited if the nonrenewal is based solely on the insured having filed a single valid claim within any one previous or current policy term.”

Two words carry the weight. Solely — two claims, or one claim plus an independent underwriting reason, is a different question. And valid — because the same section goes further than most states: a coverage inquiry that produces no claim payment is not a valid claim and cannot support nonrenewal at all. For a policy with no fixed expiration date, or one issued for other than annual periods, each 12-month anniversary from issuance counts as a term — that is a test about the policy’s structure, not about the non-standard market.

What each chapter actually covers

RSA 417-B reaches “personal, family, and household risks” — real property, personal property and legal liability. It does not reach automobile, and it does not reach workers’ compensation. Automobile is RSA 417-A. Commercial risks are outside both, in RSA 417-C.

That matters in practice as much as on the exam: a personal lines producer who writes a home-based business endorsement is close to a boundary where a different cancellation regime applies.

Renewal disclosure — the question clients actually ask

Rule Ins 1404.03(b) requires a private passenger auto insurer to disclose the discounts, credits and surcharges applied to the policy, either on the renewal notice or on the declarations page. This is the provision behind most “why did my premium change?” calls, and knowing it exists is worth more in the office than on the paper.

The personal auto package, if a policy issues

Personal lines producers place auto in a state that does not require it. New Hampshire runs a financial responsibility scheme under RSA chapter 264, with proof triggered by conviction or accident rather than by registration. But the policy you sell is heavily specified:

• 25/50/25 liability minimums (RSA 264:20).
• Uninsured and hit-and-run coverage at limits equal to the liability limits elected — the insured may reject it, but only in writing, and that rejection then binds all insureds and all vehicles until revoked in writing (RSA 264:15).
• Medical payments of at least $1,000 per person, for costs incurred within 3 years (RSA 264:16). Med pay is optional in most states; it is required here.

New Hampshire is a tort state with no PIP — but do not translate “no PIP” into “no required first-party medical coverage,” because the $1,000 med pay mandate is exactly that.

Fault, when a claim goes bad

RSA 507:7-d makes New Hampshire modified comparative with a 51% bar: a claimant recovers if their fault was “not greater than” the defendant’s — or the defendants’ in the aggregate — with damages reduced proportionally. Exactly 50% at fault still recovers, halved. At 51%, nothing.