N.H. Admin. Code § Ins 5001.07

Current through Register No. 50, December 12, 2024

Section Ins 5001.07 - Form Provision Rules

(a) Coverage under a policy may be voided or denied for the insured or insureds who, whether before or after a loss, have intentionally concealed or misrepresented any material fact or circumstance, engaged in fraudulent conduct, or made false statements relating to this insurance. It shall not be void for innocent co-insureds.

(b) Blanket exclusions or limitations on coverage for animal liability shall be prohibited in personal lines except for an endorsement that identifies and excludes an animal by that specific animal's name.

(c) Personal lines dwelling policies shall not exclude liability coverage for lead.

(d) Personal lines dwelling policies may limit property coverage for mold consistent with the following:

(1) A policy shall not exclude coverage for loss arising out of mold or remediation in which the proximate cause of loss is a peril other than fire or lightning, unless a sub-limit is provided for mold loss in which the proximate cause of loss is a covered loss;

(2) The minimum aggregate sub-limit for mold and remediation coverage shall be $10,000; and

(3) The policy shall not unreasonably restrict the time period for reporting a mold claim.

(e) Personal lines dwelling policies shall not exclude coverage for liability arising out of mold. A policy may include a minimum aggregate sub-limit of $50,000 for loss arising out of mold.

(f) To the extent that a personal lines dwelling policy provides first-party property coverage for a dwelling, personal property, or both, the policy shall provide coverage in instances where the discharge, dispersal, seepage, migration, release, or escape of a pollutant is caused by a named peril.

(g) Named storm deductibles shall be permitted in any policy providing property insurance. The named storm deductible's application shall begin at the time that the National Weather Service (NWS) names the storm and issues a watch or warning and ends once the storm has been downgraded by the NWS to non-named storm status. The loss at issue shall be related to the named storm in order to trigger the named storm deductible.

(h) Extended reporting periods (ERP) shall:

(1) Be required for claims-made policy terminations;

(2) Apply to termination for any reason, including non-payment of premium;

(3) Include a 60 day "Basic" or "Automatic" ERP at no additional cost;

(4) Provide the insured, within not less than 30 days from termination, the right to purchase an "optional" or "supplemental" ERP of at least 12 months, and:

a. The optional or supplemental ERP shall begin following the end of the Automatic ERP and shall not overlap it, unless the duration of the optional or supplemental ERP purchased is 14 months or longer;

b. The optional or supplemental ERP may be made contingent upon payment of sums due for the period of coverage; and

c. Once paid in full, the optional or supplemental ERP shall not be cancelled; and

(5) Not be used to sub-limit coverages.

(i) Arbitration provisions shall provide for proceedings in New Hampshire unless both the insurer and the insured agree to arbitration in a different location.

(j) Claims-made policies and defense-within-limits policies shall contain a prominently displayed disclaimer stating that they are such policies. This provision shall not apply to optional endorsements attached to a claims-made policy or a defense-within-limits policy.

(k) Sub-limits shall be permitted as follows:

(1) Sub-limiting by type of insured or type of risk shall be permitted for commercial risks if the sub-limit is prominently displayed in the policy; and

(2) Sub-limiting by type of insured shall be permitted for personal lines if the sub-limit is prominently displayed on the declarations page and the insurer demonstrates a corresponding rate reduction based upon the sub-limit.

(l) Contractual exclusions shall be permitted. However, contractual exclusions shall state that they do not exclude coverage for tort liability that would exist independent of a contract claim.

N.H. Admin. Code § Ins 5001.07

Derived From Volume XXXIX Number 19, Filed May 9, 2019, Proposed by #12770, Effective 5/5/2019, Expires 5/5/2029.