SB 199  - AS INTRODUCED

 

 

2023 SESSION

23-0958

05/10

 

SENATE BILL 199

 

AN ACT relative to the standard of care for insurance agents.

 

SPONSORS: Sen. Gannon, Dist 23; Rep. Infantine, Hills. 16

 

COMMITTEE: Commerce

 

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ANALYSIS

 

This bill provides that in a civil cause of action brought against an insurance producer concerning the sale, placement, procurement, renewal, binding, or cancellation of property and casualty insurance, the insurance producer will not be barred from asserting any defenses available at common or statutory law.

 

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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.

Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]

Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

23-0958

05/10

 

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

 

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty Three

 

AN ACT relative to the standard of care for insurance agents.

 

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

 

1  New Section; Insurance Companies and Agents; Standard of Care for Insurance Agents.  Amend RSA 402 by inserting after section 84 the following new section:

402:85  Standard of Care for Insurance Agents.

I. In a cause of action brought by any person or entity against an insurance producer concerning the sale, placement, procurement, renewal, binding or cancellation of, or the failure to procure, a policy of property and casualty insurance, the insurance producer shall not be barred from asserting any defenses available at common or statutory law.

II. The provisions of this section shall not impair or invalidate any of the terms or conditions of a contractual agreement between an insurance producer and an insurer.

III. In this section, “insurance producer” shall have the same meaning as defined in RSA 402-J:2.

IV. The provisions of this section shall not limit or prohibit the commissioner of the insurance department from finding, imposing, or enforcing a duty upon an insurance producer where that duty is imposed pursuant to:

(a) Title XXXVII of the New Hampshire Revised Statues Annotated;

(b) Any rule or regulation of the insurance department;

(c) Any order of the commissioner; or

(d) Any applicable federal law.

2  Effective Date.  This act shall take effect January 1, 2024.