The New Hampshire Insurance Department (NHID) has re-issued a bulletin to remind all entities subject to the state’s insurance law of their obligation to promptly comply with department inquiries and investigations.

Under RSA 400-A:16, II, any individual or entity transacting insurance in New Hampshire must provide all relevant documents and information to NHID within 10 working days of a request, according to an NHID press release.

Failure to comply could result in administrative fines, license suspension, or revocation.

“The New Hampshire Insurance Department is committed to upholding the law and fostering a spirit of cooperation among all insurance companies, agencies, and professionals operating in the Granite State,” said Insurance Commissioner DJ Bettencourt, in the release.

“We remind these entities to respond promptly to our inquiries. Working together in this way is vital to ensuring a fair and transparent insurance market that ultimately protects our consumers and strengthens the trust they place in us.”

Despite the law requirements, NHID says it has “observed instances where individuals and entities have failed to respect the law and provide the requested information.”

“The department urges all regulated entities to establish clear policies and provide training to personnel to ensure full compliance with RSA 400-A:16,” the release states. “Noncompliance without good cause will lead to administrative action.”

Deputy Insurance Commissioner Keith Nyhan added in the release that “the department’s ability to regulate effectively depends on timely responses from the industry.”

“Entities that fail to cooperate with investigations not only risk enforcement action but also undermine the integrity of the insurance market in New Hampshire,” he said.

The bulletin, initially issued in 2022, states that NHID routinely conducts investigations of insurance companies, agencies, and individuals who conduct insurance business in the state.

“These investigations work to resolve consumer complaints, ensure compliance with New Hampshire law, and otherwise regulate the state’s insurance market,” the bulletin says. “All companies, agencies, and individuals subject to the commissioner’s authority should ensure they have established policies and trained personnel to fully comply with RSA 400-A:16, including its response timeframe.”

During a recent interview with Repairer Driven News about the functions of the NHID, Nyhan said, typically, more than half of the complaints that come in are related to automobile insurance, with the vast majority of those focused on claims.

“Our consumer services offices are very well-educated about our products and we can certainly answer questions,” Nyhan said. “Sometimes we are able to assist a person with a claim form. Other times we’re going to redirect that person to speak to an agent, and other times it’s just providing information. We want to hear from those consumers who believe that they have been harmed by their carriers.”

Bettencourt and Nyhan said that “consumer” doesn’t solely mean a New Hampshire resident; the NHID considers repair shops as such whether in their interest or on behalf of a customer.

“If they’re having a problem, they can come to us and we can be a resource to them,” Bettencourt said. “Regardless of whatever particular insurance carrier’s practice or whatever particular repair shop’s practice — if it doesn’t comply, if it doesn’t jive with the law or the rule — there’s going to be a problem there and we’ll obviously work the parties through that. That fundamentally is what we always turn to as the first resource.”

Nyhan added, “We triage those issues and if it’s a claim-specific issue, we certainly work to help the insured. Sometimes that involves helping the shop as well but if a shop has an issue about a certain pattern or practice or a perceived wrong in the industry, we will take that complaint. “We refer it to our Market Conduct team and we do an investigation which leads to, hopefully, some sort of corrective behavior. ”

For example, a repair shop once told the NHID that insurance carriers weren’t following rules regarding certain consumer notifications.

“In this case, it was if a consumer brought his or her vehicle to an independent shop and that independent shop disagreed with the company’s repair estimate, then it required the carrier to go and obtain an estimate from a second independent repair shop,” Nyhan said. “We were able to bring that to full force. So we do want to hear from shops that think there’s a pattern of practice of error or wrongdoing and we can look into that for the repair shop.”

The NHID can be contacted with questions or concerns at 800-852-3416 or 603-271‐2261, or by email at consumerservices@ins.nh.gov.

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