2.1 New Hampshire Life Insurance Policy Requirements

Where the Rules Live

New Hampshire life insurance requirements sit in Title XXXVII of the Revised Statutes Annotated (RSA), principally RSA Chapter 408 (Life Insurance), supplemented by the New Hampshire Code of Administrative Rules (Ins) adopted by the Commissioner. The exam tests the numbers in these provisions, so memorize the thresholds rather than the statute prose.

The New Hampshire Insurance Department (NHID), led by the Insurance Commissioner, administers the chapter: it approves policy forms before sale (form filing), licenses producers, examines insurer market conduct, and adjudicates consumer complaints. The Commissioner — not the legislature — sets several operational details (such as grace-period length) by rule, which is why some thresholds appear in the Ins rules instead of the RSA.

Free Look Period

The free look (right to examine) lets a buyer return a newly delivered policy for a full premium refund. In New Hampshire this is an administrative-rule requirement (Ins 401.05), not an RSA mandate, and runs 10 days from delivery for individual life. Replacement transactions effectively extend the buyer's review window through the separate replacement notice (Section 2.3).

During the free look the owner returns the policy, receives all premiums paid back (for variable contracts, account value plus charges may apply), and pays no penalty.

Incontestability — RSA 408:10

RSA 408:10 requires that a policy be incontestable after it has been in force for 2 years during the lifetime of the insured.

• After 2 years the insurer cannot void the contract for a material misstatement on the application.
• Exceptions that survive forever: nonpayment of premium, and (at the company's option) provisions for total-and-permanent-disability benefits and accidental-death benefits.
• The 2-year clock runs from the policy date; a death inside the contest period lets the insurer investigate the application.

Exam trap: Incontestability bars rescission for innocent or even fraudulent misstatements once 2 years pass — the only blanket carve-out is nonpayment. Do not confuse this with the suicide clause, which is a separate 2-year limit on a specific cause of death.

Suicide Clause — RSA 408:13

RSA 408:13 provides that any suicide exclusion shall not apply after the policy's second anniversary.

• Within 2 years: death by suicide pays only a refund of premiums paid (not the face amount).
• After 2 years: suicide is a covered death and the full face amount is payable.

Misstatement of Age or Gender

Under RSA 408:13, if the insured's age or gender was misstated, the death benefit is adjusted to the amount the premium actually paid would have purchased at the correct age/gender using the insurer's mortality charge. The policy is not voided — benefits are simply scaled.

Worked example: A 45-year-old states age 42. At the correct age the same $1,200 annual premium buys $80,000 instead of $100,000. The beneficiary receives $80,000, the death benefit the premium genuinely bought.

Grace Period

New Hampshire follows the NAIC Standard Provisions for Life Insurance: the policy must grant a grace period of at least 31 days for a late premium (the Commissioner fixes the exact length by rule under RSA 408:13).

During the grace period the policy stays in full force; if the insured dies, the death benefit is paid less the unpaid premium. Coverage lapses only after the grace period closes without payment.

Reinstatement

A lapsed policy may be reinstated, generally within 3 years of the lapse (the standard NAIC provision New Hampshire applies), if the owner:

1. Provides satisfactory evidence of insurability (a new application/medical questions);
2. Pays all overdue premiums with interest; and
3. Repays or reinstates any policy loan with interest.

Reinstatement starts a new 2-year contestability period limited to statements in the reinstatement application — the original incontestability protection on the first application is not reopened.

Beneficiary Protections and the Death Master File

New Hampshire's unclaimed-benefits law requires insurers to take affirmative steps so death benefits actually reach beneficiaries:

• Match in-force policies against the Social Security Death Master File (DMF) on a regular schedule;
• Make good-faith efforts to locate the beneficiary once a death is identified;
• Initiate the claim when death is confirmed; and
• Charge no fee to the beneficiary for locating or paying the benefit.

If the beneficiary cannot be found, the benefit is not forfeited — it is reported and remitted to the State Treasury as unclaimed property (escheat), and the rightful claimant may recover it from the state later.

Required Standard Provisions Checklist

Every New Hampshire individual life policy must contain:

• Entire-contract clause (policy + attached application = whole contract)
• Grace period (≥ 31 days)
• Incontestability (2 years — RSA 408:10)
• Suicide exclusion capped at 2 years (RSA 408:13)
• Misstatement of age/gender adjustment
• Reinstatement provision
• Nonforfeiture options on cash-value policies (RSA 408 nonforfeiture sections)

Common Exam Traps

• Free look is 10 days and comes from Ins 401.05 (rule), not RSA — distractors offering 20 or 30 days are wrong for individual NH life.
• Suicide within 2 years returns premiums, never the face amount.
• Misstatement of age adjusts, it does not void — voiding only happens via successful contest inside 2 years.
• Escheat means unfound benefits go to the State Treasury, not back to the insurer.