Archives: 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008

Roberta Harris v. Countryway Insurance Company
Docket No. INS-07-2101, Decision Issued October 29, 2007.

The insured requested a hearing following receipt of a notice of homeowners insurance coverage nonrenewal citing the insured’s loss history as the reason for nonrenewal. At hearing, the company submitted as its evidence a statement that was not sworn. The insured did not appear at the hearing.

Held: For the insured. Under the Maine Administrative Procedure Act, all witnesses must be sworn. 5 M.R.S.A. § 9057(3). No unsworn statement or accompanying evidence will be admitted into the hearing record. Bureau of Insurance Rule 355 § 8(C). Since the company’s statement was not sworn, the statement and accompanying evidence were not admitted into the hearing record.

In addition, the nonrenewal reason stated in the notice is that losses have occurred. Section 3051 specifically states that “[e]xplanations such as… ‘loss record’… and similar insurance terms are not by themselves acceptable explanations of an insurer’s intended nonrenewal of a policy…” Simply that losses have occurred is an insufficient reason for nonrenewal. A company must show a nexus or pattern to illustrate that the cause or nature of the past claims is such that similar or continued future claims are likely, and the connection must be clearly articulated in the notice of nonrenewal. The Superintendent hereby concludes that the company has not established that it may decline to renew this policy.