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Peter Merrill v. York Insurance Company of Maine

Held July 1, 2010 - Docket No. INS-10-2054
Decision Issued: July 14, 2010

The named insured requested a hearing to contest the nonrenewal of his homeowners insurance policy because of loss history.  The company raised a different reason at hearing.

Held: For the insured. The Maine Property Insurance Cancellation Control Act requires the reason accompanying the notice of the intended nonrenewal to be explicit. While the stated reason merely listed losses, York argued at hearing that it was the insured’s move out of state making custodial care of this seasonal home less consistent that was the reason for the nonrenewal. As this reason was not conveyed by the notice of nonrenewal, the company is unable to rely upon it to support nonrenewal. As the reason only notified the insured that the policy was not being renewed due to loss history, which is not a permitted reason under section 3051, the nonrenewal action was denied.