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H7066AInsurance

Insurance - Casualty Insurance Generally - Limitations on Policy Cancellations and Renewals

This bill requires insurance companies to give clear, advance written notice before reducing or canceling home and auto policies.

Introduced72 Yea0 Nay3 Not voting
Population
Affected
72
Email Legislator
Introduced Jan 14, 2026Committee House Corporations

Plain-English Summary

This bill changes the rules for how insurance companies notify customers about changes to their auto, homeowners, or residential fire insurance policies. It requires insurers to give customers a 30-day written notice if they reduce coverage, eliminate coverage, cancel the policy, or increase deductibles. Starting July 1, 2027, insurers must provide a 60-day notice if they decide not to renew a homeowners or fire insurance policy. It also creates strict rules on how these notices must be labeled and delivered so that customers clearly see them.

For younger readers

When you buy insurance, a company promises to help pay if your car or house gets damaged. This bill makes a rule that insurance companies have to tell people early if they are going to change the rules, offer less help, or stop protecting their house or car. For a house, they have to tell the person 30 days before making a change, and by 2027, they have to give 60 days' notice if they are going to stop protecting the house completely. The letter must have a big warning label so people don't miss it.

Who & Where It Applies

Impacted groups
HomeownersAuto insurance policyholdersInsurance companiesInsurance brokers and agentsState insurance regulators
Impacted communities
All

Constitutional & Fiscal Check

None Likely. Regulating the format and timing of insurance disclosures is a standard exercise of state power over commercial speech and insurance markets. It does not infringe upon fundamental free speech, due process, or search and seizure rights.

Estimated cost
None
Estimated revenue
None

Bill Analysis

Both viewpoints
For Progressives
  • Enhances consumer protection by ensuring vulnerable homeowners and drivers are clearly notified of coverage reductions, preventing them from being caught off guard by unexpected out-of-pocket costs.
  • Mandates a 60-day nonrenewal notice for homeowners by 2027, giving families more time to secure alternative housing insurance, which is especially helpful for low-income households facing housing instability.
  • Requires state insurance division approval for coverage changes to non-business policies, maintaining strong government oversight over corporate insurers to protect everyday consumers from predatory downgrades.
  • The 60-day nonrenewal notice requirement for homeowners insurance is delayed until July 1, 2027, leaving homeowners without this extended protection for several years.
  • Grants broad legal immunity to insurance companies and the state commissioner regarding the reasons given for canceling a policy, potentially shielding corporations from accountability for discriminatory practices.
  • Focuses strictly on notification procedures rather than tackling systemic issues like the rising, unaffordable costs of insurance that disproportionately burden marginalized and low-income communities.
For Conservatives
  • Grants insurance companies flexibility in how they deliver notices, including cost-effective email options and combined mailings, reducing the administrative burden on private businesses.
  • Explicitly protects insurance companies and their agents from liability and lawsuits regarding the reasons they provide for canceling or not renewing a policy, shielding corporations from frivolous litigation.
  • Maintains a clear boundary between personal and commercial insurance, ensuring that the strict state approval requirements apply only to non-business insureds, leaving corporate markets freer from these specific regulations.
  • Imposes strict government mandates on private insurance contracts by dictating exactly how and when companies must communicate with their customers, interfering with corporate freedom.
  • Expands the regulatory power of the state bureaucracy by requiring the insurance division to approve coverage changes, increasing red tape for businesses trying to manage financial risks.
  • Forces insurance companies to adhere to an extended 60-day timeline for nonrenewals by 2027, violating free market principles by restricting a company's ability to quickly sever ties with unprofitable properties.

Votes

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Full Bill Text

2 versions
Changes to existing Rhode Island law · 10 additions · 1 deletion

SECTION 1. Section 27-8-11 of the General Laws in Chapter 27-8 entitled "Casualty Insurance Generally" is hereby amended to read as follows: 27-8-11. Regulations on cancellation and renewal.

(a) In addition to, and not in lieu of, any other power the commissioner has to issue rules and regulations, the commissioner of insurance may promulgate, in accordance with the procedure established in chapter 35 of title 42, reasonable rules and regulations concerning cancellation and renewal of liability and property damage insurance for automobiles rated as private passenger automobiles, homeowners insurance, residential fire insurance, or any components thereof. Those regulations may require that the insurer shall furnish to the named insured the reason, or reasons, for cancellation or nonrenewal. Those For liability and property damage insurance for automobiles rated as private passenger automobiles, those regulations shall also require that the insurer furnish, at least thirty (30) days prior to renewal, written notice of any coverage reductions, elimination, or increased deductibles not made at the request of the insured. For homeowners insurance, residential fire insurance, or any components thereof, those regulations shall require that the insurer furnish, at least thirty (30) days prior to renewal, written notice of any coverage reduction or elimination, cancellation, or increased deductibles not made at the request of the insured. For homeowners insurance, residential fire insurance, or any components thereof, as of July 1, 2027, those regulations shall also require that the insurer furnish written notice of nonrenewal at least sixty (60) days prior to renewal The notice shall itemize and describe the policy coverage reductions, elimination, or increased deductibles and shall be captioned “NOTICE OF REDUCTION IN COVERAGE”. The policyholder shall be notified that the policy renewal contains the “NOTICE OF REDUCTION IN COVERAGE” by one of the following manners:

(1) By mailing the “NOTICE OF REDUCTION IN COVERAGE” separate from the renewal policy package mailing; or

(2) By printing “NOTICE OF REDUCTION IN COVERAGE ENCLOSED” on the renewal policy package envelope and including said reductions in the first few pages of the renewal policy package; or

(3) By printing “NOTICE OF REDUCTION IN COVERAGE ENCLOSED” on the first page of the renewal policy package; or

(4) If the renewal policy package is made available by email, the email notifying the policyholder of the renewal shall contain a statement that the policy contains a “NOTICE OF REDUCTION IN COVERAGE” and said reductions shall be in the first few pages of the renewal policy package. These coverage changes must be approved by the insurance division with respect to those types of insurance defined in § 27-8-1(1) — (8), issued to non-business insureds and bodily injury and property damage liability coverage issued to non-business insureds. There shall be no liability on the part of, and no cause of action of any nature shall arise against, the commissioner of insurance or any insurer, their authorized representatives, agents, or employees, or any firm, person, or corporation furnishing to the insurer or commissioner information as to the reasons for cancellation or nonrenewal; for any statement made by any of them in any written notice of cancellation or nonrenewal; or in any other communication, oral or written, specifying the reasons for cancellation or nonrenewal; or for the providing of information pertaining to the cancellation or nonrenewal; or for statements made, or evidence submitted, at any hearing conducted in connection with the cancellation or nonrenewal.

(b) The commissioner shall promulgate regulations with respect to personal motor vehicle insurance, homeowners insurance, and residential fire insurance, or any components of that insurance requiring notification to policyholders upon renewal of any coverage reductions, elimination, or increased deductibles not at the request of the insured.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.