Not legal advice. We paraphrased these statutes from the New Hampshire General Court's online RSA. RSA 408 took its current form on January 1, 2023, so older policies and older cases may reflect earlier law.
What is different in New Hampshire
Three things set New Hampshire apart. Interest on a death benefit is a required policy term that starts on the date of death. Group life insurance sold in the state cannot exclude deaths caused by pre-existing or specified medical conditions. And the state’s slayer law, RSA 562-A, is new (effective July 15, 2025) and reaches only murder, not manslaughter.
Interest on the death benefit
Every policy or contract with a death benefit must include an interest clause that works this way (RSA 408:11, I):
- Start date. Interest accrues from the date of death.
- Rate. Whatever the company credits on proceeds left with it on deposit. A company without such a rate uses the Federal Reserve’s 2-year Treasury Constant Maturity figure. Either way, the rate is locked in as of the date of death.
- The 10% add-on. A further 10% a year applies from the 31st calendar day after the later of (1) the date the company receives due proof of death and (2) the date it has enough information to decide liability, the amount, and which beneficiary is legally entitled, until the claim is paid.
The statute adds that the insurer has a duty to pay all claims in a timely manner and may not hold death proceeds longer than reasonably necessary to send them (408:11, II). If the money is not paid within 30 days of the death, the insurer must write to each named beneficiary at the last address in its records saying that interest will be paid from the date of death and giving the rate (408:11, III). Those rules cover individual and group policies.
Retained asset accounts
Some insurers “pay” a death claim by opening an account with a checkbook in the beneficiary’s name. In New Hampshire an insurer may do that only if the beneficiary elects it after receiving written information about all the settlement options (RSA 408:9, II). Before the choice, the insurer must disclose, among other things, that a single check can withdraw the entire balance with interest, the minimum interest rate, any fees, and that the account is not FDIC insured but is backed by the state guaranty association (408:9, III).
Contest period and suicide
Under RSA 408:13, every individual life policy must provide that:
- the policy and a copy of the signed, completed application are the entire contract (III);
- the policy is incontestable after two years in force during the insured’s lifetime; an increase in coverage that required new proof of insurability gets its own two-year period from the date of the increase (IV);
- a misstated age or gender changes the benefit to what the latest mortality charge would buy at the correct age or gender (V);
- any suicide exclusion ends at the second anniversary of the policy’s effective date (VI).
The policy must also have a grace period for each premium after the first, during which death coverage continues unless the owner gave written notice of discontinuance; the length of the grace period is left to the Commissioner’s rules (408:13, II).
Because the application must be attached to form the entire contract, an insurer contesting a claim within two years generally has to point to answers in that attached application. We have not yet read New Hampshire decisions on what an insurer must prove to rescind for a misstatement; ask a New Hampshire lawyer about the standard.
Group life insurance
RSA 408:15 lists required group provisions, and 408:18 adds a limit on medical exclusions.
- No medical-condition exclusions. A group life policy or certificate may not reduce or deny a benefit because a pre-existing medical or health condition contributed to the death, may not exclude specified illnesses or conditions, and may not add waiting periods for them. An insurer may still require the employee to be actively at work to be eligible (408:18).
- Conversion. When coverage ends with employment or eligibility, the person may convert to an individual policy, other than term, without proof of insurability if they apply and pay the first premium no later than 31 days after coverage ends. A surviving dependent whose coverage ends at the employee’s death has the same right. The converted policy’s suicide and contest periods run from the group coverage’s effective date, not the conversion date (408:15, IV).
- Portability. An insurer may also offer portability, but only in addition to conversion, and it must be available to everyone regardless of why they left (408:15, V).
- Notice and death in the window. The insurer is responsible for telling the person about the conversion right. If notice comes less than 15 days before the deadline, the deadline moves to 15 days after notice, capped at 60 extra days. A death during the conversion period makes the convertible amount payable as a group claim even without an application (408:15, VII, VIII).
- No living beneficiary. If no named beneficiary survives, as much as $2,000 may go to a person who covered funeral or final-illness expenses, if the certificate reserves that option (408:15, II).
For plans sponsored by private employers, ERISA usually applies on top of state law; see employer group life.
Claim handling standards
New Hampshire’s list of unfair claim settlement practices applies to any listed act committed “without just cause and not merely inadvertently or accidentally.” The statute does not require that the conduct happen often enough to amount to a general business practice (RSA 417:4, XV(a)). Listed acts include:
- knowingly misrepresenting facts or policy provisions to a claimant (1);
- failing to acknowledge and act promptly on claim communications (2);
- making no good-faith attempt at a prompt, fair and equitable settlement once liability is reasonably clear (4);
- forcing a lawsuit by offering substantially less than is later recovered (5);
- taking more than a reasonable time to affirm or deny coverage once proof of loss forms are in (11);
- knowingly underestimating the value of a claim (14).
Consumer action. If the Insurance Commissioner issues a final finding or cease-and-desist order against an insurer, a consumer harmed by the same practice may sue for damages (RSA 417:19, I). If the Commissioner does not act within 120 days after a complaint, that inaction is treated as a finding of no violation, which the consumer may appeal; if the appeal succeeds, the consumer may then sue (417:19, II).
Bad faith in court
In Lawton v. Great Southwest Fire Insurance Co., 118 N.H. 607, 392 A.2d 576 (1978), a fire insurance case, the New Hampshire Supreme Court declined to recognize a separate tort for an insurer’s bad-faith refusal to pay its own insured, and so dismissed the claim for emotional distress. But it held that the contract claim is not capped at the policy limit plus interest: every contract carries an implied duty of good faith and fair dealing, and if an insurer delays payment to pressure the insured into taking less, the insured may recover foreseeable consequential damages for that breach. Lawton involved a business fire loss, not a death claim; ask a New Hampshire lawyer how its reasoning applies to a beneficiary.
Deadline to sue
Personal actions in New Hampshire must generally be brought within three years of the act or omission complained of, with a discovery rule when the injury could not reasonably have been discovered sooner (RSA 508:4, I). For a death claim, the date of the denial is the usual starting point, but a policy’s own suit clause and the case law on accrual can matter; ask a lawyer before relying on any date.
When the beneficiary caused the death
RSA 562-A, effective July 15, 2025, governs a killer’s rights to life insurance.
- What counts. “Murder” means first-degree murder or knowing second-degree murder, or a comparable offense elsewhere. Manslaughter, and conduct that could be charged as causing or aiding a suicide, are not covered (562-A:1, III).
- Effect. The murder revokes any revocable designation of the killer, including as a policy beneficiary, and the instrument is read as if the killer died first (562-A:3, 562-A:4, II).
- Proof. A final conviction is conclusive, and so is a final civil judgment. Otherwise, the estate or anyone who would take if the killer had died first may sue, and the court decides by a preponderance of the evidence. The plaintiff must notify the Department of Justice, which may ask for a stay while a criminal case is pending (562-A:5).
- The insurer. An insurer that pays in good faith before receiving written notice of a claimed forfeiture is protected. Notice must go to its main office by registered or certified mail, return receipt requested, or be served like a summons. After notice, the insurer may deposit the money with the probate court (562-A:6).
Creditors
The beneficiary is entitled to the proceeds against the insured’s creditors and estate representatives. Creditors can reach only premiums paid in fraud of creditors, with interest, and the insurer is discharged by paying under the policy unless a creditor first gave it certified written notice of such a claim (RSA 408:6, 408:7).
Worked example
A New Hampshire policyholder dies on March 2, 2026. The insurer receives the death certificate on March 16 but does not get the last document it needs to identify the proper payee until April 1. Because it has not paid within 30 days of the death, it must write to the named beneficiaries saying that interest is accruing from March 2 and at what rate. Base interest runs from March 2; the extra 10% starts 31 days after April 1, so a payment on April 20 carries only base interest, while a payment on June 15 carries the add-on from early May.
Making a complaint
The New Hampshire Insurance Department’s Consumer Services unit takes complaints about life insurers: Filing a Complaint (New Hampshire Insurance Department). The 120-day rule in RSA 417:19 makes the date you file worth recording, but a complaint does not stop the deadline to sue.
Sources
- New Hampshire RSA 408, 417, 508:4 and 562-A, from the New Hampshire General Court: gc.nh.gov.
- New Hampshire Insurance Department, Filing a Complaint: insurance.nh.gov. (search listing).
- Lawton v. Great Southwest Fire Ins. Co., 118 N.H. 607, 392 A.2d 576 (1978) (full opinion, CourtListener): courtlistener.com. Read November 3, 2026.
Not legal advice. This page summarizes general rules and the specific statutes cited. Your policy's wording, the state whose law applies, and whether the coverage came through an employer can all change the result. See the disclaimer and editorial policy.