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Paul & Krisy Tear v. Concord General Mutual Insurance Company

Held February 5, 2009 – Docket No. INS-09-2000
Decision Issued: February 17, 2009

The insured requested a hearing to contest the company’s cancellation of homeowners policy for failure to comply with loss control recommendations and also for the named insured’s criminal convictions. The insureds maintained that they had complied with the recommendations, and disputed the relevance of any criminal convictions to homeowners insurance.

Held: For the insurer. Although the basis for failure to comply with recommendations was disallowed due to the policy’s contractual provision only permitting cancellation for noncompliance 90 days after the notice of intent to cancel, the company established that the criminal convictions cited involved elements that increased the liability hazard under the policy because of the legal precedent requiring an insurer to defend an insured before the applicability of the coverage is determined.