Amends existing law to provide that certain policy owners may request additional notice of lapse or termination by certified mail.
Summary
House Bill 265 amends Idaho’s life insurance notice statute to give certain policy owners an added option for receiving lapse or termination notices by certified mail, return receipt requested. Under the bill, an individual life insurance policy owner with a face amount over $50,000 may ask the insurer to send lapse or termination notices by certified mail, but the request must be made in writing at least 90 days before a lapse or termination event and the insurer must acknowledge the request in writing. The bill also keeps the existing requirement that insurers provide annual notice of the right to designate or change a secondary notice recipient for lapse or termination notices.
The bill also revises the statute’s applicability date, changing the covered policies from those issued or in force on or after January 1, 2018 to those issued or in force on or after January 1, 2026, and makes a technical correction to the statute. It preserves the existing exception for policies with premiums payable monthly or more frequently. The act is declared an emergency, making it effective July 1, 2025.
Impact
The bill would amend section 41-1830 of the Idaho Code, which governs notice before an individual life insurance policy lapses or terminates for nonpayment of premium. It adds a new optional certified-mail notice procedure for higher-face-value policies, imposes timing and acknowledgment requirements on the request process, and shifts the statute’s applicability date forward to 2026. Insurers would bear the cost of the certified-mail notice if requested, while policy owners and their designated secondary recipients would receive an additional layer of notice protection.
Sentiment
The available voting history suggests the bill faced significant opposition on the House floor, passing third reading by a 28-42 vote. That result indicates the measure was not broadly supported at that stage, even though the bill’s subject matter is a consumer-protection-oriented insurance notice change. No committee transcript is available, so the record does not show detailed debate, but the floor vote reflects a divided or unfavorable sentiment among House members.
Contention
The main point of contention appears to be whether the added certified-mail notice requirement is necessary or appropriate, especially because it applies only to policies with face amounts over $50,000 and requires insurers to pay for the mailing. Another likely issue is the administrative burden on insurers versus the consumer-protection benefit to policy owners and beneficiaries. The change in applicability date from 2018 to 2026 may also have drawn attention, since it affects which policies are covered and could limit retroactive reach.