Mobil Oil Corp. v. Durkin

278 A.2d 477, 111 N.H. 178, 1971 N.H. LEXIS 152
CourtSupreme Court of New Hampshire
DecidedJune 1, 1971
Docket6099
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 278 A.2d 477 (Mobil Oil Corp. v. Durkin) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of New Hampshire primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Mobil Oil Corp. v. Durkin, 278 A.2d 477, 111 N.H. 178, 1971 N.H. LEXIS 152 (N.H. 1971).

Opinion

Lampron, J.

Petition for declaratory judgment under RSA 491: 22 seeking a determination of the constitutionality of certain pro - visions of RSA ch. 406 -B pertaining to contracts of insurance with insurers not authorized to do business in New Hampshire.

The parties executed an agreed statement of facts and the Presiding Justice ( Flynn, J. ) reserved and transferred without ruling substantially the following question of law: “ Whether Section 12 of RSA 406 - B is null and void as in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution of the United States. ”

RSA 406-B: 12 provides in part as follows: “I. Every insured who procures or causes to be procured insurance with any unauthorized insurer . . . upon a subject of insurance resident, located or to be performed within this state . . . shall within sixty days after the date such insurance was so procured, file a report of the same with the commissioner in writing and upon forms designated by the commissioner and furnished to such an insured upon request. The report shall show the name and address of the insured or insureds, name and address of the insurer, the subject of the insurance, a general description of the coverage, the amount of [the] premium currently charged therefor, and such additional pertinent information as is reasonably requested by the commissioner. ”

Paragraph II thereof provides that such a report is required if the insurance is procured “through negotiations or an application, in whole or in part occurring or made within or from within or outside of this state, or for which premiums in whole or in part are remitted directly or indirectly from within or outside this state.” However, by virtue of RSA 406-B:2 II (d)(supp.) “ Transactions involving contracts of insurance independently *180 procured through negotiations occurring entirely outside of this state which are reported in accordance with section 12 ” are not subject to the tax on unauthorized insurers imposed by RSA 406-B.T1.

When notified by the commissioner of its duty under RSA 406-B:12 to report insurance on New Hampshire subjects and risks which it independently procured outside of this State, Mobil refused to file such a report. It sought to raise in these proceedings the constitutionality of the tax imposed by this chapter on unauthorized insurers as well as the constitutionality of section 12 requiring it to file a report of its transactions with such insurers.

The parties have agreed that the commissioner “ does not now claim that Mobil or any of its insurers owe any premium tax to the State of New Hampshire. ” Mobil itself is not an insurer. As there is no present contention between the parties involving the imposition of a tax under RSA ch. 406-B, the question of the validity of such a tax is not presented. Cf. Conway v. Water Resources Board, 89 N.H. 346, 349, 199 A. 83, 87 (1938); Piper v. Meredith, 109 N.H. 328, 330, 251 A.2d 328, 329 (1969).

We turn to Mobil’s other contention, the transferred question, that RSA 406-B: 12 requiring it to report its transactions with unauthorized insurers is an attempt by the State to regulate insurance activities outside of New Hampshire in violation of the due process requirement of the fourteenth amendment to the Federal Constitution. The commissioner maintains that the purpose of this report is merely to enable him to determine whether Mobil’s transactions with the unauthorized insurer are exempt' under RSA 406 -B:2 (II) ( d) ( supp.) from the tax imposed on such insurers by RSA 406-B.T1.

Mobil properly does not raise the issue that such a report requirement involving insurance procured outside of New Hampshire might be in contravention of the power of Congress to regulate commerce among the several states. U.S. CONST, art. I, s. 8. The McCarran-Ferguson Act, 59 Stat. 33, 15 U.S.C. s. 1011 (1945) has freed state regulation for regulating and taxing the business of insurance from obstructions which might be thought to flow from the power of regulation of Congress. Securities and Exch. Common v. Nat'l Sec. Inc., 393 U.S. 453, 21 L. Ed. 2d 668, 89 S. Ct. 564 (1969); see Annot., 21 L. Ed. 2d 938 (1969).

*181 Mobil, however, relying mainly on State Bd. of Ins. v. Todd Shipyards Corp., 370 U.S. 451, 8 L. Ed. 2d 620, 82 S. Ct. 1380 (1962) contends that the report requirements of RSA 406-B:12 with which it must comply to avoid a penalty (RSA 406-B:13 ( supp.)) are in violation of the due process requirements of the fourteenth amendment. In the Todd case the Supreme Court of the United States upheld a decision of the Supreme Court of Texas which declared unconstitutional a Texas statute imposing a five percent premium tax on policies purchased from an insurer not licensed in Texas covering risks in Texas. In its affirmance, the Supreme Court pointed out “ that the only connection between Texas and the insurance transactions is the fact that the property covered by the insurance is physically located in Texas. ” State Bd. of Ins. v. Todd Shipyards Corp., 370 U.S. at 455, 8 L. Ed. 2d at 624, 82 S. Ct. at 1383.

The Court stated that its holding was in conformity with certain controlling decisions which hold “ that a State does not have power to tax contracts of insurance . . . entered into outside its jurisdiction by individuals or corporations resident or domiciled therein covering risks within the State or to regulate such transactions in any way.” [370 U.S. at 455, 456, 8 L. Ed. 2d at 624, 82 S. Ct. at 1383] The decisions referred to are Allgeyer v. Louisiana, 165 U.S. 578, 41 L. Ed. 832, 17 S. Ct. 427 (1897); St. Louis Cotton Compress Co. v. Arkansas, 260 U.S. 346, 67 L. Ed. 297, 43 S. Ct. 125 (1922); Connecticut Gen. Life Ins. Co. v. Johnson, 303 U.S. 77, 82 L. Ed. 673, 58 S. Ct. 436 (1938).

In commenting later on these decisions, the Court, in Hoopeston Canning Co. v. Cullen, 318 U.S. 313, 316, 87 L. Ed. 777, 782, 63 S. Ct. 602, 605 (1943), stated: “In determining the power of a State to apply its own regulatory laws to insurance business activities, the question in earlier cases [referring to Allgeyer in a note] became involved by conceptualistic discussion of theories of the place of contracting or of performance. More recently it has been recognized that a State may have substantial interests in the business of insurance of its people or property regardless of these isolated factors.

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278 A.2d 477, 111 N.H. 178, 1971 N.H. LEXIS 152, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mobil-oil-corp-v-durkin-nh-1971.