Before cancelling a NEMT policy, how much notice must an insurer give?

The period varies by state and by the reason for cancelling. For commercial policies, California requires 30 days, or 10 days for unpaid premium or fraud. Florida requires 45 days, or 10 days for nonpayment. Texas requires 10 days. Pennsylvania requires 60 days, or 15 days for nonpayment or material misrepresentation. New York requires 15 days once a policy has been in force 60 days. California, New York, and Texas apply these rules to licensed insurers only, so surplus lines policies there follow their own terms.

Can my insurer cancel mid-term because I had a claim?

Only if the state allows that reason. After a policy has been in force 60 days, all five states in this guide limit cancellation to listed grounds, except that Florida's list does not reach commercial auto policies. Texas allows fraud, unpaid premium, an increase in hazard within your control, loss of reinsurance, or insurer receivership. Pennsylvania allows cancellation when loss experience material to insurability has changed substantially. An insurer without a listed ground has to wait and decline to renew, which needs proper notice and a stated reason.

What is a conditional renewal?

A renewal offered on worse terms, such as lower limits, fewer coverages, a higher deductible, or a large price increase. New York treats a premium increase of more than 10 percent, or changes to limits, coverage, deductibles, or exclusions, as needing notice 60 to 120 days before expiration. California requires the same window before conditioning renewal on reduced limits or coverage, higher deductibles, or a rate increase of more than 25 percent.

Is surplus lines insurance safe to use for NEMT?

It is legal and common for hard-to-place risks, but it carries fewer protections. The Texas Department of Insurance says surplus lines insurers must meet financial requirements and be licensed in their home state, but they do not belong to a guaranty association, which leaves policyholders exposed to unpaid claims when such an insurer fails. Check the insurer's financial rating, and confirm your contracts accept a non-admitted insurer before you bind.

Will my broker find out that my policy was cancelled?

Often yes, and brokers set it up that way. A certificate holder has a legal right to notice only when the policy or an endorsement names it and requires notice, as Texas Insurance Code 1811.155 spells out. That is why MTM requires notice of cancellation endorsements and Louisiana requires a 30-day cancellation clause in the health plan's favor. Tell your broker yourself before the insurer does.

What happens to trips I already have if my coverage lapses?

You can lose them and the pay for them. CareOregon's manual says trips assigned during a lapse are removed from the provider's schedule, and trips are reassigned only after the provider shows proof of insurance again. MTM's Pennsylvania agreement ends immediately if insurance is not maintained. Louisiana lets the state or the health plan take back payment for any trip run during the shortfall.

Compliance

Your NEMT insurance was cancelled or not renewed: notice rules and your options

Updated September 30, 20269 min read

When a NEMT insurer cancels or declines to renew, state law sets a minimum written notice. Texas requires 10 days before a cancellation and 60 before a nonrenewal, each with a stated reason. Pennsylvania requires 15 days for unpaid premium and 60 for most other endings. Use the window to get loss runs, shop other markets, and deliver new certificates before the old policy runs out.

On this page

Read the notice before you do anything else

A letter from your insurer can mean three different things, and each gives you different time and options.

Cancellation ends the policy before its expiration date. After the first 60 days, the five states below allow it only for listed reasons, such as unpaid premium or fraud. Florida’s list covers commercial liability policies but not commercial auto.
Nonrenewal means the insurer will let the policy run to its end date and not offer another term. It needs advance notice, and in the states below a stated reason, but not one of the listed cancellation grounds.
Conditional renewal offers another term on worse terms, such as lower limits, a higher deductible, dropped coverage, or a large price increase. California and New York treat it like a nonrenewal for notice purposes.

Find three things in the letter: the effective date, the stated reason, and whether it came from a licensed (admitted) insurer or a surplus lines insurer. Several notice laws protect only policies from licensed insurers. California’s commercial notice chapter excludes surplus line insurance, New York’s excludes excess line policies (its term for surplus lines), and Texas’s applies to insurers authorized in the state.

If the reason is unpaid premium, act the same day. In New York, a payment made within 15 days after the insurer mails a nonpayment notice counts as timely. Other states have their own rules, and your agent can tell you what cures the notice.

Notice periods in five large states

These are the minimums for commercial liability and auto policies from licensed insurers. A policy can promise more notice than these minimums.

State	Cancellation after the first 60 days	Unpaid premium	Nonrenewal	If the notice comes late
California	30 days, and only for listed reasons	10 days (also fraud)	60 to 120 days before expiration, also required for conditional renewals	Policy continues on the same terms for 60 days after notice is given
Florida	45 days (20 days during the first 60 days for liability policies other than auto)	10 days	45 days before expiration, with reasons, also required for the renewal premium	Coverage continues until 45 days after notice or until replacement coverage starts, at the same premium (does not apply to auto cancellations)
New York	15 days (20 days during the first 60 days)	15 days	60 to 120 days before expiration, also required for conditional renewals and increases over 10 percent	Coverage continues on expiring terms until 60 days after notice, at the lower of the old or new rate
Pennsylvania	60 days (30 days if the policy is new and under 60 days old)	15 days (also material misrepresentation)	60 days before termination	Coverage stays in effect until a compliant notice is issued, unless you buy replacement coverage
Texas	10 days, and only for listed reasons	10 days	60 days before expiration	Policy stays in force for 61 days after the notice is mailed or delivered, and premium is still owed

Sources for the table are California Insurance Code 677.2 and 678.1, Florida Statutes 627.4133 and 627.7281, New York Insurance Law 3426, Pennsylvania Act 86 of 1986, and Texas Insurance Code Chapter 551. Florida handles commercial auto separately: under 627.7281, the insurer gives 45 days’ notice of cancellation, or 10 days for unpaid premium, and the list of allowed reasons does not apply. Other states set their own periods, and your state insurance department can confirm the rule for your policy.

Two details catch owners out. First, the late-notice protections in the table can give you more time than the letter suggests, so check the mailing date against your state’s rule. Second, all five states require the notice to give a reason, with one gap: Florida’s auto cancellation rule asks for a reason only when the cause is unpaid premium. Pennsylvania goes further: the notice has to identify the condition, factor, or loss experience behind it and give you enough information to correct it.

What an insurer can cancel for

Once a policy has been in force 60 days, cancellation grounds are narrow. Three states’ lists show the pattern.

State	Allowed grounds after 60 days (summary)
California	Nonpayment, a court finding of a law violation that increases the risk, fraud or material misrepresentation, willful or grossly negligent acts or safety violations that increase the risk, failure to follow agreed loss control requirements, loss of reinsurance or a solvency finding, and a material change in your operations
Pennsylvania	A substantial change in a condition, factor, or loss experience material to insurability, loss of reinsurance, material misrepresentation, fraud, nonpayment, your own request, material failure to follow policy terms, and reasons the commissioner approves
Texas	Fraud in obtaining coverage, nonpayment, an increase in hazard within your control that would raise the rate, loss of reinsurance, and insurer supervision or receivership

Two of those grounds are in your hands for NEMT. A material change in operations (adding stretcher service, a new region, or many more vans) can justify cancellation in California if the policy does not already include it, so tell your agent before you change. And failing to follow loss control requirements you agreed to as a condition of the policy, such as driver record checks, is a stated ground in California when the failure materially increases the risk. Keep your fleet safety program running as written.

Ask for your loss runs the same day

Every replacement insurer will want your claims history, so request it immediately from the insurer that sent the notice and from any earlier insurers.

Pennsylvania requires cancellation and nonrenewal notices to tell you that the insurer will provide loss information on request, covering at least three years or the full time it insured you if shorter. Ask in writing within 10 days of receiving the notice, and the insurer has 30 days to respond.
Florida requires a five-year loss run statement within 15 calendar days of your written request, for every line except life insurance, and the first statement each year costs nothing.
Oregon requires five years of commercial loss runs within 15 calendar days.

Our glossary entry on loss runs explains what the report shows and how underwriters read it.

Where replacement coverage comes from

Replacement usually comes from one of three places, in this order.

Other licensed insurers

Start with your agent, and consider a second agent who places passenger transportation if yours has few markets. A nonrenewal is not a ban from the admitted market. Give the new agent the notice, your loss runs, and an honest account of what changed. The steps and documents are the same as a first purchase, covered in getting NEMT insurance.

Surplus lines insurers

Surplus lines (also called excess and surplus, or E&S) insurers take risks that licensed insurers decline. Some specialty NEMT programs are built for that situation. RLI’s E&S NEMT program lists risks with a nonrenewal or cancellation, claim frequency or severity issues, and new ventures among those it considers, with a $50,000 minimum premium.

States control access to this market. In Texas, an agent must first try to find a Texas-licensed company. New York generally requires the broker to collect three declinations from authorized insurers first. Texas adds that no guaranty association backs a surplus lines company, so claims against one that fails may go unpaid.

Read your contracts before you accept a surplus lines quote. Hamilton County, Ohio’s NEMT solicitation requires the insurer to hold an Ohio license and at least an A-:VII rating from A.M. Best. A non-admitted policy would not meet that contract, however good the price.

Your state’s automobile insurance plan

Auto insurance also has a market of last resort. Louisiana’s statute, for example, creates a plan that serves only applicants unable to get insurance through ordinary means and covers commercial vehicles. Its commercial procedure can appoint servicing insurers to write the policies, and its results are shared among the insurers that write commercial auto in the state. In Texas, the Texas Automobile Insurance Plan Association (TAIPA) makes the liability coverage required by the state’s motor vehicle safety responsibility law available to eligible applicants. TDI approved an overall 4.9 percent increase in TAIPA’s commercial auto rates for new and renewal business effective November 1, 2026.

A plan policy keeps vans legal, but check its limits against your contracts. TAIPA’s purpose is the coverage state law requires, and broker minimums can be far higher: SafeRide, for example, asks for $500,000 in auto liability. You may need an umbrella or excess policy to reach a contract’s number.

Keep your broker contracts alive while you replace coverage

Brokers usually learn about a cancellation quickly because their contracts make sure of it. The standard ACORD 25 certificate only promises that notice will be delivered in accordance with the policy provisions, and Texas Insurance Code 1811.155 gives a certificate holder a right to notice only if the policy or an endorsement names it and requires notice. So contracts ask for the endorsement itself:

MTM (Pennsylvania agreement) requires its general liability and auto policies to be endorsed with specific notice of cancellation to MTM.
Louisiana Medicaid managed care requires a 30-day cancellation clause in the health plan’s favor.
Hamilton County, Ohio requires 30 days’ prior written notice before any cancellation or material change.

The consequences of a gap are severe. MTM’s Pennsylvania agreement terminates immediately if insurance is not maintained. Under CareOregon’s manual, a brokerage can pause new assignments, pull any trip that falls inside the lapse, and suspend or end the contract if coverage is not restored. In Louisiana, the state or the health plan can take back every payment for trips made during the period of underinsurance.

What to do, in order:

Call each broker’s provider representative as soon as you receive the notice. Tell them the end date and your plan.
Confirm the replacement start date matches the old policy’s end date to the day, so there is no gap.
Send the new certificate of insurance and every required endorsement before the old policy ends.
Update the vehicle list. MTM requires every vehicle on a scheduled auto policy to be listed and additions reported immediately, and Louisiana requires proof a new vehicle is insured before it is used.
Pause trips you cannot cover. Running a trip without the required insurance risks recoupment and termination.

Our guide to NEMT broker credentialing covers the rest of the documents brokers keep on file.

Fix what caused it before the next renewal

The notice’s reason is your to-do list. If it cites losses, look at what drove them: which drivers, which vehicles, which kinds of trips. If it cites driving records, tighten your MVR standards and how often you recheck them. If it cites a change in operations, make sure the next application describes the operation as it is now. Underwriters at the next insurer will ask the same questions, and a clear answer with records behind it is what gets a quote.

Tracking insurance dates in HealthRide

HealthRide tracks vehicle insurance, registrations, licenses, and certifications for every driver and van with their expiration dates, reminds you before each one lapses, and warns dispatch when an expired credential would be assigned to a trip. When a replacement policy starts, updating the dates in one place keeps every vehicle’s record current. See fleet management for details.

Frequently asked questions

Before cancelling a NEMT policy, how much notice must an insurer give?: The period varies by state and by the reason for cancelling. For commercial policies, California requires 30 days, or 10 days for unpaid premium or fraud. Florida requires 45 days, or 10 days for nonpayment. Texas requires 10 days. Pennsylvania requires 60 days, or 15 days for nonpayment or material misrepresentation. New York requires 15 days once a policy has been in force 60 days. California, New York, and Texas apply these rules to licensed insurers only, so surplus lines policies there follow their own terms.
Can my insurer cancel mid-term because I had a claim?: Only if the state allows that reason. After a policy has been in force 60 days, all five states in this guide limit cancellation to listed grounds, except that Florida's list does not reach commercial auto policies. Texas allows fraud, unpaid premium, an increase in hazard within your control, loss of reinsurance, or insurer receivership. Pennsylvania allows cancellation when loss experience material to insurability has changed substantially. An insurer without a listed ground has to wait and decline to renew, which needs proper notice and a stated reason.
What is a conditional renewal?: A renewal offered on worse terms, such as lower limits, fewer coverages, a higher deductible, or a large price increase. New York treats a premium increase of more than 10 percent, or changes to limits, coverage, deductibles, or exclusions, as needing notice 60 to 120 days before expiration. California requires the same window before conditioning renewal on reduced limits or coverage, higher deductibles, or a rate increase of more than 25 percent.
Is surplus lines insurance safe to use for NEMT?: It is legal and common for hard-to-place risks, but it carries fewer protections. The Texas Department of Insurance says surplus lines insurers must meet financial requirements and be licensed in their home state, but they do not belong to a guaranty association, which leaves policyholders exposed to unpaid claims when such an insurer fails. Check the insurer's financial rating, and confirm your contracts accept a non-admitted insurer before you bind.
Will my broker find out that my policy was cancelled?: Often yes, and brokers set it up that way. A certificate holder has a legal right to notice only when the policy or an endorsement names it and requires notice, as Texas Insurance Code 1811.155 spells out. That is why MTM requires notice of cancellation endorsements and Louisiana requires a 30-day cancellation clause in the health plan's favor. Tell your broker yourself before the insurer does.
What happens to trips I already have if my coverage lapses?: You can lose them and the pay for them. CareOregon's manual says trips assigned during a lapse are removed from the provider's schedule, and trips are reassigned only after the provider shows proof of insurance again. MTM's Pennsylvania agreement ends immediately if insurance is not maintained. Louisiana lets the state or the health plan take back payment for any trip run during the shortfall.