The Hawaii Office of the Governor published an emergency proclamation to address the state’s worsening condominium insurance market.
The market has been in a crisis due to an increasing number of weather disasters and rising reinsurance costs. As a result, there are limited hurricane insurance options for condominium associations–there are currently only three insurers offering master policies to condo associations in the state.
The associations have been forced to rely on surplus lines insurers instead, which have much higher premiums and deductibles. Some associations have decided to underinsure their properties or carry no insurance at all, which causes mortgage lenders not to issue loans on individual units, resulting in units not being sold.
To help address the problem, the Executive and Legislative Condo and Property Insurance Task Force has proposed that the Hawaii Hurricane Relief Fund (HHRF) and the Hawaii Property Insurance Association (HPIA) issue master policies to condo associations. The HHRF and HPIA would be issued a loan for startup administrative costs.
To expedite the process, Hawaii Governor Josh Green declared an emergency under HRS section 127A-14, which allows for emergency provisions. The emergency provisions suspend several state laws to the extent necessary to allow HHRF and HPIA to issue master policies.
The disaster emergency relief period is effective from June 6, 2025, through July 29, 2025.
The proclamation can be found here.