Car insurance in Hawaii

What Hawaii law requires you to carry

Hawaii is one of the few states that makes you buy coverage for your own injuries as well as for other people's. Every registered vehicle needs a policy from an insurer licensed in Hawaii, and that policy has to include:

Those liability figures — written as 40/80/20 — are new. Hawaii doubled its old 20/40/10 minimums under Act 138 of 2024, and the higher limits apply to every new and renewal personal auto policy with an effective date on or after January 1, 2026. The Insurance Division's FAQ on the change spells this out and confirms that the $10,000 PIP requirement continues unchanged (Auto Minimum Limits FAQs, cca.hawaii.gov).

Two practical points from that same FAQ. First, your limits don't jump the moment the law changes — they change when your policy is written or renewed, so a policy bought in late 2025 carries the old limits until its renewal date. Second, the Division states plainly that proof of coverage must be with you when you drive, so keep your current insurance card (paper or electronic, as your insurer provides) in the car.

Collision and comprehensive are not state minimums, but a lender or leasing company will almost always require them as a condition of the loan or lease.

No-fault: how a Hawaii claim actually unfolds

Hawaii runs a no-fault system for injuries. After a crash, your own PIP coverage pays your medical and rehabilitation bills first — at least $10,000 of them — regardless of who caused the collision. You don't have to prove the other driver was careless, and you don't wait for an adjuster to assign blame before treatment gets paid.

What that means in practice:

• Injuries: open a PIP claim with your insurer, promptly. Tell the clinic or hospital it is an auto PIP claim so bills are routed correctly.
• Vehicle damage: no-fault does not cover property. Damage to cars and other property is still handled on a fault basis — through the at-fault driver's property damage liability, or through your own collision coverage if you carry it (your insurer may then pursue the other side and refund your deductible if it recovers).
• Suing the other driver: Hawaii limits injury lawsuits. You can step outside the no-fault system only when the injury is serious enough to meet the statutory threshold — for example death, significant permanent injury or disfigurement, or medical costs above the tort threshold the law sets. If you think you're in that territory, ask the Insurance Division or a lawyer how the current threshold is applied; don't assume.

Because PIP is first in line, the fastest way to slow your own claim down is to wait and see who gets blamed. File with your insurer, keep every bill and report, and write down the other vehicle's plate, insurer and policy number at the scene.

Optional coverage that's worth the conversation

Uninsured and underinsured motorist (UM/UIM). Hawaii does not require you to buy these, but insurers must offer them, and you can only turn them down in writing (Insurance Division FAQ material). UM steps in when the at-fault driver has no insurance; UIM tops up when their liability limits run out before your losses do. Given that PIP stops at $10,000 and the other driver may carry nothing above the bare minimum, these two are the coverages most Hawaii drivers regret declining.

Higher liability limits. The Division is direct about this in its own FAQ: even at 40/80/20, a serious crash can blow past the limits, and anything above them comes out of your pocket. Raising liability is usually the cheapest meaningful upgrade on a policy.

Extra PIP / higher medical limits. $10,000 does not go far against a hospital stay and months of rehab. Ask what additional PIP or optional medical coverage your insurer sells.

Collision and comprehensive. Comprehensive covers the non-crash losses that are very real here — theft, vandalism, flood and storm damage, falling branches, salt-air-adjacent parking mishaps, and animal strikes. If your car is financed, you'll be carrying both anyway.

Rental reimbursement and roadside assistance. Cheap add-ons that matter more on islands where a replacement car and a tow are not quick or convenient to arrange.

What it costs, and what can and can't be used to price you

For a sense of scale: the NAIC's most recent published average for Hawaii, covering liability, collision and comprehensive combined, was $998 per insured vehicle in 2023. That is a statewide average across all drivers, cars and coverage choices — not a quote, and not what any particular driver pays.

One rating rule sets Hawaii apart from most of the country: insurers may not use your credit history to price auto insurance here. A thin or bruised credit file cannot be turned into a higher auto premium in Hawaii the way it can in many mainland states. Hawaii's motor vehicle insurance statute also constrains several other rating factors — if you're told a particular characteristic is driving your price up, it's fair to ask your agent, or the Insurance Division, whether that factor is permitted under state law.

On the 2026 limit increase: the Division's FAQ notes that because the required limits doubled, many drivers may see an average premium increase of roughly 25%, while individual results vary with driving record, vehicle and claims history. If that lands badly on your renewal, shop — insurers price the new limits differently from one another, and the Division points consumers to licensed agents and companies for rate comparisons.

Things genuinely within your control: your deductibles, which optional coverages you keep, discounts you may qualify for (multi-policy, multi-car, safe driver, defensive driving courses), and simply comparing more than one licensed insurer at each renewal.

Rules Hawaii drivers trip over

• Assuming your limits auto-upgraded on January 1, 2026. They changed at your policy's next new-business or renewal effective date, not on the calendar date. Check the declarations page of the policy you're actually holding.
• Declining UM/UIM verbally. The rejection has to be in writing. If you never signed anything, ask your insurer what's on your policy — you may have coverage you forgot about, or a gap you didn't intend.
• Waiting to open a PIP claim. PIP pays first and pays regardless of fault. Delay just delays your own bills getting covered.
• Expecting PIP to fix the car. It won't. Vehicle damage runs through liability or your own collision coverage.
• Driving without proof in the vehicle. The Division states proof of coverage must be with you while driving. Driving without the required coverage exposes you to penalties under Hawaii's motor vehicle insurance law — check the Insurance Division for the current consequences before you gamble on a lapse.
• Letting a policy lapse between cars or during a move. A gap can affect registration and future pricing. Line the new policy up before the old one ends.
• Buying bare minimum on a financed car. The state minimum doesn't include collision or comprehensive; your lender almost certainly requires both, and a lender-placed policy is the worst way to find that out.
• Not shopping after a big renewal increase. If no insurer will write you at all, ask the Insurance Division what options exist for hard-to-place drivers in Hawaii.

How to complain to the Hawaii Insurance Division

Hawaii's auto insurers, agents and claim practices are regulated by the Insurance Division of the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs (DCCA) — cca.hawaii.gov/ins.

Step 1 — exhaust the company first. Ask your adjuster, in writing, for the specific policy language or statute behind a denial or a low offer. Request the company's internal appeal or supervisor review. Most disputes resolve here, and the Division will want to know what the insurer told you.

Step 2 — assemble the file. Policy number, declarations page, claim number, the adjuster's name, dates of contact, the estimate or bills in dispute, photos, the police report, and copies of letters and emails. A complaint with documents attached moves far faster than one without.

Step 3 — file with the Division. Start at DCCA's complaint portal, cca.hawaii.gov/file-a-complaint, and choose Insurance Entity Complaints, which routes to the Insurance Division's complaint page at cca.hawaii.gov/ins/filing-a-complaint. The insurance categories include Auto Claims/Coverage, which is the right pick for most driver disputes. You can also reach DCCA at 1-844-808-DCCA (3222), or write to the Insurance Division at 335 Merchant St., Rm. 213, Honolulu, HI 96813 (contact details published in the Division's own auto FAQ).

What to expect. The Division contacts the insurer, requires a response, and reviews whether the company followed Hawaii law and its own policy terms. It can address unfair claim practices and licensing problems. It generally cannot act as your lawyer, award damages for pain and suffering, or decide a contested question of fact that belongs in court — but a regulator asking an insurer to justify itself in writing often changes the answer.