The Hawaii Hurricane Relief Fund (HHRF) is expected to begin issuing policies as early as this summer, according to the state’s Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs.
The move follows a prolonged period of inactivity for the fund, which has been dormant since the early 2000s but now holds $170 million designated to address ongoing challenges in the state’s condo insurance market.
The fund's reactivation is part of an emergency response initiated by Gov. Josh Green, who issued a proclamation in 2023 aimed at stabilizing what state officials have described as a crisis in the property insurance market, particularly for condominium associations.
According to the governor’s office, insurance premiums in some cases have risen by up to 1,000%.
The HHRF board, in collaboration with consultant Aon Re and state lawmakers, is currently working to establish an operational framework. The board is assessing servicing models and infrastructure development, which includes hiring staff and drafting underwriting guidelines.
The HHRF was established in 1993 in response to the devastation caused by Hurricane Iniki in 1992. Iniki, a Category 4 hurricane, inflicted over $3 billion in damages across the Hawaiian Islands, leading many private insurers to withdraw from the hurricane insurance market.
To address the resulting insurance gap, HHRF was created to provide hurricane property insurance policies when coverage was unavailable in the private market.
The fund operated effectively throughout the 1990s, insuring approximately 155,000 policyholders statewide by 1999. However, as private insurers gradually returned to the market, the HHRF ceased issuing new policies in December 2000 and became dormant by 2002. Despite its inactivity, the fund maintained a reserve balance to ensure readiness in the event of future market disruptions.
During a public hearing on April 3, HHRF board vice chair Mike Nonaka said the agency is targeting June to begin issuing policies. At this stage, plans call for the fund to provide excess coverage rather than primary insurance.
Nonaka said the recommendation following the assessment was that the fund could offer needed capacity to address limited availability of coverage and support market competition. He said the HHRF could act as a backstop for condo associations that are having difficulty securing surplus coverage at sustainable rates.
Green’s emergency order allows the HHRF to resume offering hurricane insurance policies for large condominium properties and to determine its own coverage limits. The proclamation also temporarily suspends several state laws to facilitate the availability of property insurance through the fund.
In addition to condominiums, the governor noted that townhome communities are also experiencing similar increases in premiums, prompting the need for immediate intervention.
Final policy structures and operational plans for the HHRF will be subject to regulatory review once completed.
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