Hawaii's condo insurance market has hardened materially over the last decade and accelerated sharply after the August 2023 Maui wildfires. Only a few authorized insurers will cover Hawaii condos at all, typically writing 20–30 percent of hurricane exposure with surplus-lines markets covering the rest at significantly higher rates. Hurricane deductibles routinely run 2–5 percent of insured value. For a buyer in any Hawaii condo — and particularly any resort-area property — the master policy is one of the most important documents in the diligence package.

What HRS 514B requires

HRS §514B-143 requires every condo association to maintain:

• Master property insurance covering common elements at repair/replacement cost
• General liability insurance at $1 million combined single-limit minimum
• Fidelity bond / crime coverage
• Directors and officers liability coverage

The statute does not require:

• Hurricane-specific coverage (treated as part of property insurance when included)
• Flood coverage (NFIP or private)
• Earthquake coverage
• Wildfire-specific coverage beyond the general property policy

Wind/hurricane coverage is included by default in some policies, excluded in others, and subject to substantial deductibles in nearly all. Flood is virtually always separate.

The post-Maui underwriting environment

The August 2023 Maui wildfires destroyed substantial portions of Lahaina and shifted Hawaii's insurance economics. Even properties not directly affected face hardened underwriting:

• Carrier withdrawal or selective writing
• Premium increases of 30–100 percent at renewal in some cases
• Hurricane deductibles widening (often 2–5 percent of insured value)
• More buildings forced into surplus-lines markets
• Special assessments to fund premium increases becoming routine

For a 2026 Hawaii purchase, the master-policy section of the diligence requires more scrutiny than for almost any other state.

What to read on the master policy

The carrier(s) and placement structure. Is the policy with an admitted carrier or a surplus-lines carrier? Many Hawaii condos now operate with layered structures — an admitted carrier covering a portion, surplus-lines covering the rest. The structure has implications for both cost and dispute resolution.

The hurricane deductible. Often the single most consequential number on the policy. 2–5 percent of insured value is now common. Above 5 percent, Fannie Mae financing eligibility tightens.

Exclusions and named-peril treatment. Read the exclusions endorsement carefully. Wildfire treatment (especially for Maui properties), surge and flood treatment, mold treatment, and water-damage sub-limits all merit review.

Recent claim history. Critical in the post-Maui environment. Buildings with claim activity face materially different renewal terms.

Non-renewal or carrier-change correspondence. Ask explicitly. The post-Maui market has produced many non-renewals; how the association responded reveals management quality.

Loss-assessment provisions. If a covered loss exceeds limits or hits a deductible, the association may pass it back to owners. Your HO-6 loss-assessment limit needs to be sized against realistic exposure — not just routine deductibles but worst-case scenarios.

Flood and the NFIP question

Standard master policies exclude flood. For Hawaii coastal and ground-level buildings:

• Confirm whether the association maintains NFIP coverage on common elements
• NFIP per-building limits are relatively low ($250,000 for residential structures, $100,000 for contents) — inadequate for any meaningful multifamily structure but better than zero
• Private flood coverage above NFIP limits is available but expensive
• For your own unit, NFIP or private flood coverage is generally a lender requirement in flood zones

The HRS §514B-148 reserve interaction

Hawaii's mandatory reserve framework — initial study, updates every 3 years, minimum 50-percent funding — provides a meaningful financial backstop. But reserve funds dedicated to capital programs are not designed to absorb insurance-related special assessments. In a hardened market, premium-driven assessments and deductible-related loss assessments are increasingly common.

For your diligence:

• Review reserves separately from insurance-related assessment exposure
• Read recent assessment history for premium-driven activity
• Verify reserves haven't been diverted to fund insurance obligations
• Size your HO-6 loss-assessment limit independently of association reserves

What CondoSignal surfaces

We pull master-policy declarations and exclusions, carrier placement structure, recent claim history (when provided), non-renewal correspondence, flood-coverage status, reserve adequacy, and recent insurance-driven assessment history into a single state-specific risk summary. We flag surplus-lines placements, deductibles above the Fannie Mae threshold, missing flood coverage in flood zones, and post-Maui carrier-change patterns. The goal is to give Hawaii buyers a focused conversation with their lender and insurance agent about a market that is among the most stressed in the country.