Hawaiian Insurance Commissioner calls for home insurers to submit new, reduced rates

A recent inquiry into the rates of homeowner’s insurance in Hawaii has led the state’s Insurance Commissioner, Gordon I. Ito, to call for drastic actions. The state’s Insurance Department ruled that the current rates for homeowner’s insurance are far too excessive. The department used data supplied by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners to form a benchmark against which Hawaii’s rates were tested. Now, Ito is calling for insurers to submit new rate filings for review. Ito first issued a memorandum for insurers to send their justifications for their rate…

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Homeowners insurers in Hawaii ordered to submit new filing for rates

Gordon I. Ito, Insurance Commissioner of Hawaii has ordered all of the homeowner insurers in that state to file new rates following a review by the Insurance Division which determined that the current rates being charged to policyholders were “excessive” when they were compared to data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC). On June 8, 2011, a memorandum was issued by Insurance Commissioner Ito, stating that homeowner insurers are required to have their rate filings reviewed by the Insurance Division for their approval. According to Ito, following a…

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Hawaii’s hurricane fund in jeopardy of being drained

Hawaii may lose their state hurricane fund in an attempt to balance a 232 million dollar deficit. The fiscal year ends in three months and state officials are scrambling to find a way to balance the budget.  One approach that is being considered is to use part of, or all, of the 117 million dollars sitting in the hurricane relief fund. The state fund was started after the 1992 disaster from hurricane Iniki, which caused most insurers to stop writing policy coverage for hurricanes and related damage.  It took 10…

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