Hawai'i now forces insurers to explain renewal premium hikes in writing – and arms regulators with sharper tools against adjusters and producers.
Act 040, which began life as House Bill 2282, became law on May 26, 2026. Sections 1 through 5 take effect January 1, 2027. The purchasing-group amendment in Section 6 is already in force. The Act amends several parts of Hawai'i's Insurance Code with implications across personal lines, commercial lines, and producer compliance.
The most visible change is a new section added to Chapter 431. Insurers must reasonably explain any premium increase at renewal upon written request by the policyholder. The trigger is a written request, and the rule applies across the board. Once a request comes in, the carrier owes an explanation – so renewal workflows will need to treat it as a standard request type, not an exception.
The Act also rewrites the disciplinary playbook for adjusters and independent bill reviewers under Section 431:9-235. The old eight-item list of grounds for denial, suspension, or revocation is replaced with a seventeen-item list. Some of it formalizes existing practice. Other parts are new. A felony conviction is now an explicit ground. So is forging another person's name on an application or related document. So is accepting business from someone who is not licensed.
The commissioner can also act when an equivalent adjuster or independent bill reviewer license has been denied, placed on probation, suspended, or revoked in another state, province, district, or territory. Two grounds reach beyond insurance practice itself: failing to comply with a child support order, and failing to pay federal or state income taxes or comply with an order directing that payment.
Procedure changed too. The commissioner can now act by order after sending written notice of intent. The licensee has ten days from receipt to apply for a hearing, which must be held within thirty days. If no application comes in, the order goes through. The commissioner also keeps authority to pursue enforcement against someone under investigation even after the license has been surrendered or has lapsed.
Civil penalties stay between $100 and $10,000, but the commissioner can now levy a fine alongside other disciplinary action or as a standalone step, instead of only after a hearing.
Producer licensing under Section 431:9A-112 is brought into procedural alignment with the adjuster rules – same notice of intent, same ten-day window, same thirty-day hearing deadline.
For property carriers, Section 431:10-226.5 is the section to watch. General-policy cancellation still requires ten days' written notice and nonrenewal still requires thirty. Residential property – including multi-family – now requires twenty days for cancellation, dropping to ten where the reason is nonpayment of premium or material misrepresentation. Nonrenewal still requires thirty days. Cancellation or nonrenewal is not valid unless the insurer can prove the notice was mailed, and every notice must clearly state the specific reason for the action.
Purchasing groups get a smaller change: the fixed August 16 service-fee deadline is replaced with the extension date. The fifty per cent late penalty is unchanged, but the Act bars the commissioner from reinstating a registration until the fee and penalty have been paid.
For insurers, the to-do list is concrete. Build the premium-explanation workflow before the January 1, 2027 effective date. Re-audit adjuster and producer files against the new disciplinary grounds, especially the out-of-state and non-insurance triggers. Make sure property cancellation and nonrenewal notices state the specific reason and that mailing evidence is on file.
