State guide · West
Hawaii subrogation law guide
A claimant recovers as long as its negligence is not greater than the combined negligence of the parties it sues, with damages reduced by its own share. At 51% or more the claim is barred.
Hawaii at a glanceHI
- Property damage
- 2 years
- Bodily injury
- 2 years
- Fault rule
- Modified, 51% bar
- Gov. notice
- 730 days
Overview
Hawaii gives subrogation teams a short, uniform clock: Haw. Rev. Stat. § 657-7 sets 2 years for both property damage and bodily injury, so a water loss paid in month 14 has less than a year of runway left. The bigger shift is procedural. In the Maui Fire Cases (2025), the Hawaii Supreme Court extended Yukumoto v. Tawarahara to property and casualty carriers: once an insured settles with the tortfeasor, the statutory lien under § 663-10 is the carrier's exclusive remedy, and the court declined to apply the made-whole doctrine to that lien process. That puts a premium on early lien notice and on staying close to the insured's own claim and counsel. Fault is modified comparative with a 51% bar under § 663-31, measured against the combined negligence of the defendants. Auto runs on a no-fault system: personal injury protection (PIP) benefits come first, tort suits for pain and suffering must clear statutory thresholds, and PIP carriers hold only a limited reimbursement right under § 431:10C-307 rather than full subrogation. Auto physical damage and property claims sit outside the no-fault scheme and follow ordinary tort rules. County claims need written notice within 2 years under § 46-72.
Quick reference with citations
- Property damage SOL
- 2 years
- Haw. Rev. Stat. § 657-7 (damage or injury to persons or property)
- Bodily injury SOL
- 2 years
- Haw. Rev. Stat. § 657-7; motor vehicle injury claims extend to 2 years after the last no-fault or workers' compensation benefit payment (Haw. Rev. Stat. § 431:10C-315)
- Product liability
- 2 years from accrual (Haw. Rev. Stat. § 657-7); no product statute of repose. Claims tied to improvements to real property face a 10-year repose from completion (Haw. Rev. Stat. § 657-8).
- Written contract
- 6 years
- Contract and indemnity recoveries
- Comparative fault rule
- Modified, 51% bar
- Haw. Rev. Stat. § 663-31
- Government notice of claim
- 730 days
- Counties: written notice of the injury and the specific damages to the official named in the county charter (or the council chair or county clerk) within 2 years after the injury accrued (Haw. Rev. Stat. § 46-72). State of Hawaii: State Tort Liability Act suits must be filed within 2 years of accrual (Haw. Rev. Stat. § 662-4), and a government entity pays only its own percentage share of damages (Haw. Rev. Stat. § 663-10.5).
Fault rule in practice
How Hawaii's rule changes a $50,000 recovery.
A claimant recovers as long as its negligence is not greater than the combined negligence of the parties it sues, with damages reduced by its own share. At 51% or more the claim is barred.
Authority: Haw. Rev. Stat. § 663-31
| Insured's share of fault | Recoverable in HI | Under pure comparative |
|---|---|---|
| 0% | $50,000 | $50,000 |
| 20% | $40,000 | $40,000 |
| 50% | $25,000 | $25,000 |
| 60% | Barred | $20,000 |
Doctrines that move the number
Hawaii doctrine checklist.
Made-whole doctrine
Hawaii appellate courts have applied the made-whole rule only to uninsured motorist reimbursement (AIG Hawaii Ins. Co. v. Rutledge, 955 P.2d 1069 (Haw. Ct. App. 1998)). In the Maui Fire Cases (2025) the Hawaii Supreme Court declined to apply it to the statutory lien process under Haw. Rev. Stat. §§ 431:13-103(a)(10) and 663-10, which now governs recovery when the insured settles.
Economic loss doctrine
Hawaii applies the economic loss rule to product claims for purely economic harm (State ex rel. Bronster v. U.S. Steel Corp., 82 Haw. 32, 919 P.2d 294 (1996)) and to residential construction defect claims (Ass'n of Apartment Owners of Newtown Meadows v. Venture 15, Inc., 115 Haw. 232, 167 P.3d 225 (2007)). Damage to other property, such as contents or neighboring units, stays recoverable in tort.
Joint and several liability
Haw. Rev. Stat. § 663-10.9 abolishes joint and several liability except for economic damages in injury and death cases and for all damages in listed categories, including motor vehicle accidents, products liability, intentional torts and environmental pollution. Government entities pay only their own share (§ 663-10.5).
Anti-subrogation and waiver
A carrier cannot subrogate against its own insured or anyone the policy treats as an insured. Under Haw. Rev. Stat. § 431:13-103(a)(10) and the Maui Fire Cases, a settling insured's release that preserves the § 663-10 lien protects reimbursement but forecloses a direct action against the released tortfeasor.
Practice notes
Working Hawaii subrogation files.
- 1
Treat the 2-year § 657-7 period as the controlling date for every Hawaii file, property or injury, and calendar it from the date of loss rather than the date of payment. For motor vehicle bodily injury, § 431:10C-315 extends the period to 2 years after the last no-fault or workers' compensation payment, but that extension does nothing for a collision or property damage claim. Serve county notice under § 46-72 well ahead of the 2-year mark.
- 2
After the Maui Fire Cases ruling, a carrier whose insured settles with the tortfeasor cannot sue that tortfeasor directly. Send written § 663-10 lien notice to the insured, the insured's counsel and the liability carrier as soon as payment issues, and ask to be included in settlement talks. A release that expressly preserves the lien does not prejudice reimbursement, so review release language before the insured signs anything.
- 3
Fault math example: a fictional Kailua-Kona restaurant suffers a $90,000 kitchen fire after a contractor's hot work, and the jury assigns 30% of the fault to the insured for disabled sprinkler heads. The recoverable amount for the carrier and the insured's $5,000 deductible combined falls to $63,000 ($90,000 less 30%). Had the insured's share reached 51%, § 663-31 would bar the claim entirely, so fault evidence on the insured's own conduct deserves early attention.
- 4
On auto files, separate PIP spend from physical damage at intake. PIP reimbursement under § 431:10C-307 is limited to a share of benefits duplicated in the injured person's tort recovery, and the PIP carrier carries the burden of proving that duplication. Collision, rental and property damage subrogation, by contrast, proceeds as an ordinary tort claim against the at-fault driver and that driver's liability carrier, subject to the 2-year clock.
- 5
Ishqkala counts Hawaii SOL alerts at 730 days from the date of loss and flags any file where diary notes mention an insured settlement, a demand from the insured's attorney or a liability carrier release request. Those files are routed for immediate § 663-10 lien notice, and the direct-action recovery path is down-scored so the subrogation team and recovery counsel work the lien instead of a suit the court has foreclosed.
Key cases
In re Petition for the Coordination of Maui Fire Cases
No. SCRQ-24-0000602 (Haw. Feb. 10, 2025; opinion Mar. 17, 2025)
Extended Yukumoto to property and casualty insurers: when an insured settles with a third-party tortfeasor, the Haw. Rev. Stat. § 663-10 lien is the carrier's exclusive remedy, and the court declined to apply the made-whole doctrine to that lien process.
Yukumoto v. Tawarahara
140 Haw. 285, 400 P.3d 486 (2017)
Limited health insurers to reimbursement from their insureds under § 663-10 and barred independent actions against tortfeasors who had settled with the insureds, the rule now applied to P&C carriers.
State Farm Fire & Cas. Co. v. Pacific Rent-All, Inc.
90 Haw. 315, 978 P.2d 753 (1999)
Recognized a paying insurer's subrogation rights against a responsible third party and treated contractual subrogation as measured by the policy terms rather than by equitable principles.
Inter-company arbitration
Carrier-to-carrier auto physical damage and property subrogation in Hawaii fits within Arbitration Forums, Inc. programs, where signatory companies must arbitrate disputes up to $100,000 in total company-paid damages; the insured's deductible does not count toward that figure. Arbitration binds only signatories, so claims against nonsignatory self-insured fleets, uninsured drivers and public entities still run on the 2-year § 657-7 clock and the § 46-72 notice. If suit is filed against a signatory and dismissed in favor of arbitration, AF rules allow 60 days from dismissal to file even after the limitation period has run.
How Ishqkala applies this guide
HI rules, built into every score.
- Opportunities with a Hawaii loss state are calendared against the 2 years property damage period or the 2 years bodily injury period, whichever controls the claim type.
- The insured's estimated fault share is applied under modified, 51% bar before recoverable dollars are scored.
- Files involving a public entity get a 730-day notice deadline that outranks the general SOL in the priority queue.
- Alerts fire at 180, 90, 45 and 15 days before the controlling deadline.
Other modified, 51% bar jurisdictions
FAQ
Hawaii subrogation FAQ
2 years (Haw. Rev. Stat. § 657-7 (damage or injury to persons or property)). A subrogating carrier generally takes the insured's claim subject to the same limitation period, usually measured from the date of loss.
Modified, 51% bar (Haw. Rev. Stat. § 663-31). A claimant recovers as long as its negligence is not greater than the combined negligence of the parties it sues, with damages reduced by its own share. At 51% or more the claim is barred.
Counties: written notice of the injury and the specific damages to the official named in the county charter (or the council chair or county clerk) within 2 years after the injury accrued (Haw. Rev. Stat. § 46-72). State of Hawaii: State Tort Liability Act suits must be filed within 2 years of accrual (Haw. Rev. Stat. § 662-4), and a government entity pays only its own percentage share of damages (Haw. Rev. Stat. § 663-10.5).
Hawaii appellate courts have applied the made-whole rule only to uninsured motorist reimbursement (AIG Hawaii Ins. Co. v. Rutledge, 955 P.2d 1069 (Haw. Ct. App. 1998)). In the Maui Fire Cases (2025) the Hawaii Supreme Court declined to apply it to the statutory lien process under Haw. Rev. Stat. §§ 431:13-103(a)(10) and 663-10, which now governs recovery when the insured settles.
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