Gov. Josh Green signed legislation Monday intended to help stabilize the state’s property insurance market by reactivating the Hawaii Hurricane Relief Fund.

“The rising cost of insurance has become yet another unbearable burden for Hawaii and its residents over several years and mirrors a similar crisis on the mainland,” Green said in a news release announcing the bill’s signing.

Applications are now being accepted by the Hawaii Hurricane Relief Fund for condominium and townhouse associations of apartment owners seeking to obtain hurricane commercial property insurance coverage.

“This bill is a lifeline for thousands of Hawaii residents crushed by soaring insurance costs — and finally gives them somewhere to turn,” Senate Commerce and Consumer Protection Committee Chair Jarrett Keohokalole said in the release.

According to the governor’s office, the bill also allows the Hawaii Property Insurance Association to provide additional coverage options, establishes the Condominium Loan Program to help buildings remain insurable and mandates the Insurance Commissioner to conduct a study aimed at developing strategies for market stabilization.

“We targeted this bill to help the average condominium building, not the luxury high-rises,” said Representative Scot Z. Matayoshi, chair of the House Consumer Protection and Commerce Committee. “In addition to increasing the market capacity for insurance coverage, which will allow many associations to return to the lower-cost admitted market, this bill also contains a low-interest loan pilot program, encouraging condominiums to make specific high-impact repairs that should lower insurance premiums and raise unit values. The long-term solution is for condominiums to address essential repairs and deferred maintenance, which will help them secure insurance in the future and improve the lives of their residents.”

The Hawaii Hurricane Relief Fund was created in 1993 after private insurers withdrew from the market following Hurricane Iniki. As time passed, private insurers resumed offering hurricane coverage, and the fund went dormant.

In 2024, Green reactivated the Hawaii Hurricane Relief Fund as a way of addressing growing instability in the property insurance market caused by major climate events, rapidly rising premiums and a decrease in available insurers.

“We anticipate this program can provide every eligible association with full coverage or a portion of their full coverage,” acting Insurance Commissioner Jerry Bump said in the news release. “In just two weeks, we’ve seen pricing pressure and market competition significantly decrease the cost of coverage.”

To be eligible for hurricane insurance coverage under the HHRF, an association of apartment owners must have been previously denied hurricane coverage by at least two licensed companies in Hawaii and have buildings with a value exceeding $10 million.

For more about the HHRF, go to https://hhrf.hawaii.gov.