Roofing Insurance Laws in Hawaii

Informational only — not legal advice. Laws and case precedent change, and outcomes depend on your specific policy language. Verify current law with your state Department of Insurance or a qualified attorney before relying on it.

Can insurers depreciate labor when calculating ACV?

Unsettled

Hawaii has no law on depreciating labor. No statute, insurance regulation, Insurance Division bulletin, or Hawaii appellate decision addresses whether an insurer may depreciate labor in calculating actual cash value on a first-party property claim. Your policy's definition of actual cash value controls, so read the ACV clause before you argue the depreciation line.

Authority

Property insurance is governed by HRS Chapter 431, Article 10E. Nothing in that article reaches labor depreciation; HRS 431:10E-102 is titled "Over-insurance prohibited; exceptions" and says nothing about how ACV is calculated. No Hawaii appellate or supreme court decision has construed labor depreciation in an ACV calculation.

HRS 431:10E-102 (Over-insurance prohibited; exceptions) - Justia · Hawaii Revised Statutes Ch. 431 (Insurance Code) - Justia

Must insurers replace undamaged materials so the repair matches?

Unsettled

Hawaii has no matching law. There is no matching statute, no rule adopting the NAIC "reasonably uniform appearance" standard, no Insurance Division bulletin, and no Hawaii case law on the question. Whether the carrier pays to replace undamaged slopes or siding so the roof matches is a policy-language question, not a Hawaii legal entitlement.

Authority

HRS 431:13-103 (Unfair claim settlement practices) is the state's only claim-handling statute. Its enumerated practices address investigation, communication, and good-faith settlement timing; none imposes a matching or uniform-appearance obligation. The Chapter 431 index contains no matching provision anywhere in the Insurance Code.

Haw. Rev. Stat. 431:13-103 — Unfair claim settlement practices (full text; contains no matching/uniform-appearance provision) — FindLaw (working link; original Justia link returns HTTP 403) · Hawaii Revised Statutes Title 24, Chapter 431 (2025 Insurance Code) — chapter index confirming no matching statute — Justia

Can a contractor pay or waive the homeowner's deductible?

No specific statute

Hawaii has no statute prohibiting a contractor from waiving, rebating, or absorbing a property insurance deductible, or from advertising to do so. Bills to create that ban were introduced in three consecutive sessions and none passed. The exposure is not a deductible statute but the billing: if you submit an estimate for a price you never intend to collect, the claim misstates what the job costs, and "free roof" or "no out-of-pocket" marketing can be reached as an unfair or deceptive practice.

You may

Bill the carrier the price you actually charge
Offer a payment plan so the homeowner pays the deductible over time
Arrange third-party financing for the deductible
Give a genuine, disclosed discount and price the estimate at the discounted figure
Tell the homeowner plainly that the deductible is their obligation

You may not

Inflate an estimate to cover the deductible you plan to absorb
Bill the carrier a price you have agreed not to collect
Advertise a free roof or no out-of-pocket replacement on an insurance job
Give a discount off the books while the estimate shows full price
Treat a rebate as a substitute for disclosing the true contract price

Penalty: Deceptive deductible marketing is reachable under HRS chapters 480 and 481B as an unfair or deceptive trade practice, which is civil rather than criminal.

Authority

HRS Chapter 444 (Contractors) contains no deductible or rebate provision. The chapter runs 444-1 through 444-29, and its only roofing-specific sections, 444-25.5 (disclosure and contracts) and 444-25.7 (roofing contractors guarantee bond), say nothing about deductibles. SB2422 (2020, including SD2), SB601 (2021), and SB2277 (2022) would each have made it unlawful for a roofing contractor to advertise or promise to pay or rebate a property insurance deductible, treated it as an unfair or deceptive practice under HRS chapters 480 and 481B, and given the owner a five-business-day rescission right. None was enacted. Summaries stating that SB2422 took effect July 1, 2020 are reading the bill's boilerplate effective-date clause; it was never codified. One qualification. The anti-rebating rules in the Insurance Code, HRS 431:13-103 and following, bind insurers and producers, not contractors.

HRS Chapter 444 (Contractors) — current official DCCA compilation; full section index 444-1 to 444-29 with NO deductible/rebate provision (primary source proving statutory absence) · HRS 431:13-103 — Unfair methods of competition and unfair or deceptive acts or practices defined (Insurance Code; binds insurers/producers) — official Hawaii State Legislature · HRS 431:13-103 — same section, Justia (2024) · SB2422 (2020) — proposed (unenacted) roofing-contractor deductible prohibition, Hawaii State Legislature · SB601 (2021) — reintroduced (unenacted) roofing-contractor deductible prohibition, Hawaii State Legislature · SB2277 (2022) — reintroduced (unenacted) contractor deductible prohibition, Hawaii State Legislature

Can a contractor negotiate the homeowner's claim?

Restricted

Hawaii has no roofing-specific claims statute, but it licenses public adjusters and the definition reaches a roofer who takes over the homeowner's claim. You may bid and defend your own job: write the estimate, meet the adjuster on the roof, document the damage, and argue your own scope and price. You may not be hired to handle the claim itself.

You may

Write and submit your estimate, scope, and supplements
Meet the field adjuster on the roof and walk the damage
Photograph and document the loss
Argue the price and scope of your own work with the adjuster
Recommend that the homeowner file a claim
Answer the carrier's questions about your line items

You may not

Negotiate the overall settlement for the homeowner
Handle a coverage or denial dispute on their behalf
Interpret the homeowner's policy rights or advise on coverage
Sign a claim-representation or contingency agreement
Advertise that you handle insurance claims
Hold yourself out as an adjuster

Penalty: Civil penalty up to $5,000 per factually different violation, or $1,000 to $10,000 per violation if knowing, with each repetition a separate violation; contractor license discipline under HRS chapter 444 is also available.

Authority

HRS 431:9-105 defines an "adjuster" as an individual acting solely on behalf of either the insurer or the insured, as an independent contractor or an employee of one, who investigates for, reports to, or adjusts for that principal on claims arising under insurance contracts. A "public adjuster" is an adjuster employed by and solely representing the financial interests of the insured. The only exclusions are attorneys acting incidentally to practice, marine loss adjusters, salaried insurer and adjusting-corporation employees, and persons acting for a self-insurer. There is no contractor carve-out. HRS 431:9-201(a) bars any person engaging in the business of insurance from acting as, being appointed as, or holding oneself out to be an adjuster without a Hawaii license; subsections (c) through (e) set the penalties. A public adjuster applicant must file a $10,000 surety bond conditioned on accounting to the insured for money or settlement received, HRS 431:9-222(b) and 431:9-223. HRS 431:9-226 confines an adjuster to one side and subsection (b) bars representing both the insurer and the insured in the same transaction. Two qualifications. The license bar in 431:9-201(a) is framed around persons "engaging in the business of insurance," and the 431:9-105 definition requires acting "solely on behalf of" a principal, so a contractor pricing and defending its own repair work has its own financial stake and is not solely representing the insured. And HRS chapter 444 (Contractors) contains no adjusting provision at all: the word "adjust" does not appear, and "insurance" appears only in the liability, workers' compensation, and bond provisions. No Hawaii decision or Insurance Division bulletin has applied the adjuster definition to a repair contractor, so the reach here follows from the definition rather than an express contractor-specific ban.

HRS 431:9-105 - Hawaii State Legislature official HRS text · HRS 431:9-201 - Hawaii State Legislature official HRS text · HRS 431:9-226 - Powers conferred by an adjuster's license (insureds only; no dual representation) · HRS 431:9-222 - Qualification for adjuster's license (public adjuster must file bond) · HRS 431:9-223 - Public adjuster's bond ($10,000 surety bond) · HRS chapter 444 (Contractors), official DCCA text - contains no insurance-claim adjusting or negotiation provision · Hawaii DCCA Insurance Division - insurance license categories (public adjuster)

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