HI HR39

Request the Insurance Commissioner to conduct a feasibility study on insurance policies and premiums for properties located within lava zones on the island of Hawaii.

Study should evaluate whether insurance companies should be required to base homeowner and dwelling fire insurance rates on actuarial studies of historical loss data rather than lava zone maps.

Study should also evaluate whether insurance companies should be prohibited from basing insurance policies and rates on maps, reports, or studies conducted for scientific or civil defense purposes only.

Insurance Commissioner must submit findings and recommendations to the Legislature no later than twenty days before the convening of the Regular Session of 2018.

Resolution cites that premiums in Lava Zone 1 are three to four times higher than other areas with no losses attributed to volcanic activity in over four hundred years, and that this disproportionately affects the Leilani Estates community.