Hawaii car insurance at a glance
| Requirement | Hawaii rule |
|---|---|
| Minimum liability | 20/40/10 ($20,000 bodily injury per person, $40,000 per accident, $10,000 property damage) |
| Personal injury protection | $10,000 PIP required |
| Fault system | No-fault for injuries, with lawsuit thresholds |
| Uninsured motorist coverage | Optional, must be offered, rejectable in writing |
| SR-22 | Required to reinstate after DUI or driving uninsured |
| Credit scoring | Banned, along with age, sex, and length of driving experience |
What Hawaii requires by law
Hawaii requires liability coverage of at least $20,000 per injured person, $40,000 per accident, and $10,000 for property damage, plus $10,000 of personal injury protection. Translation: PIP pays your own medical bills after a crash no matter who caused it, and Hawaii’s no-fault system limits injury lawsuits to serious cases above statutory thresholds.
Hawaii’s rating law deserves a paragraph of applause. Insurers here cannot price you by credit score, age, sex, length of driving experience, or which island neighborhood you live in. Your record and your choices set your rate. Every other state should be embarrassed.
Driving uninsured costs you a fine starting at $500, license suspension, and, critically, access to the no-fault benefits you would otherwise rely on.
Is the minimum enough? Not quite. The 20/40 injury limits are among the country’s lowest, and $10,000 of property damage replaces very little of what drives Oahu’s roads. Upgrading limits in Hawaii is cheap. Do it.
What drives premiums in Hawaii
- Island repair logistics. Parts arrive by ship or air, and the body shop market on each island is small. Longer, costlier repairs mean higher comprehensive and collision pricing.
- Honolulu density. Most of the state’s traffic squeezes into one urban corridor on Oahu. Frequency risk concentrates there, though the rating law spreads costs more evenly than in other states.
- No-fault PIP costs. Insurers pay first-party medical claims in nearly every injury crash, which sets a floor under premiums.
- A consumer-protective rating system. Because insurers cannot segment by credit, age, or sex, good-credit older drivers pay slightly more than they might elsewhere, and young or credit-bruised drivers pay much less. On balance, Hawaii’s rates stay among the most reasonable in the country.
How to pay less in Hawaii
- Shop the island market at renewal. With fewer rating variables, your driving record matters more, and carriers still disagree on price. Start with our cheapest auto insurance guide.
- Protect your record above all. In Hawaii, a clean record is nearly the whole ballgame. One avoidable ticket moves your rate more than any discount.
- Raise deductibles on comprehensive and collision if your savings can absorb them, and drop full coverage on older island cars.
- Coordinate PIP with your health insurance. Hawaii allows options that cut overlap. Ask your insurer how your health plan and PIP interact.
- Bundle policies and pay in full. Standard discounts still apply. More in how to lower your premium.
For coverage basics and every state guide, visit the auto insurance hub, then pull quotes for your ZIP code.