Hawaii lawmakers began a new legislative session Wednesday with a vow to try to stabilize the state's property insurance market as hurricanes, wildfires and other climate change-influenced disasters at home and elsewhere prompt insurance carriers to raise rates.
Hurricanes in Florida and North Carolina and wildfires in California affect the insurance business in Hawaii because insurance companies buy reinsurance — insurance for themselves — on the global market. As reinsurance rates rise in response to these disasters, some insurers want to charge more in Hawaii or stop providing insurance in the islands.
