Hawaii Landlord Insurance
Get a full analysis of Hawaii landlord insurance costs, coverage, and companies.
Written by
Ann Herro has been writing about insurance and employee benefits for over 15 years. She has covered topics as easy as insuring a car, and as difficult as transparency in healthcare costs.
Find the Best Landlord Insurance Options in Hawaii
Hawaii is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world. It also has around 1.4 million permanent residents, with 38% of the population living in rentals.
Hawaii has abundant opportunities for rental property owners, for both permanent residents and short-term rentals for visitors.
If you are considering investing in a rental property in Hawaii or have a home that you want to rent out, you will want to make sure that you are familiar with landlord insurance requirements in the state. It’s also important to understand that landlord insurance is the best way to protect your Hawaii rental property from many problems that can occur.
A local independent insurance agent can get landlord insurance quotes from multiple insurance companies in Hawaii so you can find the policy that best meets your needs and budget.
Best Landlord Insurance Companies in Hawaii
Several insurance companies offer highly rated Hawaii landlord insurance. The following is one of the best landlord insurance companies in Hawaii.
- REInsurePro: This carrier offers several important forms of property insurance, including coverage for single- and multi-family homes, vacation rentals, renovations in progress, vacant land, and more.
An independent insurance agent in your area can help you learn more about other landlord insurance companies in Hawaii. A local agent can help you get competitive quotes for the coverage that fits your insurance needs.
What Is Landlord Insurance?
Landlord insurance is similar to homeowners insurance in that it protects your property if you experience a fire, storm damage, or some other type of property loss.
Landlord insurance differs from homeowners insurance because its protection specifically protects landlords. While it covers damage to the structure of a rental property, it does not cover the tenant's personal property. While landlord insurance and homeowners insurance both provide liability coverage for the property owner, the liability coverage in landlord insurance is designed for the increased risk of lawsuits that landlords face.
Is Landlord Insurance Required in Hawaii?
Having landlord insurance is not required by law in Hawaii. It's important to know, however, that if you've worked with a lender to finance the purchase of your residential rental property in Hawaii, the lender will require you to have landlord insurance as a condition of your loan.
An independent insurance agent in your area can help you determine how to cover your rental property appropriately.
What Does Landlord Insurance Cover in Hawaii?
Landlord insurance in Hawaii provides several types of coverage:
- Dwelling coverage: Covers the building itself for any physical damage caused by fire, lightning, wind, hail, ice, snow, or other covered perils.
- Other structures coverage: Helps pay to repair detached structures (e.g., a garage or shed) on your rental property if they're damaged by a covered loss.
- Personal property coverage: Covers the landlord's personal property used to service the rental (e.g., lawnmowers, snowblowers, maintenance equipment) left on site if it's damaged by a covered loss. (This does not cover your tenant's possessions.)
- Landlord liability coverage: Protects you if someone is injured on your property or if you are responsible for damaging someone else’s property. Landlord liability insurance covers the costs of any medical treatment or property repairs that are required. If you're sued, it also covers legal costs (e.g., attorney fees, court costs, and financial settlements or judgments).
- Loss of rental income: Coverage for your lost rental income if your tenants have to move out so you can make repairs to your building after a fire, storm, or some other covered peril. (This does not provide coverage if your tenant can't pay the rent because of a job loss or financial problem.)
A local independent insurance agent can help you decide if you need additional types of coverage for your rental property.
What Else Can Hawaii Landlord Insurance Cover?
Some insurance companies offer additional coverage options that you can include in your Hawaii landlord insurance policy, such as:
- Non-occupied dwelling coverage: This provides coverage during the times that your rental property is vacant. Many insurance companies will not honor claims for damage that occurred in a home that had been vacant for more than 30 days unless the landlord carries this optional coverage.
- Building code coverage: This is most beneficial if you own an older property. Building codes may have changed since it was built, so if it is damaged, contractors doing repairs may identify additional renovations that are necessary to bring it up to code. This insurance can cover these unexpected extra costs.
- Rent guarantee insurance: This offers you some protection if a tenant fails to make rent payments. Your policy can cover the revenue losses for a set period, which is typically long enough for you to complete the eviction process. Rates are based mainly on how much you are charging in rent and the creditworthiness of your renters.
Rent guarantee insurance is sometimes called eviction insurance, as it may cover the cost of evictions. Keep in mind that this coverage is very expensive, and you won't likely recoup all of your losses. You'll have to pay a deductible, and it will typically only cover a percentage of the monthly rent, up to a set limit.
Landlords in Hawaii should be aware of the various available coverage options, so you can be sure you are getting all the coverage you need to protect your investment and income. An independent insurance agent can help with your landlord insurance in Hawaii.
What's Not Covered by Landlord Insurance in Hawaii?
As with all insurance policies, landlord insurance has some limitations. Your Hawaii landlord insurance policy will not cover:
- Flood damage: This isn't covered even if the flood is the direct result of a covered storm. To be covered, you will need to supplement your landlord insurance policy with a flood insurance policy.
- Intentional damage caused by tenants: Sometimes tenants act badly out of spite or in retaliation for an eviction notice. If they intentionally damage your property, most landlord insurance policies will not provide coverage. You will instead need to sue the tenant to get compensation.
- Normal wear and tear: Things break. Unless they broke because of a covered event, your landlord insurance policy will not cover them. If the refrigerator in your rental property suddenly stops working or the hot water tank fails, you will need to cover repair or replacement costs on your own.
It is important to be aware of what your policy does and doesn't cover so that you don't face any unfortunate surprises later. When you work with an independent insurance agent in your area, your agent can help you review your policy and understand when your coverage doesn’t apply.
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How Much Does Landlord Insurance Cost in Hawaii?
On average, landlords in the US spend about $1,083 a year on their landlord insurance policies. Another way to look at it: landlord insurance generally costs about 25% more than a standard homeowners insurance policy. This is because rental properties are riskier than private dwellings, and therefore, landlords are more likely to file some type of insurance claim.
Landlord insurance costs in Hawaii will vary based on your property and unique set of risk factors. In general, landlord insurance premiums are based on characteristics such as:
- The size and location of your property
- The type of building (e.g., single-family home, multi-family apartment building, etc.)
- The age and construction of your building
- The number of tenants occupying the property
- Your expected monthly rental revenue
- The weather and crime risks in your city
If your building has fire sprinklers, burglar alarms, gated access, or other security systems, you may be able to save some money on your landlord insurance premiums.
A local independent insurance agent can help you get multiple quotes for landlord insurance in Hawaii. You can compare costs and coverage and choose the policy that offers the best fit for your needs and budget.
Hawaii Landlord Insurance FAQs
Landlord insurance in Hawaii provides several different types of coverage:
- Dwelling coverage: Covers the building itself for any physical damage caused by fire, lightning, wind, hail, ice, snow, or other covered perils.
- Other structures coverage: Helps pay to repair detached structures (e.g., a garage or shed) on your rental property if they're damaged by a covered loss.
- Personal property coverage: Covers the landlord's personal property used to service the rental (e.g., lawnmowers, snowblowers, maintenance equipment) left on site if it's damaged by a covered loss. (This does not cover your tenant's possessions.)
- Landlord liability coverage: Protects you if someone is injured on your property or if you are responsible for damaging someone else’s property.
- Loss of rental income: Coverage for your lost rental income if your tenants have to move out so you can make repairs to your building after a fire, storm, or some other covered peril.
Having landlord insurance is not required by law in Hawaii. It's important to know, however, that if you've worked with a lender to finance the purchase of your residential rental property in Hawaii, the lender will require you to have landlord insurance as a condition of your loan.
Whether or not you'll need landlord insurance or homeowners insurance is usually determined by how you use your property and the insurance company you select.
On average, landlords in the US spend about $1,083 a year on their landlord insurance policies. Landlord insurance generally costs about 25% more than a standard homeowners insurance policy in your area.
Yes, landlords in Hawaii can require their tenants to have renters insurance as a condition of a lease.
We recommend REInsurePro as one of the best landlord insurance companies in Hawaii.
Your landlord insurance in Hawaii covers damage caused by tenants in some circumstances.
Landlord insurance will usually cover sudden and accidental damage caused by a tenant. So, if a tenant accidentally causes a kitchen fire, any damage to walls, countertops, cabinets, and other covered parts of the building should be covered by your landlord insurance. Any fire damage to your tenant's furniture, cookware, or other possessions will not be covered by your landlord insurance. It will be covered by the tenant’s renters insurance if they have it.
If an appliance that you own (e.g., the oven) is damaged in the same fire, it would likely be covered under the landlord insurance policy.
Any intentional damage caused by a tenant will not be covered by landlord insurance in Hawaii. A standard landlord insurance policy won’t protect you if a tenant punches in a wall, kicks in a door, paints graffiti, or otherwise intentionally damages some part of a unit.
Standard landlord insurance in Hawaii typically won't cover the cost of evictions. However, eviction insurance, or rent guarantee insurance, can be purchased separately from some insurance companies. It will cover some of the costs involved in an eviction, as well as some of the rent you miss out on during the eviction process.
No, landlord insurance does not cover floods in Hawaii. But you can purchase flood insurance designed for landlords from the National Flood Insurance Program and some private carriers.
A local independent insurance agent can help you find a competitively priced landlord insurance policy that meets your needs. Independent agents aren’t tied down to one carrier. They can get quotes from multiple insurance companies so you can choose the Hawaii landlord insurance policy that best fits your needs and budget.
Contact an independent agent in your area today for a free, no-obligation consultation.
https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/HI,US/PST045223
https://www.iii.org/article/coverage-for-renting-out-your-home