Insurance appraisal in Hawaii

At a glance

Name an appraiser

Twenty days after the written demand.

Choose an umpire

If the two appraisers cannot agree within 15 days, either party may ask a judge of a court of record in the county where the property sits to choose the umpire.

If they cannot agree

A judge of a court of record, on request. In Krafchow v. Dongbu Ins. Co. (Haw. App. 2023) the circuit court compelled appraisal and appointed a retired judge as umpire after the carrier refused to participate.

Suit deadline paused?

No tolling. Haw. Rev. Stat. § 431:10-221 bars suit limitations shorter than one year from the date of loss.

Licensing

No license. The statutory clause calls for a competent and disinterested appraiser.

The clock

Appraisal in Hawaii begins with a written demand from one party to the other. The deadlines in the table above run from that demand: first the period to name an appraiser, then the period for the two appraisers to agree on an umpire. Send the demand by certified mail with return receipt, and keep a copy with the policy.

Once the panel is complete, the appraisers inspect the property, prepare their estimates and work through the differences line by line. Only what they cannot settle goes to the umpire.

On the deadline to sue: No tolling. Haw. Rev. Stat. § 431:10-221 bars suit limitations shorter than one year from the date of loss.

What the panel decides

Amount of loss only, valued irrespective of coverage. Krafchow makes clear that a Hawaii panel must not decide what the policy covers.

Everywhere, including Hawaii, the panel leaves alone whether the policy covers the loss, how the policy language is read, and whether the carrier acted in bad faith. Those are for the courts. An award that strays into them is the one most likely to be set aside.

Who may serve

No license. The statutory clause calls for a competent and disinterested appraiser.

Whatever the statute says, the policy standard is the one that decides most challenges: an appraiser must be competent and impartial, or in some forms disinterested. The contractor who will do the work, a public adjuster paid a share of the claim, or anyone employed by a party does not meet it. We are paid a flat fee for that reason.

The award

Awards are reviewed under the Uniform Arbitration Act (Haw. Rev. Stat. ch. 658A). In Krafchow the award was vacated because the panel considered the scope of coverage and exclusions rather than valuing the loss irrespective of coverage.

Points particular to Hawaii

Krafchow was itself a Maui wildfire loss. Wildfire losses often involve total losses, where the dispute is about replacement cost, code upgrades and extended coverages rather than scope.

Hurricane coverage in Hawaii is often written on a separate policy, which affects which policy's appraisal clause applies.

Common losses in Hawaii

The disputes we see most often in Hawaii arise from:

• Wildfire
• Hurricane (often a separate policy)
• Wind and flood-adjacent water damage

Flood is insured separately, usually through the National Flood Insurance Program, under federal rules rather than Hawaii's. Its appraisal clause settles price only, and its deadlines are its own. How a flood claim works

Authorities

• Haw. Rev. Stat. § 431:10-210
• Krafchow v. Dongbu Ins. Co., 152 Haw. 248 (App. 2023)
• The general guide to insurance appraisal

Statutes, regulations and case law change. This page was reviewed against official sources in October 2026 and describes the general rule; it is not legal advice about your claim.

Questions about appraisal in Hawaii

Nearby: Alaska, California, Oregon, Washington