Hawaii is a no-fault state for car accidents. All vehicles must be insured before they can be driven in the state. Policies must include certain liability coverage and Personal Injury Protection (PIP) benefits.
When there’s an accident, individuals involved in the crash must file a claim with their own insurance company to recover compensation for medical care, lost wages, and other crash-related damages. This is true, even when the party does not bear any responsibility for the car accident in which they were injured.
Damages are paid up to the driver’s car insurance policy limits. In Hawaii, certain levels of insurance must be maintained. Drivers are permitted – and often encouraged – to purchase higher than the state’s minimum requirements.
What Are the Minimum Requirements for Car Insurance in Hawaii?
Hawaii’s minimum car insurance coverage is referred to as 40/80/20 coverage.
When you buy a car insurance policy in Hawaii, your policy must have at least:
- $40,000 in bodily injury per person
- $80,000 in bodily injury per accident, and
- $20,000 in property damage per accident.
Under Hawaii Revised Statutes Section 431:10C-103.5, drivers must also add at least $10,000 in Personal Injury Protection benefits to their auto insurance policy. PIP benefits are critical – these are what will cover your damages when you file a no-fault claim after a car accident in Hawaii. The 40/80/20 liability coverage is what can be paid to others for their damages if you cause an accident and their injuries are severe.
What Do PIP Benefits Cover?
Personal Injury Protection, or PIP, benefits are your first source of compensation after an auto accident in Hawaii.
These benefits, which must be at least $10,000, are intended to cover “all appropriate and reasonable treatment and expenses necessarily incurred as a result of the accidental harm.”
This can include immediate medical care related to:
- Emergency room visits
- Specialist consultations
- Surgery
- Medications
- Ambulance transportation
- Diagnostics and labs
PIP benefits can also help cover the costs of rehabilitation and therapy, as well as medical-related travel, prosthetics, and follow-up care.
Unlike some states, where PIP benefits automatically cover lost wages and other damages, you have to add wage loss protection to your PIP policy in Hawaii.
PIP wage loss protection, when added, can cover up to 85 percent of your lost wages, up to $1,000 per month. The policy can also cover some costs related to household services and assistance, like cleaning or personal care.
What If My No-Fault Policy Doesn’t Cover All of My Damages?
Just because Hawaii is a no-fault state doesn’t mean a person who causes a car accident cannot be held accountable. If your damages exceed the limits of your no-fault PIP coverage, you can potentially sue the at-fault party for additional compensation.
Your injuries just need to satisfy the serious injury threshold established by Hawaii Revised Statutes §431:10C-306(d).
You can sue a negligent driver (and seek benefits from their 40/80/20 liability coverage) if you:
- Have more than $5,000 in medical bills because of the car accident
- Suffer a “permanent and serious disfigurement” that causes emotional suffering, and/or
- Experience a “significant permanent loss of use of a part or function of the body.”
Death can also give rise to a lawful tort action against a negligent motorist in Hawaii.
When you sue the at-fault driver, you can recover compensation up to their insurance policy limits, which must be at least $40,000 in bodily injury and $20,000 in property damage. If the driver purchased higher coverage, those limits will apply to your case.
In the event that your crash-related damages exceed your no-fault benefit limits and the at-fault driver’s policy limits, you can sue the at-fault driver directly. In these situations, the at-fault motorist could be personally liable for the catastrophic consequences of your auto accident.
What If I Get into a Car Accident With a Driver Who Doesn’t Have Minimum Car Insurance Coverage?
The good news is that your no-fault PIP benefits are in place to offset any immediate costs of medical care. However, if you suffer a serious spinal cord injury, brain injury, amputation injury, or other catastrophic trauma, the fact that the other driver is uninsured can be problematic.
In these situations, you have a couple of options.
First, it’s important to consider whether you’ve purchased uninsured motorist coverage (UM) and added it to your personal car insurance policy. If you have UM coverage, which the insurance company was required to offer when you bought your policy, you can file a claim to recover those benefits. UM benefits are intended to take the place of the liability coverage the at-fault driver should have had.
Second, you can sue the at-fault driver directly. Just because they decided to drive without insurance doesn’t mean they can’t be held personally accountable for an accident.
Finally, you can determine if a third party might be liable for your car accident and pursue compensation from them. Many times, multiple parties can contribute to collisions. In Hawaii, liability is proportionate to fault. The more someone causes a car accident, the more they can be on the hook for resulting damages.
How Can a Hawaii Car Accident Attorney Help Me With My No-Fault Insurance Claim?
Just because you have no-fault coverage doesn’t mean your insurance company will be happy about paying for your medical bills and other damages. While they’re your provider, they’re still a profit-hungry corporation that would rather deny coverage and limit benefits than pay what you deserve.
Hiring an experienced Maui car accident attorney at Singleton Schreiber can force your insurance company to handle your claim in good faith, help you exhaust all available benefits under your policy, and build a claim to recover additional compensation from the at-fault party, if needed.
We’re a nationally respected personal injury law firm that’s helped injury victims and families recover over $3 billion in damages. Asking for our help can ease your road to recovery and help you maximize your recovery. Contact our Hawaii law office today to schedule a free consultation to learn more.
