A commentary on insurance coverage issues in Hawaii and beyond
I was recently asked to look into investment and disclosure requirements for health insurance companies authorized to issue policies in Hawaii. A summary follows:
Hawaii Law
Investment requirements for all insurance companies are addressed in the Article VI of the Hawaii Insurance Code, Haw. Rev. Stat. §431:6-101-6-602. Generally, any security or other investment purchased by an insurer…
Last April we reviewed the Hawai`i Intermediate Court of Appeals' (ICA) decision that the Insurance Commissioner's assessments against insurers were unconstitutional taxes. The Hawai`i Supreme Court recently affirmed in part, reversed in part. See Hawaii Insurers Council v. Lingle, 2008 Haw. LEXIS 287 (Haw. Dec. 18, 2008).
In 1999, the legislature created the Insurance…
Although the insurer's conduct did not amount to bad faith in Young v. Allstate Ins. Co., 119 Haw. 403 (Haw. 2008), the court held plaintiff's allegations of intentional infliction of emotional distress (IIED) were sufficient to survive a motion to dismiss.
Plaintiff alleged she was stopped in traffic when a car operated by an…
Our last post summarized a Texas case (Byrne, Ltd. v. Trinity Universal Ins. Co., 2008 Tex. App. LEXIS 9041 (Tex. Ct. App. Dec. 4, 2008)), which held the insurer must defend where the underlying complaint is silent as to when the injury occurred. Today we shift gears and review a case favorable to insurers…
The seminal Hawai`i case on injury in fact and trigger of coverage is Sentinel Ins. Co., Ltd. v. First Ins. Co. of Hawaii, Ltd. 76 Hawai`i 277, 875 P.2d 894 (1994), where the Hawai`i Supreme Court adopted the injury in fact trigger. Since Sentinel, however, the Hawai`i Supreme Court has not returned to the issue.…
