The Best and Cheapest Home Insurance Companies in Hawaii
The Best and Cheapest Home Insurance Companies in Hawaii
Picking the right home insurance company is about finding the right mix of affordability, features and reliability. We collected hundreds of quotes from across Hawaii and looked at all of the most popular companies to find the best home insurers for a variety of homeowners.
Compare Home Insurance Quotes from Providers in Hawaii
In Hawaii, we found that the best price for a typical homeowners insurance policy is $501. However, we don't recommend buying a policy based solely on cost. Here are our top recommendations for homeowners insurance in Hawaii.
Cheapest options for homeowners insurance in Hawaii
The average price of homeowners insurance in Hawaii is about $1,083 per year. Coincidentally, we found that this is the same price as the national average cost of coverage.
The cheapest homeowners insurance for most property owners in Hawaii is Allstate, which sells policies for an average of $501 per year. State Farm is the most expensive, selling coverage for over an annual cost of $1,300.
Compare Home Insurance Quotes from Providers in Hawaii
Insurer | Average Annual Cost | |
|---|---|---|
| Allstate | $501 |
| Liberty Mutual | $956 |
| First Insurance Company of Hawaii | $1,082 | |
| Hawaiian Insurance and Guaranty | $1,299 | |
| AIG | $1,314 | |
| State Farm | $1,345 |
Best homeowners insurance for most people: Allstate
The best homeowners insurance for most people in Hawaii is Allstate due to its affordability and customizable policies. Hawaiian property owners can personalize their protection levels with Allstate's range of endorsements or elect to stay with a standard policy, which grants enough coverage on its own for many homeowners.
Allstate's homeowners insurance costs about $500 on average in Hawaii, and it's possible to further reduce your premium by qualifying for discounts. Many property owners might be able to get discounts if they have protective devices installed in their house, including storm shutters, or if they plan to renew their policies. Allstate also offers discounts for retired homeowners, too.
Allstate's standard homeowners insurance includes coverage against perils that are usually recognized across the industry, such as fire, theft and falling objects. However, Allstate, and Hawaii's other homeowners insurance providers, may not cover damage from hurricane-force winds without a special hurricane endorsement.
You could purchase additional coverage to your homeowners insurance policy if you want more protection than what's afforded by a standard policy. Allstate offers the following endorsements:
- Identity theft protection and recovery services
- Water and sewer backup protection
- Money for green renovations after a covered loss
- Yard and garden coverage for damaged trees and shrubs
- Electronic data recovery
- Increased limits for dwelling and personal property recovery
Best for local coverage: First Insurance Company of Hawaii
First Insurance Company of Hawaii, or FICOH, has the best homeowners insurance for people who want coverage from a provider local to the Aloha State. FICOH sells insurance across Hawaii through its 26 agencies and has had offices in the state since 1911.
The average cost of homeowners insurance from First Insurance Company of Hawaii is nearly identical to the state's mean price at $1,082 per year. While the company doesn't offer many discounts, you could save up to 40% if you remain claim-free for multiple consecutive years. You could also save a maximum of 11% if you renew your policy.
FICOH's main drawback is a relative lack of online functionality. Unlike larger providers such as Liberty Mutual and Allstate, FICOH requires you to contact an agent to get detailed information about your policy. You can't file any claims through FICOH's website, either — although you can pay your bill online.
Despite its limited online features, First Insurance Company of Hawaii has maintained a favorable customer service reputation for years. According to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), FICOH hasn't received a complaint since 2016, even while being one of the largest homeowners insurance companies in Hawaii.
Best homeowners insurance online: Liberty Mutual
If you want an easy and fast shopping experience, you should consider getting home insurance coverage from Liberty Mutual. We found that you can request, customize and purchase coverage online in about eight minutes. You can also manage your claims and pay your bills online or on the company's app. Liberty Mutual also offers a discount for customers who choose paperless billing.
In Hawaii, the average cost of homeowners insurance from Liberty Mutual is around $950, 12% cheaper than the state's mean rate. Additionally, Liberty Mutual offers over 10 discounts — most of which are easy to achieve. You could save money by:
- Remaining claim-free for three years
- Owning a new home or one that's been recently renovated
- Insuring up to the value of your home
- Requesting a quote before your existing policy ends
- Enrolling in paperless billing and payments
Liberty Mutual's homeowners insurance protects against many perils outlined by other companies' policies. For more coverage, you could purchase protection for water backup and sump pump overflow or increase your policy's limits. You could also get an endorsement that ensures inflation won't outmatch your coverage.
Best for military families: USAA
If you're a part of one of Hawaii's tens of thousands of eligible military families, then USAA's coverage is worth looking into for its protections and customer service. Homeowners insurance from USAA comes with coverage for your uniform if it's damaged while you're on active or reserve duty. USAA also includes replacement cost coverage at a price that would only get you actual cash value coverage with other companies.
While we weren't able to retrieve quotes from USAA, the company's reputation for customer satisfaction indicate that you should consider inquiring about coverage if you're eligible. Among the national providers in our study, USAA has the fewest complaints for its market share according to the NAIC. Additionally, it was awarded a 5/5 for its customer service by J.D. Power.
Hawaii insurance rates: city-by-city breakdowns
We compiled the following table by finding the average cost of homeowners insurance in Hawaii's largest cities using the rates that we collected for this survey. Below, we've displayed the cost of insurance in each of the state's cities with more than 10,000 residents, as well as each city's difference from Hawaii's statewide average.
Overall there's not very much variance when it comes to each city's prices. The most expensive cities include Hilo, Kahului and Kihei, which all have an average cost of $1,095 for homeowners insurance.
Name | Average cost | % difference from average |
|---|---|---|
| Honolulu | $1,066 | -2% |
| East Honolulu | $1,066 | -2% |
| Pearl City | $1,066 | -2% |
| Hilo | $1,095 | 1% |
| Kailua | $1,081 | 0% |
| Waipahu | $1,066 | -2% |
| Kaneohe | $1,066 | -2% |
| Mililani Town | $1,066 | -2% |
| Kahului | $1,095 | 1% |
| Ewa Gentry | $1,066 | -2% |
| Mililani Mauka | $1,066 | -2% |
| Kihei | $1,095 | 1% |
The best-reviewed homeowners insurance companies in Hawaii
We assessed the customer service of the largest insurance companies in Hawaii by comparing complaint data provided by the NAIC, along with financial strength information as rated by A.M. Best. In addition to these two measurements, we also considered scores given by J.D. Power when available.
Most of Hawaii's smaller insurers don't receive many (if any) complaints, according to the complaint index. So, to give context about the sizes of Hawaii's homeowners insurance companies in proportion to their complaints, the table below also includes the value of each company's homeowners insurance premiums, as provided by the NAIC.
The large provider with the best customer service in Hawaii is USAA. Zephyr Insurance, a subsidiary of Heritage Insurance, has the largest premium value of the local providers while maintaining a 0.00 complaint index.
Company name | NAIC value | Annual number of premiums ($) | J.D. Power | A.M. Best financial strength rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| State Farm | 0.20 | $14 billion | 4/5 | A++ |
| Zephyr Insurance | 0.00 | $53 million | Not rated | Not rated |
| First of Hawaii | 0.00 | $27 million | Not rated | A+ |
| USAA | 0.15 | $3 billion | 5/5 | A++ |
| Allstate | 0.57 | $2 billion | 3/5 | A+ |
| DB Insurance Company | 0.00 | $24 million | Not rated | A |
| Island Insurance Companies | 0.00 | $7 million | Not rated | A |
| Liberty Mutual | 0.40 | $839 million | 2/5 | A |
| AIG | 0.00 | $13.63 million | 2/5 | A |
| RLI | 0.00 | $13.98 million | Not rated | A+ |
Most common homeowners insurance perils in Hawaii: hurricanes and volcanoes
Hawaii is one of the only U.S. states that has active volcanoes, which can pose a major risk for nearby homeowners. And as an island chain, Hawaii must also consider the possibility of marine perils such as hurricanes, tsunamis and floods.
Before purchasing coverage, you should understand how a homeowners insurance company treats the perils that you're likely to encounter, including more common disasters like lightning and fire, as well those that are more destructive and rare.
Do you need hurricane insurance in Hawaii?
You will need to purchase hurricane insurance if your mortgage lender requires it. Unlike in other states, it's not uncommon for homeowners insurance companies in Hawaii to exclude hurricanes from their lists of covered perils. Insurers excluding hurricanes usually define the damage they will cover by wind speed, so weak wind damage may still be covered.
Hawaii hasn't been hit by a major hurricane since Hurricane Iniki in 1992, but that storm inflicted billions of dollars in damage to the islands. We recommend carrying enough insurance to rebuild your property if it were destroyed, especially since Hawaii could experience a strong hurricane in the future.
Hurricane insurance doesn't cover the damage done by floods and rising water that might accompany a storm surge or a tsunami. Instead, both of these perils are covered by flood insurance, which costs about $670 per year in Hawaii.
Is there volcano insurance?
The damage that a volcano can inflict on your home is covered inpart by most homeowners insurance policies' protections against fires. However, your policy won't cover damage that's caused from earth movements or a rupture that the volcano causes. There may also be a cap on the amount of time that a covered volcanic eruption lasts.
If you couldn't access your home due to an eruption, your policy's additional living expenses would pay for lodging and expenses while you couldn't live in your home. However, your policy's additional living expenses aren't unlimited. When the Leilani Estates community was destroyed by the Kīlauea volcano in 2017, impassable roads and dangerous dried lava flow prevented residents from rebuilding.
Typically, policies stipulate that payments will only continue until you settle elsewhere if you're forced to relocate on a permanent or semi-permanent basis or until you hit your limit. This means you could eventually have to bear the responsibility of paying for housing yourself.
How did we pick the best homeowners insurance companies in Hawaii?
In order to find the best homeowners insurance companies in Hawaii, we consulted the rates of each provider, their policy offerings and customer service reputation. We gathered quotes from every ZIP code in Hawaii using a sample profile for a $617,400 home built in 1981 — the median value of homes in Hawaii and the median year they were built.
We sourced our rates from the following companies:
- State Farm
- First Insurance Company of Hawaii
- Allstate
- Liberty Mutual
- AIG
- Hawaiian Insurance and Guaranty Company Ltd.
ValuePenguin's analysis used insurance rate data from Quadrant Information Services. These rates were publicly sourced from insurer filings and should be used for comparative purposes only — your own quotes may be different.
Editorial Note: The content of this article is based on the author’s opinions and recommendations alone. It has not been previewed, commissioned or otherwise endorsed by any of our network partners.