Hawaii Premises Liability Settlement Calculator

Hawaii's 51% bar for comparative fault means you can still recover in a premises liability case as long as you are not more than 50% at fault. In a two-party incident where fault is split 50/50, you can still recover 50% of your damages. This is slightly more favorable than 50% bar states, where equal fault eliminates recovery entirely.

Hawaii gives you 2 years from the date of the incident to file a lawsuit, which is in line with the national average of 2.7 years. This is a standard timeframe, but acting sooner preserves evidence and strengthens your position.

Hawaii caps non-economic damages (pain and suffering, emotional distress, loss of enjoyment of life) at $375,000 for pain and suffering, meaning the physical pain that results from a physical injury (mental anguish, disfigurement, loss of enjoyment of life and loss of consortium are not capped) for this type of case. Intentional torts, product liability claims and the other actions listed in section 663-10.9(2) are exempt from the limit. (Haw. Rev. Stat. § 663-8.7)

In Hawaii, a property owner's duty of care depends on the visitor's legal status. Invitees (customers, business guests) receive the highest duty — owners must inspect for hazards and warn of or fix known dangers. Licensees (social guests) are owed a duty to warn of known hazards. Trespassers generally receive only a duty to avoid willful or wanton harm. Classifying your status at the time of the injury is often the first battleground in Hawaii premises cases.

To win a Hawaii slip-and-fall or hazard-based premises case, you generally must prove the property owner had actual or constructive notice of the dangerous condition. Constructive notice means the hazard existed long enough that a reasonable owner exercising reasonable care would have discovered it. Evidence of the condition's duration — timestamps on security footage, maintenance logs, witness accounts — is frequently decisive in Hawaii premises cases.