Delarosa v. Liberty Mutual Ins. Co., 749 F.Supp.3d 1103

Plaintiffs were severely injured in a 2021 head-on car collision involving a car rented through Turo, a peer-to-peer car sharing platform.
The vehicle's owner (Rojo) and renter (Minnekhanov) each had personal auto policies, but both excluded coverage for rentals via Turo.
Turo had obtained two insurance policies from Liberty Mutual/Liberty Surplus: a "Host Policy" (for vehicle owners) with a $750,000 limit, and a "Guest Policy" (for renters), which only provided the state minimum of $20,000 per person.
After the accident, Liberty Mutual tendered $20,000 per person under the Guest Policy; plaintiffs rejected this and demanded the $750,000 limit under the Host Policy.
Plaintiffs filed for a declaratory judgment, seeking to force Liberty Mutual to apply the Host Policy to their claims; both parties moved for summary judgment on stipulated facts.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Does Hawai‘i law or public policy require rewriting the Host Policy to cover the renter/guest?	Hawai‘i law places responsibility on the vehicle owner, so Host Policy limits should cover guest; court should void exclusion.	Plain policy terms apply; only Guest Policy covers the renter, and exclusion is not contrary to law or public policy.	No, court declines to rewrite policy; Host Policy exclusion stands.
Is there any applicable statute (e.g., HRS 431:10C) that requires higher Host Policy limits?	Statutory scheme reflects public policy requiring owner to provide coverage, so Host Policy must apply.	Statute does not apply to non-owner insurers or policies not issued to the owner; Host Policy was issued to Turo, not Rojo.	No; no statutory language supports rewriting the policy.
Does case law (esp. Bowers v. Alamo Rent-A-Car) require Host Policy coverage?	Bowers bars shifting coverage away from owner; similar rationale applies.	Bowers only applies where owner tries to shift obligation; here, both policies cover host and minimums are met.	Bowers does not require rewriting policy; case is distinguishable.
Do equitable principles require Host Policy coverage?	Equitable relief appropriate as hosts bought Host Policy to comply with law; exclusion is unfair.	No evidence Liberty Mutual acted inequitably; equitable arguments insufficient.	No equitable basis to rewrite policy; insufficient evidence.

Bowers v. Alamo Rent-A-Car, Inc., 88 Hawai‘i 274 (Haw. 1998) (public policy prevents rental car companies from shifting primary insurance responsibility from owners to renters)
Dairy Rd. Partners v. Island Ins. Co., 92 Hawai‘i 398 (Haw. 2000) (insurance contracts interpreted according to plain language and general contract law)
First Ins. Co. of Hawai‘i, Inc. v. State, 66 Haw. 413 (Haw. 1983) (insurers may limit liability unless contrary to statute or public policy)