Judge agrees to move wildfire settlement questions to Hawaii Supreme Court

A Maui judge on Friday ruled to allow the Hawaii Supreme Court to rule on a matter holding up a $4 billion wildfire settlement that was first reached a little over a month ago.

Judge Peter Cahill in Maui agreed. to ask the state Supreme Court questions about how insurance companies recover money they have already paid to policyholders, according to media reports Friday, including the Associated Press.

Last month, Cahill agreed to a $4 billion settlement with Hawaiian Electric Co.New York: HE) and six other defendants to resolve lawsuits brought by hundreds of victims of last year’s Maui wildfires. Hawaiian Electric (HE) said last month it would pay about $2 billion in the settlement.

The issue before the Hawaii Supreme Court is that the insurers have already paid out more than $2 billion and want to file separate lawsuits against the defendants to recover their claims. Cahill ruled earlier this month that the insurers cannot bring their own lawsuits, known as subrogation suits.

“Answering the questions will help me make further decisions,” Cahill said during the two-hour hearing Friday, according to a news release. Report on the hearing Written by Hawaii Civil Beat.

Last month, Wells Fargo upgraded Hawaiian Electric (HE) to equal weight from underweight, writing that there was a high probability that a wildfire settlement would be reached in the coming weeks.

Wells Fargo analysts wrote that insurers may be willing to settle between $1 billion and $1.2 billion, or 30%-35% of the estimated $3.3 billion in insured claims, compared with the $600 million initially offered.