HONOLULU (KHON2) — The Hawaii Supreme Court ruled today that insurance companies are barred from subrogation claims against the defendants in the $4 billion Global Settlement for victims of the Lahaina wildfire, and is limited in its subrogation claims against victims.

Subrogation is the process in which insurance companies are allowed to get reimbursed for insurance claim payouts from an at-fault party. Insurance companies say they’ve paid out close to $3 billion in claims from the Lahaina wildfire on August 8, 2023.

The $4.037 billion settlement, also known as the Global Settlement, was announced in August and on Thursday the Supreme Court questioned involved attorneys.

“We are not against insured or other fire victims that weren’t even insured by somebody,” said Mark Grotefeld, attorney for insurance companies said after Thursdayʻs hearing. “We simply wanna be able to pursue the recovery against those that started this fire. And we’re entitled do that under the law.”

This ruling clears the way for individual payments to be paid out to fire victims.

“The Supreme Court simply followed clear Hawaii law that mainland subrogation insurers refused to acknowledge. This is the next step in getting relief to the plaintiffs who are the true victims of the Maui Fires,” Jesse Creed of Panish | Shea | Ravipudi LLP told KHON2.