HONOLULU -- Customers of a major Hawaii insurance company may be affected by the financial crisis that drove stocks down 500 points Monday.

American International Group, the world's biggest insurance company has lots of customers in Hawaii. The company is scrambling to find loans to stay alive.

But it was just one of the big financial stories that developed Monday.

In the last 24 hours, Lehman Brothers Bank went bankrupt, Merrill Lynch sold itself to Bank of America and the stock market fell 500 points -- a 4 percent drop.

The current company in the spotlight is AIG which hopes to find a savior.

Residents in Hawaii know AIG as the car, home and life insurance company with the spunky commercials. But on Wall Street it’s the massive insurer of billions in bad loans, teetering on the brink, worrying the regulators.

“It is such a terrible thing for people if an insurance company gets into financial trouble and goes into liquidation,” said Hawaii Insurance Commissioner J.P. Schmidt.

While AIG seeks emergency loans from many of the same banks it insured its local executives pointed out that the problem so far involves only one part of the giant company.

“As far as we know, AIG's position nationwide with respect to insurance is very, very sound,” said Robin Companiano, of AIG Hawaii.

The insurance commissioner said he agrees.

“They shouldn't be worried at this time. They should be concerned and following the news and talking to their insurance advisors. One possible outcome of this turmoil on Wall Street is that AIG might be forced to sell off its profitable automotive and homeowners insurance lines to focus on its core service which is insuring business,” Schmidt said.

So although this might be a scary time for some experts said there is not much that an average person can do except ride it out.