Earthquake Insurance
Have you been interested in Earthquake Insurance but you just didn't know how it works? You have options! We offer coverage though the California Earthquake Authority. We also offer coverage the GEOVERA a private earthquake company. Call today to find out which option is better for you. 951-395-0754
Earthquakes will happen. It's only a matter of time before the next one rolls through. Make sure you know what your options are.
Earthquake Insurance is a stand alone policy. It is designed to cover things that your home insurance won't cover in an earthquake.
Structure coverage. If your home starts shaking and part of the structure is damaged your earthquake coverage is there to rebuild or repair the damage. You can pick what deductible you want. They range from 5% of your dwelling coverage to 25% deductible. After your deductible is exceeded then your earthquake policy would pay out to repair damage to your home or your foundation.
Personal Property: This part of your policy covers your belongings inside the home. You can choose how much coverage you would like.
Loss of Use: Is there for you if you can't live in the home because it is damaged by a quake. It gives you money to live elsewhere while your home is repaired.
Earthquakes will happen. It's only a matter of time before the next one rolls through. Make sure you know what your options are.
Earthquake Insurance is a stand alone policy. It is designed to cover things that your home insurance won't cover in an earthquake.
Structure coverage. If your home starts shaking and part of the structure is damaged your earthquake coverage is there to rebuild or repair the damage. You can pick what deductible you want. They range from 5% of your dwelling coverage to 25% deductible. After your deductible is exceeded then your earthquake policy would pay out to repair damage to your home or your foundation.
Personal Property: This part of your policy covers your belongings inside the home. You can choose how much coverage you would like.
Loss of Use: Is there for you if you can't live in the home because it is damaged by a quake. It gives you money to live elsewhere while your home is repaired.
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Earthquake Blog Post After The Fourth of July Quake
A few weeks back we celebrated Independence day with a major earthquake, Yikes! Why is no one connecting the fact that after the fireworks were exploded across the state that we had several major earthquakes? I’m sure I can’t be the only one connecting fireworks with earthquakes. Oh, and on that point. How has Governor Newsom not banned fireworks yet? I’m sure there is some environmental impact that we should be discussing. Isn’t there a rare or endangered creature that needs to be protected from these explosions? I know my dog gets very upset and hides in the closet as soon as he hears the first firecracker. Poor pup! Ban fireworks for the sake of earthquakes and scared pups!
So, I don’t really buy the connection between fireworks and earthquakes in case you were wondering, but I’m sure there has to be someone out there that does! And my dog really does get scared and hides, but I'm not signing up to ban fireworks!
California definitely got a wake up call with these large earthquakes. Fortunately, the earthquakes were centered in a mostly rural area. The city of Ridgecrest was the nearest city and it took the brunt of the shaking. It appears that even with the high magnitude they didn’t suffer any major damage.
If the state wanted to draw up a great way to remind people that earthquakes are a constant threat this would be the perfect situation. Jolt the entire southern California area and talk about about the dangers earthquakes present for a few days.
I now have a new geologist crush named Dr. Lucy Jones. Right after the first quake I started hearing her on the radio. The next day after a bigger quake I saw her on TV. Who knew geology could be interesting? She was informative, funny and was able to talk about science with easy relatable terms. It was cool that she had so much enthusiasm for earthquakes and I really liked some of new technology they were using. The seismic count down was by far my favorite. If you didn’t watch, it is basically a count down clock that starts after the primary quake happened. The sensors were able to detect a quake and then by measuring the speed the earthquake waves traveled they could count down until you would feel the shake. It was amazing to watch as the wave of seismic energy traveled from the epicenter all the way to my couch. Go Dr. Jones. Not Indiana but Lucy!
Since this is an insurance blog it might be good to mention earthquake insurance here. I got an email from the insurance commissioner Ricardo Lara the other day. He was reminding insurance agents that the California Earthquake Authority was still open for business. In some areas they suspended writing new policies, but for the rest of the state you can still get insurance.
Now here’s the good and bad about earthquake insurance. It is a policy designed to cover your home if you have an earthquake which is good. Now, I saw some statistics that show only about ten percent of homeowners have earthquake insurance. That’s a pretty low number and hopefully more people will start buying it. The way the policy works is pretty simple. The dwelling coverage matches whatever you have on your current home insurance policy. You can’t select how much coverage you want, you must match it up to your dwelling coverage on the home insurance policy. Then you select what deductible you want. The lowest deductible is 5% of your dwelling. So, lets say your house is insured for 500,000. That means you’d have a 25,000 deductible. The average deductible with the earthquake insurance policy is probably 15%. Using the same example that means you’d have a 75,000 deductible. You can also select how much property coverage you want from a minimum of 5,000 and up. You can also select how much loss of use (if you can’t live in the home this money helps you live elsewhere) coverage you want too. There are additional coverages you can add too depending on how much you want to pay.
When the policy was created it was designed to cover catastrophic losses which is understandable. A lot of insurance companies almost went out of business after Northridge. It isn’t designed to cover small cracks to your stucco or to cover your broken dishes. The good news though is if you did have a total loss on the home you’d have some coverage to rebuild. Using the same example above, with 500,000 worth of coverage and a 15 % deductible you would get 425,000 to rebuild if you had a total loss. That is a lot better than getting nothing. There are no extended limit available which is a negative. Home insurance policies usually add an additional 25-50 % to the dwelling coverage to cover increased costs. The earthquake policy maxes out with no additional dwelling limits.
So, now you know a little more about earthquake insurance. You can get an easy quote on the CEA website. And, then you can call your home insurance company and have them add the policy. If you would like to get a quote on some home and earthquake coverage give me a call at 951-395-0754
So, I don’t really buy the connection between fireworks and earthquakes in case you were wondering, but I’m sure there has to be someone out there that does! And my dog really does get scared and hides, but I'm not signing up to ban fireworks!
California definitely got a wake up call with these large earthquakes. Fortunately, the earthquakes were centered in a mostly rural area. The city of Ridgecrest was the nearest city and it took the brunt of the shaking. It appears that even with the high magnitude they didn’t suffer any major damage.
If the state wanted to draw up a great way to remind people that earthquakes are a constant threat this would be the perfect situation. Jolt the entire southern California area and talk about about the dangers earthquakes present for a few days.
I now have a new geologist crush named Dr. Lucy Jones. Right after the first quake I started hearing her on the radio. The next day after a bigger quake I saw her on TV. Who knew geology could be interesting? She was informative, funny and was able to talk about science with easy relatable terms. It was cool that she had so much enthusiasm for earthquakes and I really liked some of new technology they were using. The seismic count down was by far my favorite. If you didn’t watch, it is basically a count down clock that starts after the primary quake happened. The sensors were able to detect a quake and then by measuring the speed the earthquake waves traveled they could count down until you would feel the shake. It was amazing to watch as the wave of seismic energy traveled from the epicenter all the way to my couch. Go Dr. Jones. Not Indiana but Lucy!
Since this is an insurance blog it might be good to mention earthquake insurance here. I got an email from the insurance commissioner Ricardo Lara the other day. He was reminding insurance agents that the California Earthquake Authority was still open for business. In some areas they suspended writing new policies, but for the rest of the state you can still get insurance.
Now here’s the good and bad about earthquake insurance. It is a policy designed to cover your home if you have an earthquake which is good. Now, I saw some statistics that show only about ten percent of homeowners have earthquake insurance. That’s a pretty low number and hopefully more people will start buying it. The way the policy works is pretty simple. The dwelling coverage matches whatever you have on your current home insurance policy. You can’t select how much coverage you want, you must match it up to your dwelling coverage on the home insurance policy. Then you select what deductible you want. The lowest deductible is 5% of your dwelling. So, lets say your house is insured for 500,000. That means you’d have a 25,000 deductible. The average deductible with the earthquake insurance policy is probably 15%. Using the same example that means you’d have a 75,000 deductible. You can also select how much property coverage you want from a minimum of 5,000 and up. You can also select how much loss of use (if you can’t live in the home this money helps you live elsewhere) coverage you want too. There are additional coverages you can add too depending on how much you want to pay.
When the policy was created it was designed to cover catastrophic losses which is understandable. A lot of insurance companies almost went out of business after Northridge. It isn’t designed to cover small cracks to your stucco or to cover your broken dishes. The good news though is if you did have a total loss on the home you’d have some coverage to rebuild. Using the same example above, with 500,000 worth of coverage and a 15 % deductible you would get 425,000 to rebuild if you had a total loss. That is a lot better than getting nothing. There are no extended limit available which is a negative. Home insurance policies usually add an additional 25-50 % to the dwelling coverage to cover increased costs. The earthquake policy maxes out with no additional dwelling limits.
So, now you know a little more about earthquake insurance. You can get an easy quote on the CEA website. And, then you can call your home insurance company and have them add the policy. If you would like to get a quote on some home and earthquake coverage give me a call at 951-395-0754
