Is Earthquake coverage worth it in CA?

[booter1]

Hi Piggs-just curious as to folks’ opinions on whether it seems worthwhile to have earthquake coverage thru CEA and if you have the coverage or if not-why not?

We do not have earthquake coverage currently, my thought has been that if there was a sizeable earthquake that produced major damage the bank has most of the liability since they hold the mortgage.

If I have earthquake coverage, the deductibles seem high (10 or 15%)so…. assuming a million dollar home, and the house is totalled, I would either be out the $100,000 equity (approx) or $100,000 (if I chose the 10 per cent deductible).

The estimated premium for one story 2006 home in Temecula is around $2000 annual.That doesn’t bother me so much as the exclusions.

It does seem like there are a significant number of exclusions like: detached structures, fencing, concrete driveways and patios, patio covers and swimming pools/spa. $5000 max coverage for all chimneys. Also excluded is all landscaping, irrigation and and earthmoving required to fix land, etc. Finally, and somehwat surprisingly, if fire occurs as a result of the earthquake-also not covered.

I thought I read somewhere that something like only 12% of CA homeowners carry earthquake coverage. It does not appear to be worth it overall unless I pay off the house in which case I am assuming all liability but want to hear the counsel of others in case I am missing something. Thx.

[scaredyclassic]

Got a quote recently at 15 percent deductible quite a bit less than 2k a year. Not sure what to make of it.

Kind of thinking I’ll have about 15 percent deductibles worth of damage.

[UCGal]

We had it until my husband added seismic retrofits to the house. Our house was built in the 60’s and the codes have changed since then. He added additional diagonal bracing, reinforced the weight load of the brick surrounding our fireplace. Added additional strapping between the 2nd and 1st floor. Added more sill to foundation bolts, Added more shear walls (replace sheet rock with plywood). And stiffened all the corners of the house.

When he was done with all that, we canceled the policy.

[paramount]

Insure what you can’t afford to replace.

[zk]

Whether it’s worth it depends on where you live, imho. The potential for earthquakes of a size to significantly damage a wood-frame home varies drastically within California.

http://nsmp.wr.usgs.gov/ekalkan/California/index.html

You can zoom in pretty close on the maps and it’s quite detailed.

In the red areas, it might be worth it. In the green areas, probably not.

[The-Shoveler]

I think coastal SD is very fortunate to be in a low risk area for quakes, BUT it’s the ones they don’t know about that will get you LOL.

Anyway in the event that there is a major quake, the insurance only is good until their money runs out from what I understand so that is something to think about.

[Author]

Posts