Earthquake Insurance

[davenlei]

So, I have never been interested in getting earthquake insurance and thought it was a joke with that high deductible but now I have gained some serious equity and don't want it to all go away if there is a major quake.  I know home values will be tanked if there is a quake at least for a period of time but of course it will recover over time. 

So with those scenarios aside, for those of you with earthquake insurance, who do you go through? The CEA (California Earthquake Authority) or directly through a private insurance company?  Through the CEA, I was looking at a premium of under $500 a year for 10% deductible and higher levels of the residual replacement, etc..  If I go with the private insurance company outside CEA, it is around $1,600 premium with all other criteria the same.

 

[aquabliss]

I have State Farm and my quote from them was exactly the same as CEA.  They use CEA I believe to purchase the policy so it shouldn't be any different than their online estimator unless they're skimming some off the top for whatever reason.

I bought the cheapest one I could, which was actually a pretty good price.  Something along the lines of 15% deductible, $400k coverage, lowest replacement value - only about $12 per month.  Mine is just for catastrophic purposes to be able to rebuild if the entire structure is deemed uninhabitable.

 

[chyuan]

It all depends on the zip code, some zip yield incredibly low premium (PP for example, in 92618)...not for me though, exactly the same coverage as yours shows an annual premium of $585 for 92620.

 

[Irvinecommuter]

I believe CEA is the only game in town (or the state).  You also you have decide whether it is worth it.  Earthquake insurance usually comes with a high deductible.  If the bank owns the bulk of your house, it may not be worth the insurance.

 

[davenlei]

I believe CEA is the only game in town (or the state).  You also you have decide whether it is worth it.  Earthquake insurance usually comes with a high deductible.  If the bank owns the bulk of your house, it may not be worth the insurance.

Yea, I know about the deductible which is pretty high but the reason I am considering it is because I have more equity in the house than I owe to the bank.

 

[usctrojancpa]

I believe CEA is the only game in town (or the state).  You also you have decide whether it is worth it.  Earthquake insurance usually comes with a high deductible.  If the bank owns the bulk of your house, it may not be worth the insurance.

Yea, I know about the deductible which is pretty high but the reason I am considering it is because I have more equity in the house than I owe to the bank.

Keep in mind that the land is worth more than the house.  You can probably rebuilt the home at around $150-$175/sf. 

 

[jerometl]

Anybody know any insurance company affiliated with CEA that would offer earthquake insurance alone (without homeowners bundle) ? 

Our current homeowner insurance company (not affiliated with CEA) quoted it at $468 when CEA say it should have been just in the $200 range.  I've asked a few company from the CEA list and they won't offer earthquake alone (it has to be bundled with homeowner) but their homeowner quote are way much more expensive that we currently have .. so I was hoping to keep our current homeowner  insurance policy and just get the ~$200 earthquake rate from another company.