We have had earthquake coverage since the early 1990's, both in CA for the 1994 Northridge quake, (we were in Chatsworth then)and now in Vancouver WA. I think the coverage was grandfathered in when we moved in 1995.
After the 1994 quake, we had some damage, Farmers and FEMA paid, and all was repaired.
I wouldn't be without it anywhere quake prone.

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Originally posted by deepocean:

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Originally posted by BB61:

We have had them for 17 years for everything. They are the cheapest we found too based upon their underwriting policies. Many companies won't even bid against them.

Years ago I heard they only take people with great credit, clear driver's licence record, etc. Is that accurate? That kind of risk pool would keep rates stable and be a reason for me to move things to them.

That plus you have to not be a drinker either. Even responsible drinking will DQ you.

We have the earth quake insurance.
Afterwords I was curious and got the app “QuakeFeed”.
A free app listing quakes around the world in real time, their recorded strentgh, etc.
you maybe surprised at just how many ”small” quakes occur in or near your area. Ours is NC.

I put in an offer on the only house I ever looked at. A stucco house with clay block. While it was being evaluated I went to lunch a 1/4 mile from the house. We had a 5.6 earthquake while I was having lunch. Everything rock and rolled. I decided then and there if it happened once it could happen again. I’ve paid for it ever sine. Once bitten, twice shy.

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Originally posted by Rick Lee:
In the high-incident areas I'd be worried about the insurance companies' ability to pay in the event the big one hits. Might not matter in the middle of nowhere with sparse populations. But if a major city in CA gets wiped out, FEMA won't be able to handle it and insurance companies will go out of business very fast.

That isn't how it works. Homeowners insurance truly is considered "too big to fail" and for that reason it is heavily regulated and controlled so that that won't happen. (It is certainly possible some could, but not most)

Some ways it is controlled; first of all standard HO policies don't cover earthquakes or floods! Flood insurance is too risky to be profitable which is why it is underwritten by us taxpayers and limited to a lower limit. When we put the type of loss aside there are other controls. The regulators audit company finances and mandate minimum cash reserves on hand as a percentage of policies in force... So, you won't have a company that grows super fast writing new business, then gets hit with a disaster w/o the $ to pay it.

Another control is the companies themselves choose where to write insurance, mine still doesn't write in FL unless they changed that recently.

Finally, the big one. Re-insurance! Insurance companies have re-insurance that kicks in if a loss event goes over some very big # like say a billion. In 2017 we had two major catastrophes, the hurricane and then the Santa Rosa area wildfires. Re-insurance kicked in on the hurricane so the fire ended up not costing us anything.

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Living in San Diego, CA ~ yes I have earthquake insurance.

Keep in mind that most likely, it will be the foundation, structure, and contents that will need to be replaced or repaired. Don't look at the coverage for what you paid for your home as that also included land value.

One of the best things you can do is install an earthquake shut-off valve on your gas main. This protects your home in the event the earthquake sheers the gas lines going to your water heater, stove, furnace, etc...

Keep in mind that before you reset the gas auto-shutoff valve you will need to shut off your gas appliances that use continuously lit pilot lights. Otherwise you will fill your home with gas before you get a chance to relight the pilot light. My clothes dryer has an electronic pilot light but my furnace has a pilot light that is always lit.

In the days following the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake, people who had insurance discovered it did not cover earthquakes.

Some believe that was the reason Fire did more damage than the earthquake to buildings and why fires continued to burn for several days after the earthquake.

.

Fact, some carriers are getting rid of earthquake insurance. Ask yourself, if it is such a small percentage of occurring why would they say no to free money?

Also, you are thinking of a major earthquake that level your home. Your home can be standing after a quake but deem unsafe for occupancy. Also, you don’t have home insurance for the total burn down or a F5 tornado leveling it.

Use the 10% rule. You should spend less than 10% for insurance/warranty vs the value of the item. If you have a $1000 TV, do not spend more than $100.

Ultimately, you decide what risk you are willing to assume and what risk you are not.

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Originally posted by Beanhead:
Also, you don’t have home insurance for the total burn down or a F5 tornado leveling it.

Not sure what you mean by this part? The limit on the home should be the cost to completely rebuild it in the event of a total loss pus debris removal. Both the total loss fire and tornado, though thankfully rare,...are covered events. Heck, fire is always covered (unless you set it ), so even if an earthquake wasn't covered, but the gas line ruptured and started a fire that burned the home, it would be covered.

I'm an adjuster and just deal with what we call "large losses" typically $100K plus, so I've handled a bunch of total losses.

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Originally posted by Strambo:

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Originally posted by Beanhead:
Also, you don’t have home insurance for the total burn down or a F5 tornado leveling it.

Not sure what you mean by this part? The limit on the home should be the cost to completely rebuild it in the event of a total loss pus debris removal. Both the total loss fire and tornado, though thankfully rare,...are covered events. Heck, fire is always covered (unless you set it ), so even if an earthquake wasn't covered, but the gas line ruptured and started a fire that burned the home, it would be covered.

I'm an adjuster and just deal with what we call "large losses" typically $100K plus, so I've handled a bunch of total losses.

I hate typing on phones. What I meant was that you don’t buy it expecting to only cover for the major stuff. Sometimes it is those tens of thosusand dollar claims that is what you want to protect from. That’s the same with earthquake coverage. It may not be a complete destruction but enough that you don’t want to foot the bill.

^^^^^

Gotcha. Yes, the average homeowner never has a claim. Of those who do, the average claim amount is I think somewhere in the $7k range. Lots of small ones, a handful of medium $30-$75k ones and thankfully very few big-uns!

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Originally posted by deepocean:

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Originally posted by BB61:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by deepocean:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by BB61:

That plus you have to not be a drinker either. Even responsible drinking will DQ you.

I do not drink alcohol, but how would they know that? Are you serious? The agent did not ask me about that.

Maybe they have changed but for auto you do and we have them for everything so I assumed HO was the same. Bundling does save $$$.