Safeguarding Your Home From California Shakes
If you are going through the internal debate of whether or not to purchase earthquake insurance, you must consider the following. Whether you are new to California or have been living here your entire life, all California residents can benefit from the security an earthquake insurance policy provides. As a homeowner, you should be aware of what coverage is excluded from your policy, and earthquake is always excluded on a Homeowners insurance policy.
Considering the fact that earthquake damage is excluded under your homeowners’ insurance policy AND that our beautiful state tends to shake more often than others, it is important that you hold this vital safeguard. Those who lived in California during the 1994 Northridge Earthquake don’t have to be sold on the idea that a quake can cause significant damage. Would you be able to recover from such as loss? What if your home needed to be rebuilt? Could you afford to do so without the help of any insurance?
Rather than leaving your home, your family, and your assets vulnerable to the damages an earthquake leaves behind, you can obtain earthquake insurance today! This is the only way to feel truly confident that your home is protected should the inevitable occur. These policies can either be purchased exclusively, or as an endorsement to your homeowner’s insurance policy. Deductibles are different for quake – they are expressed as a percentage of your total coverage instead of a flat amount. For example, if you have $300,000 of Dwelling coverage and a 15% earthquake deductible, your policy would pay for damages once the damage exceeds $45,000, or 15% of the $300,000. At first glance it sounds like you’re not getting much coverage. But earthquake coverage really is intended to protect you for severe, even total, losses. Most homeowners would not be able to finance the total cost of rebuilding if a quake totally destroyed their home. But they probably could afford to finance the $45,000 deductible. And it is in those terms that a family should consider the value of earthquake coverage.
In the last decade we have sold relatively few earthquake policies to homeowners. Frankly, most people in the Sacramento Valley just didn’t see it as a need. But in the last 2 years we’ve felt 2 considerable quakes: The 5.7 Susanville quake in May 2013 and the August 2014 6.0 in Napa. Since those 2 quakes we have sold numerous earthquake polices every month. I live in Davis and I felt both of them; thankfully no major damage. However, we have a few cracks in the drywall and my neighbors report the same thing. I have heard it my whole life – the big one is coming… better to have the coverage and be prepared.
Serving Sacramento, Davis, and all of California, contact Purves & Associates Insurance Services for all of your earthquake insurance needs. If you are ready to add this coverage to your homeowners’ insurance policy, please do not hesitate to give us a call. We will go above and beyond to secure your home to the fullest.