Your existing homeowners policy isn’t enough

On average, earthquake caused $ 14.7 billion in property damage every year in the United States, according to a 2023 report issued by the FBA. While nearly two -thirds of these losses occur in California within a typical year, earthquakes can occur anywhere. American geological survey is estimated that nearly 75 % of the United States may have damage to earthquakes and earth shaking.

Insurance can provide protection against the financial destruction of the earthquake. However, you will need to purchase additional insurance because standard home owners insurance policy does not cover the losses related to the earthquake.

Learn more: Home owners insurance: what is covered and the amount of payment

Most insurance for home owners do not cover the damage caused by earthquakes. While standard home policy covers losses from events such as fire, lightning, cold and fallen things, the damage associated with the earthquake is usually excluded. This means that you need separate insurance for the earthquake, which you can buy as an independent policy or by adding support to your home policy to get an additional allowance.

One exception: Your home policy may cover some types of damage that the earthquake is indirectly caused. For example, you can enter your home policy if a fire is destroyed by your roof earthquake, or your tubes ’structures due to shaking, and your home causes water damage.

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The earthquake insurance usually covers the following losses if it is caused by a seismic event:

• Fixing or replacing your material structure (and sometimes other structures, such as a separate garage)

• Replace your personal property, such as your clothes, furniture and electronics

• Payment for temporary living expenses (it is often referred to as additional living expenses or loss coverage

• Removal

The earthquake insurance may also help cover the costs of raising your home to current construction codes and fixing the ground under your stay.

Many earthquake policies contain the following exceptions, according to the National Insurance Commission (NAIC):

• fire. The earthquake insurance is not only covered by the expenses that are not paid by the policy of home owners. Most household policies will cover fire damage, even if the earthquake causes fire.

• Floods. You will need separate flood insurance to cover water damage from external sources, such as the lake that overflows or spare streams, even if the earthquake causes flood.

• land. The damage to the Earth, such as fossils or cracks in the annihilation caused by an earthquake, usually not covered. However, if your policy includes covering engineering costs, it may help pay to secure the ground under your home.

• The pre -existing damage. The earthquake insurance will not cover the problems that were already present before the earthquake.

• Vehicles. You will need a comprehensive car insurance on your car policy to protect your car from the earthquake damage.

• Building crust. Some earthquake policies exclude construction crust, such as bricks, rocks, or stone, which cover the outer surface of the house.

If you are not sure to cover your earthquake policy, check your police ads page and call your insurance agent to any questions.

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Earthquake insurance includes a deduction, an amount required of the document holder to pay from the pocket before insurance kicks. Seismic discounts are usually higher than home insurance discounts. Unlike the standard insurance of homeowners, which usually has a flat discount, or $ 1,000 or $ 2000, earthquake discounts are often a percentage of policy limit, usually between 10 % and 20 %.

Each type of earthquake coverage may be separate for the opponent. For example, suppose your policy has a coverage limits of $ 200,000 and the $ 100,000 personal content coverage limits. If you have 20 % discounts for each type of coverage, you will pay for the first damage of $ 40,000 in your home and the first $ 20,000 of damage to your property.

All earthquakes and subsequent tremors that occur inside a window for three days are used as one event and cover them under the same discount. The damage caused by remarkable tremors after the initial three -day period usually leads to a second discount.

The earthquake insurance costs $ 800 on average annually in the United States, according to the insurance company Limonad. However, the installments are more expensive in high -risk areas. For example, California’s home owner can pay up to $ 2,500 every year for $ 500,000 of coverage.

Your earthquake installments depend on multiple factors, including your home location, age, building materials and the estimated cost of rebuilding. The choice of a policy with higher discounts will reduce your installments, while low discounts come with an increase in insurance installments.

If you are considering the earthquake insurance, here are some of the steps that must be taken. Note that the rules and the process can vary depending on the case.

You can evaluate the risk of your earthquake with the risk maps of the geological survey of geological survey. Although earthquakes can occur anywhere, you may decide to insure the earthquake is not worth the cost if you live in a low -risk area.

Ask your home insurance company if it is providing an earthquake coverage as a fill. You may be able to buy an independent earthquake policy through another transport company if the insurance company does not allow you to add support.

Most of the earthquake policies are sold in California by the California -running seismology (CEA), which shares a network of private insurance companies to provide coverage. You will need a home policy or tenants through one of its partner companies and buy earthquake coverage through the same company.

It is usually recommended to choose the same housing coverage limit for your earthquake policy as you have for your home policy. You should choose a large bit enough to rebuild your home to its previous state.

Also, consider the cost of your discounts. You may tend to reduce your insurance installments by choosing higher discounts, but make sure your opponent is affordable. Remember that your earthquake will not start to pay this amount.

Step 4: Compare quotes and options

It is often paid for multiple transportation rates. While finding a reasonable installment is important, customer service is also important, especially if you need to make a claim. You can use the NAIC search tool to search for companies by name. The company’s complaint index will show you whether the insurance company receives a higher number of average or less than average from complaints compared to companies of similar size.

In the wake of the direct earthquake, you may not be able to get coverage immediately. Most insurance companies will not write new policies for 30 to 60 days after the earthquake.

The claim process differs somewhat depending on the case, but these are the basic steps to submit an earthquake’s claim:

1. Contact the insurance company or the agent. Let them know that you have been damaged in earthquakes, and ask about the steps next to this process, including any final dates. Take detailed notes during each conversation. Make sure you get the name of every person you talk to, and note the date you contacted.

2. See your policy documents. Your policy ads page will include important details about your coverage, including your discounts and policy boundaries.

3. In response to your claim officer. In the end, your insurance company will send an officer to check the damage. The officer usually wants to meet you on the site. The officer showed any damage and found it, but also make sure that the inspection includes hidden spaces, such as the lower floors, crawling spaces, and panels. You may also want to obtain independent repair estimates from the contractor. You can even ask the contractor to meet you and your officer.

4. Take action if you do not agree to your insurance company decisions. You can ask your insurance officer a written explanation of any decisions. If you think your insurance company has hurried to your bad demand, you can contact the insurance department in your jurisdiction. If you do not agree to the value of your level, you may want to employ a lawyer or a general officer to invite you on behalf of you.

Learn more: How to file a complaint against your insurance company

The federal government may provide assistance after the earthquake, but it is not an alternative to the earthquake insurance.

The individual FMA and families may provide some support after a disaster or state of advertising. FEMA housing assistance can help basic home repairs and obtain temporary shelter, while helping “other needs” may be available to cover expenses such as staying in a hotel or mine, childcare, replace your personal property, and disasters -related medical care.

However, the maximum individual grant of FEMA is $ 43,600 for each housing assistance and other needs help in 2025. These sums are unlikely to go largely if your home is exposed to severe or destroyed it. Moreover, the individual FEMA is much lower than the maximum. The grant of individual program and the families of living for survivors of the earthquake reached only 4,341 dollars between October 15, 2002 and March 21, 2024.

Federally supported small business management loans (SBA) may provide some assistance in the wake of the earthquake, even if you do not have a company. Homeowners can borrow up to $ 500,000 to repair or rebuild their homes, while both homeowners and tenants can obtain loans of up to $ 100,000 to repair or replace personal property. You will need to pay any money you borrow.

Alaska and Hawaii had more earthquakes than any of the main righteous states between 2015 and 2025, while California had the largest number of earthquakes in neighboring countries. California earthquakes caused more damage than any other state.

California has frequent earthquakes because it is located on the borders of two main tectonic plates, the northern Pacific paintings and North America. The main rift line, the San Andreas error, extends about 800 miles in Golden State.

Most regions of the United States are at risk of earthquakes on the western coast. However, due to the basic error systems, some areas in the center and eastern United States, such as Charleston, South Carolina, St. Lewis, Missouri, are at great risk.

The update adjustment of the earthquake, or the update adjustment of earthquakes, is the process of strengthening a house to make it more likely to withstand the movement of the Earth and shaking. Some common updating modification techniques include:

• Establishing a house for its institution using screws or paintings

• Enhancing paralysis walls with plywood cover

• Build a new foundation with a constant perimeter around a house

• The walls of the garage are preparing and strengthening its door

• Remove and rebuild a portion of a chimney and a fireplace

The grants may be available to cover some of the costs of the update modification. Seismic update may also help you qualify for earthquake insurance discounts.

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Yes, tenants can obtain earthquake insurance. Standard insurance policy does not cover earthquake damage, but tenants can purchase a separate policy that provides personal coverage and loss of use to protect against earthquake losses. The damage to the material structure is the responsibility of the owner and will not be covered by the insurance of tenants.

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You need a comprehensive car insurance to cover the damage of the cars resulting from earthquakes and other weather events, such as hurricanes, floods and hurricanes. Comprehensive insurance provides insurance for insurance on your car that is not caused by collision, such as natural disasters, falling objects, vandalism, and theft.

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The earthquake is often worth the earthquake if you live somewhere with frequent earthquakes, such as California or Alaska. Without the earthquake insurance, you may have to pay the full bill to fix or rebuild your home and replace your property. But if you live somewhere not vulnerable to seismic activity, you may want to overcome the earthquake insurance. Since discounts are usually high, you may not be able to use the earthquake coverage for simple to moderate damage.