Recent tremors shed light on earthquake insurance
With the damage a potential earthquake can cause, it raises the question: “Should homeowners get earthquake insurance?”
“Never did. Doubt if I ever will.”
That’s the answer you often hear from homeowners whether they have earthquake insurance or not.
It comes despite two major quakes rattling the valley.
“I’ve been living there for a long time. If I’ve been paying for it all these years, I probably would be paying the same amount as if we had an earthquake,” Edie Phillips, who lives in Palm Desert, said.
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According to the California Department of Insurance, only nine percent of homeowners have earthquake insurance in Riverside County. Insurance agent Javier Reyes says it’s a common misperception that earthquake insurance is expensive. He believes it’s a good investment.
“It’s your house. It’s your most important and generally most valuable asset. It’s important to protect it with earthquake insurance,” he said.
This is a separate policy from the general homeowner’s insurance.
“Unfortunately nothing will be covered under a homeowner’s policy if an earthquake were to strike, and damage your property due to an earthquake,” Reyes said.
That’s something Janice Randels of Palm Desert won’t have to worry about with her husband making sure their home is covered.
“It’s been six years since we moved down here, and he knew we had a lot of earthquakes, so he thought it might be wise to get it,” Randels said.
Reyes says he’s now gotten more calls about earthquake insurance since the recent tremors.
“It all comes down to if you find value in it. If you find value in protecting your home, the biggest purchase you’ve ever made in your life, It’s important to protect it and you can’t put a price on that,” he said.
