In brief: Many in California do not have earthquake insurance on home or business, according to the IINC.
The full story
The Insurance Information Network of California says that less than 12% of the state's homeowners and fewer than 10% of businesses have earthquake coverage. Earthquake coverage is not included in most conventional or standard insurance policies in California and is not required by law. Many are either unaware that they are not covered or do not want to pay the high premiums for the coverage.
A 2007 study by Risk Management Solutions looked at what today's costs would be were the 7.9 magnitude Fort Tejon earthquake in 1857 to replay. They found that it would cause about $150 billion in damage to structure (home, business, industry) and only about $15-25 billion of that would be covered by insurance.
High deductible insurance for earthquakes (10-15% of insured value) runs about $800 a year on average in California. The average homeowner would be responsible for more than $30,000 of the damage incurred if an earthquake damaged their home and they had a policy.
No coverage at all, however, means paying all of the damages.
Summing up
Earthquake insurance is available in almost every part of the country and with about 80% of the landscape being considered seismically active...
Photo credits: Stock
