California Earthquake Insurance

[Porter]

How would I find the % of Californians that have earthquake insurance on their homes?

[LadyBroker]

I don't know if the DOI or CEA could help you, maybe give their websites a look.

I am going to hazard a guess that it is a low percentage, less than 15%. Folks still believe that the government will take care of them after a major disaster...cause it went so well after Katrina....

[Porter]

I contacted the Insurance Information Network. They stated it is 12%

[Forum Reader]

There was an MSN article that said over 80% of CA homeowners do NOT have eq insurance, so all this seems in line

[doyourhomework]

Its weird that lenders require Fire insurance and, when flood plained, Flood insurance.....BUT...... they do not require Earthquake insurance.

If lenders require Fire & Flood insurance because of "affordability" they are sort of screwing themselves because if they were logical and required Earthquake insurance the price would drop into the "affordability" range.

This argument has been stifled for years, but since FEMA is now a non-entity, one would think that its time for the lenders to require Earthquake coverage.

One would think that here in California, the DOI would act responsibly and work with lenders to do just that. Guess that its just not as sexy an issue as reducing auto insurance rates [which 50% of the drivers do not buy anyway], increasing the availability of homeowners insurance and decreasing Work Comp rates. Seems to me that a smart alphabet house would sense an opportunity in this issue and move on it.

[LadyBroker]

It never fails to amaze me how many people are so proud that they have $100 deductibles on their comp and collision for their $25,000 car, but don't carry Earthquake, while living in California, on their $500,000 home. Regretfully, most folks only see the immediate perils - a car accident, or getting the flu....and ignore the catastrophic perils - like quakes, floods or hurricanes -- because they believe that (a) it won't happen to them and (b) if it does, the government will take care of them. Obviously these folks did not watch any of the Katrina disaster unfold live on CNN.....

Of course, when the quake hits, we, the insurance industry, will be the villians for not just giving them quake coverage anyway, regardless of the number of exclusions and signatures that are required to decline it. Oh, well.