I’ll talk to you about Earthquake Insurance. You may be wondering, does my policy cover this? Do I need to buy it? How much does it cost? What it’s going to cover? There are all different questions that we’re gonna talk about here in just a second.
The thing about earthquakes is that they are really scary, right? I mean, who in the world wants to go through an earthquake? I have never been through one, I have friends that have been through that, which is terrifying. The earth is shaking underneath the window, and it’s a little bit terrifying to go to one of those events, and there’s nothing you can do, you’re just waiting for the end, right? Wondering, how bad is this going to be as it’s going to be the one? They happen most frequently around places that have either volcanic activity or long tectonic plates. Many different plates make up the world, they shift ever so slightly, and those will cause different things such as earthquakes, tsunamis, and other things like that, and they may make a volcano erupt.
Those are different things that could happen. But you know, do I need to be worried about it? Inside the United States, there are seismic areas or fault lines, different places that are not the same thing as a tectonic plate. I live in a town called Vidalia, Louisiana, which is on the Mississippi River, and there’s one that goes up through the Mississippi River where I live that you wouldn’t think. It goes on up into Arkansas. There’s been activity over the last couple of decades in Texas, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Arkansas. On July 6, I did a little bit of data to see how many earthquakes were there on this day there were three in California, it was two in Alaska, there was one in Idaho, and then also there were two in Texas. That’s a little bit close to home, I live in Louisiana, but we service the areas of Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Mississippi. So maybe we should think about this.
Is it included in my Homeowners Policy?
The first thing is you probably do not have earthquake insurance. Homeowners’ policies typically exclude this, the standard policy does exclude it for a fact, but sometimes, insurance companies may include it as just an add-on. You may be able to add it as an endorsement to your policy, but there are many insurance companies that do not do that. You may be able to buy it as a secondary policy that only covers earthquakes, in some states, you can only get by just with coverage, or wind and hail to some companies will exclude that well, earthquake is one of those things that you can buy as a standalone policy for yourself.
What are NOT covered by your Homeowner’s Policy?
Your Homeowner’s Policy may not cover everything, but we’re here to help you understand it and ensure you are properly informed about the things that are not covered.
What does it cover? Well, it covers earthquakes. Yeah, no kidding, but it also covers your home, and also the contents if there’s some sort of event like that, and it does not cover things like mudslides or, if you’re built on the side of a hill, and it just says sloughs off, it’s not gonna cover stuff like that. If there’s a seismic activity that causes damage to your house, it will cover that typically. When you add it, the primary thing that will affect the rate that you can control is that it is what you choose. It’s going to be already based on the number of coverages that you already have a dwelling, which is your dwelling coverage limit and your conscious limit, and it will give you coverage for those things. The thing you can’t control is the deductible, typically, the deductible on this starts at about $25,000. It’s not going to be a smaller deductible, but you got to think about it. If it’s a large enough event, it is going to devastate your home, and it will total your home. So the 25,000 may not be as significant in that situation. Keep that in mind, but if you think you’re in an area where you may need to buy it, contact your agent and ask them if they have an option either with a carrier that you have now another carrier or a standalone policy.
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Thank you,
Beaux Pilgrim, CEO
Beaux Pilgrim
Reed Insurance