Thinking about earthquake insurance for our "new" (1938) house in the Bay Area. We have 100% equity, it's a two-story split level with several additions, and even though it's had some retrofit (foundation bolting and cripple wall sheathing) I still feel like it would be prudent to insure against potentially losing a large share of our net worth to an earthquake.
What I'm confused about is what sort of payout would I actually get in the event of a large earthquake that seriously damages our house and many many other houses in the region? How is the insured loss even determined, is it just based on an adjuster looking around and throwing out a number? That number wouldn't account for the fact that construction costs would soar after a large quake, right? Would it even account for the nutso heights to which constructions costs have already risen around here? I mean, an $100K deductible sounds like a lot, but I could spend that amount today just having my house painted and re-roofed!
I understand that if the CEA's liability exceeds its reserves, then it will pro-rate payouts. There apparently are also a few non-CEA insurers; I wonder if they are more or less likely to be unable to pay claims in full? Or maybe both CEA and the private earthquake insurers are held to the same reserve requirements?
What I'm confused about is what sort of payout would I actually get in the event of a large earthquake that seriously damages our house and many many other houses in the region? How is the insured loss even determined, is it just based on an adjuster looking around and throwing out a number? That number wouldn't account for the fact that construction costs would soar after a large quake, right? Would it even account for the nutso heights to which constructions costs have already risen around here? I mean, an $100K deductible sounds like a lot, but I could spend that amount today just having my house painted and re-roofed!
I understand that if the CEA's liability exceeds its reserves, then it will pro-rate payouts. There apparently are also a few non-CEA insurers; I wonder if they are more or less likely to be unable to pay claims in full? Or maybe both CEA and the private earthquake insurers are held to the same reserve requirements?
Statistics: Posted by DrDoodle — Tue Nov 05, 2024 7:42 pm — Replies 0 — Views 232