Why Earthquake Insurance Matters
Standard homeowners, condo, and renters policies in California exclude earthquake damage. In a state that sits on dozens of active faults, that is a major gap, and a damaging quake can affect your home’s structure, your belongings, and your ability to live there while repairs are made. Earthquake insurance is a separate policy or endorsement built to fill that gap.
The mandatory offer
California law requires insurers that sell residential property insurance to offer earthquake coverage, and to repeat that offer at least every other year. You can decline it, but you should decline it knowingly, not by accident. Many homeowners assume they have some earthquake protection when they have none.
What Earthquake Insurance Covers
Dwelling: repair or rebuild the structure of your home after a covered quake.
Personal property: your belongings, up to the limit you choose.
Loss of use / additional living expenses: the cost of living elsewhere while your home is repaired or rebuilt. Many policies add limited coverage for emergency repairs, building-code (ordinance-or-law) upgrades, and exterior features; these vary by policy.
How deductibles work
Earthquake policies use a percentage deductible based on your dwelling limit rather than a flat dollar amount, and it is higher than a typical homeowners deductible, often in the range of 5 to 25 percent.
A lower deductible costs more in premium. Because the deductible is significant, earthquake coverage matters most for a serious, structure-threatening event, and choosing the right deductible is one of the most important decisions on the policy
Your two paths: the CEA and the private market.
Most earthquake coverage in California is written one of two ways, and the right one depends on your home insurer, your home, and the deductible and limits you want.
The California Earthquake Authority (CEA): a not-for-profit, publicly managed, privately funded provider that offers residential earthquake policies through its member insurers. If your home insurance company participates in the CEA, this is typically how earthquake coverage is offered alongside your homeowners policy. The CEA offers a range of deductible and coverage options.
Private earthquake insurers (outside the CEA): a growing private market, including carriers such as GeoVera and Palomar, writes earthquake coverage independently of the CEA.
Depending on the company, private options can offer different deductible choices, higher limits, standalone policies that are not tied to a particular home insurer, and coverage for some homes the CEA may not write. Some private earthquake products are placed through the surplus-lines market.
Neither is automatically better. The right fit depends on who insures your home, its age and construction, the deductible you are comfortable with, and how much dwelling, personal-property, and loss-of-use coverage you want.
We look at both for you.
Higher value or higher risk homes
A difference-in-conditions (DIC) policy can add earthquake (and often flood) coverage that a standard policy leaves out, and is often the right structure for higher-value homes or those in higher-risk areas. See the Difference in Conditions (DIC) page.
How we help
We review your home’s risk and your current policy, walk you through the CEA and private-market options side by side, explain how the deductible and limits change both your premium and your protection, and help you make an informed choice rather than a default one. Coverage is governed by the policy form.
