West Seattle Blog...

WSB Forum » Open Discussion

1. andasai
   Member Profile

   The Haiti earthquake plus the fact Seattle (particularly West Seattle)is vulnerable to earthquakes, has made me consider earthquake insurance. The big one we had here years ago destroyed our chimney. Pros and cons? Cost?

   Posted 2 years ago #         

2. bluebird
   Member Profile

   Here's a few comments last time it was brought up.

   http://westseattleblog.com/forum/topic/earthquake-insurance

   Posted 2 years ago #         

3. Bonnie
   Member Profile

   We had earthquake insurance for many years until Allstate decided to stop offering it. I checked around (at the time) and found it was really expensive. (about 4x what we were originally paying) I may check around again.

   Posted 2 years ago #         

4. ramino
   Member Profile

   I always have earthquake insurance and find that it is not terribly expensive. Older houses may have to be retrofitted for earthquake protection (bolted to the foundation) which can be costly. Amica Insurance does offer earthquake coverage with 10% deductable. They have a great reputation.

   Posted 2 years ago #         

5. on board
   Member Profile

   We have it with a company called Geovera. Wouldn't consider not having it to be honest.

   Posted 2 years ago #         

6. anonyme
   Member Profile

   I have a post and pier foundation and therefore not eligible for earthquake insurance. The Big One will leave me in a pile of rubble.

   Posted 2 years ago #         

7. sna
   Member Profile

   If you have an older house try:

   Ameriprise (can buy through costco)
   Homesite
   MetLife

   I believe all three have reasonable rates and don't require a retrofit

   Posted 2 years ago #         

8. KBear
   Member Profile

   One thing about retrofits: They can mean the difference between repairing and rebuilding your house if there's a major earthquake. When you realize that the deductible for earthquake insurance is usually 10% to 20%, it makes the cost of a retrofit look like quite a bargain.

   Posted 2 years ago #         

9. Homer
   Member Profile

   

   Very true KBear, about retrofitting but here's my question. If your older house is retrofitted, and you buy earthquake insurance with a 10-20% deductible, then your house is less apt to completely fall down and be eligible for the other 80% from insurance. So, we might be paying $500-$1000 a year for the premium and when the big one hits, our house is heavily damaged but because of the retrofitting, it doesn't require more than the 20% that insurance makes us pay first to fix...what do you think? Quite a conundrum for me!

   Posted 2 years ago #         

10. KBear
    Member Profile

    If a retrofit prevents the house from falling off its foundation, the damage is usually substantially less. Hopefully much less than the deductible for earthquake insurance. It's not a guarantee, that's true, but would you really rather suffer a major loss, just so the insurance company has to pay more?

    Posted 2 years ago #         

RSS feed for this topic

Reply

You must log in to post.