Does Home Insurance Cover Earthquakes?

Most homeowners insurance policies do not cover earthquakes. As a result, you will need to buy earthquake insurance as a separate policy or an endorsement to your homeowners policy to receive coverage for home rebuilding, property repairs and temporary living expense support after an earthquake.

Read below to find out why standard home insurance doesn’t cover earthquakes and how much you may have to pay for a policy that can prevent a major financial loss in case you experience earthquake damage covered by insurance.

On This Page

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  What Types of Insurance Cover Earthquakes?

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  What Does Earthquake Insurance Cover?

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  How Much Does Earthquake Insurance Cost?

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  Is an Earthquake Considered a Named Peril?

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  How Do I Get Earthquake Insurance?

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  FAQs

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  Methodology

What Types of Insurance Cover Earthquakes?

For the most part, homeowners insurance doesn’t cover earthquake damage, so you’ll need to buy additional earthquake insurance to secure coverage in case your property is damaged by an earthquake or aftershock. Keep in mind that aftershocks that occur more than 72 hours after the initial earthquake may require a separate claim.^[1] If you live in California, then your homeowners insurance company is required by state law to formally offer you an earthquake insurance policy once every two years.^[2]

How Does Earthquake Insurance Work?

Like home insurance, earthquake insurance requires you to put some of your own money toward all covered claims in the form of a deductible. Rather than being set at a flat amount, your earthquake insurance deductible may be set at a percentage of your coverage limits. For example, if you have $700,000 worth of dwelling coverage and a 10% deductible, then you will have to cover $70,000 worth of damage out of pocket anytime your property is damaged by an earthquake.

The California Earthquake Authority (CEA) offers percentage deductibles ranging from 5% to 25% of your coverage limit. However, if you have a raised or non-slab foundation built before 1980 that has not been seismically retrofitted or your home is worth more than $1 million, then the minimum deductible available to you is 15% of your dwelling coverage limit.^[2]

In California, you also have the option to select separate deductibles for your dwelling and personal property coverage. If you file a claim after both your home and belongings are damaged by a single earthquake, then only the dwelling insurance deductible will apply.^[2]

What Does Earthquake Insurance Cover?

Earthquake insurance generally includes dwelling and personal property insurance to help you pay for property repairs or replacements after a covered seismic event. Dwelling insurance covers the structure of your home and anything directly attached to it, while personal property insurance covers your belongings including clothes, furniture, electronics and appliances.

Your earthquake insurance policy should also include loss of use coverage. This coverage type can help you take care of additional living expenses like hotel stays, apartment rentals, restaurant meals, laundromat costs and more if an earthquake leaves your home temporarily uninhabitable.

In addition, various add-ons may be available to enhance your coverage depending on where you get insurance for earthquake damage. For example, the CEA offers coverage for upgrades to match new building codes and loss assessments for condo unit owners.^[2]

What Isn’t Covered?

Earthquake insurance generally won’t cover any source of damage that is already covered by a different type of insurance, even if that source of damage can be linked to an earthquake. See the below table for examples of perils that can stem from earthquakes and what types of insurance you would need to purchase to receive coverage for them.

Meanwhile, earthquake insurance also may not cover damage to the land your property sits on. For example, your insurer may not help you pay to fill a hole that forms in your backyard due to an earthquake. In addition, most policies don’t cover earthquake damage to sheds, pools, fences and other structures that are detached from your home.^[2]

How Much Does Earthquake Insurance Cost?

Throughout the United States, earthquake insurance costs $800 per year on average.^[3] However, prices can be much higher in high-risk areas. For example, the average cost of earthquake insurance for single-family homes in California is $1,874 per year, with some residents of Santa Clarita paying as much as $7,390 per year for coverage, according to data analyzed by SmartFinancial.

Is an Earthquake Considered a Named Peril?

Earthquakes are not among the named perils covered by standard home insurance policies. Even policies that insure your property on an open peril basis often explicitly exclude coverage for earthquakes. Similarly, your homeowners policy won’t cover other types of ground movements, so you may need to buy additional insurance products like sinkhole insurance or difference in conditions (DIC) insurance for landslides depending on where you live.^[4]

How Do I Get Earthquake Insurance?

Earthquake insurance is often available through traditional home insurance companies either as a standalone policy or an add-on to your homeowners insurance policy. To find the best rates on homeowners coverage, you should compare quotes from multiple insurers using an insurance marketplace like SmartFinancial. Click here to receive home insurance quotes for free today.

You should note that policies from private insurance carriers may be backed by your state government. For example, most earthquake insurance policies in California are provided by the CEA but you must buy coverage from an insurer that is a member of the CEA rather than buying a policy from the CEA directly.^[2]

Methodology

The average rates provided above were sourced from quotes provided by insurance companies in 2023 to the California Department of Insurance. The quotes were based on earthquake policies with $500,000 in coverage and a $1,000 deductible for homes that were 16 to 25 years old.