Jun 17, 2005 8:00 pm US/Pacific
Consumer Paige: Earthquake Insurance
Randy Paige Reports
LOS ANGELES (KCBS) ―
Have you checked the price of property lately? If you're like most people, your single biggest nest egg is your home.
And, if you're like most people, that nest egg could crumble in seconds, in the face of this: It is dramatization, but if you lived through the Northridge Earthquake you know it's exactly what you can expect in a real quake.
The question is: Are you financially ready for it? Do you have earthquake insurance? Chances are you don't. Only 13 percent of California homeowners carry earthquake insurance.
State Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi says it's time to think seriously about earthquake insurance. The large increase in property values means many homeowners be lost in a devastating earthquake.
The good news is earthquake insurance is cheaper than it was immediately following the Northridge quake, and there are several companies offering it, along with the state run insurance program.
You have the basic state policy the California Earthquake Authority policy and its available through every insurance company in California. There are some companies, and a couple of small companies that provide earthquake coverage.
Garamendi says it's also extremely important to prepare your home for an earthquake. Strap down the water heaters, fasten those bookcases, and bold your home to its foundation.
It's going to happen, when and where we don't know, but it could be tomorrow and it could be your home.
It's also the case that so many more Californians now have more money tied up in their home because of the appreciation of property values?
Absolutely the run up on the value of homes has substantially increased the equity in the value of the homes and that's what you want to protect.
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