Earthquake Damage Insurance Claims

Earthquake Damage Insurance Claims

Earthquake insurance is a crucial part of your coverage policy depending on where you stay. After you have gotten insurance from a reputable insurance company, you’ll be able to make an insurance claim whenever you experience damage to your home or belongings due to an earthquake. Given that you disagree with your insurance provider’s coverage allocation, you’ll be able to dispute their decision legally.

Important things to Note When Obtaining Earthquake Damage Insurance

1. Where Do You Live?

In most cases, you should only think of purchasing earthquake insurance if you stay in a region that is prone to frequent or dangerous earthquakes. While most parts of the U.S. are susceptible to earthquakes, many of these areas experience only minor or infrequent ones. The state of California encounters the most frequent dangerous earthquakes while Alaska experiences the biggest earthquakes. Earthquakes occur when the earth ruptures along fault lines or weak zones. Generally, most high-risk areas are to the west of the Rocky Mountains.

Other than considering where you live, you should also take into account the kind of dwelling you stay in. Some structures are more susceptible to earthquake damage compared to others. Buildings that are made of brick, houses with wooden frames, and houses that have many stories are most prone to earthquake damage. Moreover, older buildings are also very dangerous. Most of the older buildings in New York and Boston were constructed prior to the implementation of seismic building codes.

2. Understand Earthquake Insurance

As you obtain earthquake insurance you need to understand the terms. Different types of insurance coverage cover certain kinds of damage and exclude others. When you are checking different insurance plans, you need to take the time to understand the deductibles and the premiums. The deductibles are the portion of damages that the insurance does not cover; you will have to pay for them yourself. Premiums are the annual costs for having insurance.

In general, earthquake insurance covers damages to your dwelling, personal property, and at times additional living expenses. The dwelling coverage includes damage to your house up to a certain limit. Landscaping, swimming pools, fences and other separate structures on your property are normally excluded from your earthquake insurance policy.

Personal property coverage includes things like your TV, furniture and computer; it doesn’t usually cover the china or crystal items. Additional living expenses cover assists with the cost of being displaced when your area is being cleared or as you are repairing your house.

Every type of insurance policy like auto insurance, flood insurance, homeowners and renters insurance has some exclusions, which are the aspects that the policy won’t cover. It’s not unusual for an earthquake policy to exclude damage by fire, land damage, car damage, and flood damage. Such areas re typically included in other kinds of policies.

Guard Your Property against Earthquake Damage

Given that you can’t afford earthquake insurance, there are some measures you can take to reduce the potential earthquake damage to your property, and thus the costs of repair. Retrofitting is one of the things you can do. When you retrofit your house, you make it more secure and stronger.

You can retrofit the building by bolting it to its foundation, implementing automatic gas valves, bracing the chimney and the water heater, and utilizing plywood to add strength to cripple walls. Other than retrofitting, you can also use museum putty to guard breakable objects, put latches on cabinets, bolt tall furniture pieces to the wall and tie down TVs and computers. You will save money by taking such measures.

Determining the Cost of Earthquake Insurance

You can determine the amount you will be charged for the insurance by contacting your insurance broker or by utilizing an online calculator. If you’re contacting your broker, speak with them in person so that they understand precisely the coverage you are obtaining for what price.

In the state of California, you can use the CEA’s premium calculator that is available on their website. You need to follow the online prompts and answer several questions. When you’re finished, the calculator will show you the estimate of your premium.

Filing an Earthquake Damage Insurance Claim

fter an earthquake happens and you experience damage, you should talk with your insurance agent as soon as you can. Even if you do not have an earthquake policy, or perceive your damage might not exceed your deductibles, you should notify your insurer in writing. Cover for some earthquake-related damage might be available in specific sections of your homeowners or renters insurance, or business policy if you run a small business.

When you inform your insurance provider, they’ll open a claim. The claim is simply your request to have the insurer cover losses or damage you incurred during the earthquake. When you speak with your insurer, they’ll most likely ask you some general questions about the incident.

In the state of California, you have 12 months to file a claim or the insurance firm can deny it. Ensure you begin your claim ASAP after you experience the damage.

After The Claim Is Open 

After the claim has been opened, your insurer will give you a claims adjuster. This is a person who has the responsibility to evaluate damages and losses, and estimate the costs. The claims adjuster may be a person who works for the insurance company or an independent contractor.

You need to follow the adjuster’s investigation and always meet with them whenever they come to evaluate the damage. However, you should be aware of the fact that it is the adjuster’s work to minimize the amount payable to you by the insurer. While they are mandated to do this within some legal limits, ensure that they assess you particular situation fairly and fully.

Document the Damage

Prior to, during and after you are given a claims adjuster; you should ensure that you document the earthquake damage yourself. Take photos and videos of any cracked walls, destroyed foundations, and broken items. Do this as soon as you can after it’s been declared safe to assess the destruction. Don’t move things as you document unless you have to. Moreover, you can keep a list of all the belongings that were damaged or broken during the natural occurrence.

Documenting the damage can help the adjuster to make a decision on the amount payable to you, and it can also come in handy if you do not agree with the adjuster’s assessment and you need to dispute his/her decision.

Issuance of Claim Payment

Your claim payment will be in the form of a check sent by your insurance provider. Along with the check, there’ll be a comprehensive description of the damages incurred and which ones are covered or not. Given that your claim payment is more than your deductibles; your insurer will deduct your deductibles from the payment. E.g. if your claim payment is $40,000 and your deductible is $15,000, you’ll get a check for $25,000.

Disputing Your Insurance Company’s Decision

If you disagree with your insurer’s final decision in their payment to you, begin by airing your concerns with them. If your insurance provider does not respond to your issues, you can contact the department of insurance in your state for assistance, e.g. the California Department of Insurance (CDI) in California if you live in that state. Finally, if every other avenue has not been successful, you can sue your insurance company.

We recommend contacting Shield Public Adjusters before sealing with insurance adjusters. As licensed Public Adjusters we are ready to help at any time