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Redfin Real Estate Forums :
Seattle :
Earthquake Insurance
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Earthquake Insurance
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sea_native
Regular Visitor
Posts: 3
Registered: 08-02-2007
Message 1 of 4
Viewed 1,926 times
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I just bought a house and am looking at homeowners insurance policies. Earthquake insurance seems prudent in the Seattle area but after looking at the policy, the costs and deductible are so high that it would only pay off if an earthquake completely destroyed my house. I am normally pretty conservative about insuring against various risks but earthquake just doesn't seem to make sense financially. My quote was $510 per year to cover a structure worth $260,000. The deductible is 15%. Does anyone have any personal experience or statistics on the value of earthquake insurance or how they made this decision? Thanks.
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08-21-2007 11:29 AM
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Re: Earthquake Insurance
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JanelleS
Redfin Staff
Posts: 1262
Registered: 07-05-2007
Message 2 of 4
Viewed 1,885 times
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Earthquake insurance, yay or nay? The official, non-scientific results from our office poll are in: Yay: 15% Nay: 70% Neutral: 15% One yay piped. "If my house starts a-rockin', I want my insurance money to come a-knockin'!" One nay retorted, "Super waste of money". One neutral party said we should refer you to your insurance agent. One person who researched earthquake insurance for himself & decided not to purchase reasoned: - it would double his insurance rates
- the deductible was 50%
- the house pretty much had to be totaled for the insurance to kick in,
- upon which FEMA would most likely step in.
This same person, however, said he would purchase it if he were rebuilding or doing extensive remodeling. So in conclusion, earthquake insurance is (as many decisions with the home buying and owning process are) what you feel most comfortable with.
Janelle Saylor | Real Estate Operations
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08-22-2007 04:14 PM
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Re: Earthquake Insurance
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Katrina_M
Visitor
Posts: 6
Registered: 08-27-2007
Message 4 of 4
Viewed 1,803 times
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Coming from California, we too were avid believers in earthquake insurance. But more recently, after paying for X years, we took a closer look at the premiums and deductibles, and for us, it seems as if the damage has to be pretty close to catastrophic to use the insurance. You should definitely do the research and calculations for your own situation. You shoudl also factor in how risk averse you are (i.e. how comfortable you are without it and what you'd be willing to pay...) For me, I'm more worried about potential septic failure/backflow over an earthquake!  |
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08-27-2007 05:29 PM
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