Earthquake insurance worthless to most Eureka quake victims

[Newsjock]

Source: San Francisco Chronicle

The California Earthquake Authority does not expect to pay many insurance claims as a result of Saturday's 6.5-magnitude shaker near Eureka because most of the structural damage to homes with quake coverage won't reach the policies' standard 15 percent deductible.

"Based on our analysis thus far, we are not anticipating many claims," says Chris Nance, a spokesman for the authority. "It may be as few as a dozen or so."

... CEA policies are designed to cover catastrophic losses, not minor damage. They pay nothing until structural damage alone reaches 15 percent of the insured value. After that, the policy will pay for damage to structure and contents up to the policy limit.

For example, if a home is insured for $100,000 and there is $10,000 worth of structural damage and $10,000 in damage to contents (such as furniture, electronics, etc.) the policy pays nothing.

But if structural damage alone reaches $15,000, the policy will pay up to $100,000 worth of additional damage to contents and structure.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/pender/detail?entry_id=55148&tsp=1

[ibegurpard]

1. and this is what we're enshrining as the gatekeepers of our healthcare

thanks Dems!