The exclusion, stated plainly
Every HO-3 — and the HO-5, the DP-3, and the FAIR Plan — excludes earth movement. Shake damage, ground rupture, and earthquake-triggered settling are simply not covered, no matter the carrier or the premium. One nuance worth knowing: fire following an earthquake is generally still a covered fire loss on your homeowners policy. The shaking is excluded; the fire it starts usually isn't. What an HO-3 covers and excludes →
So the market built a second policy. In California it comes from two directions: the California Earthquake Authority (CEA) — a publicly managed, privately funded pool whose policies are sold through participating residential carriers — and a growing set of private earthquake insurers who compete with it.
How the deductible works — it's a percentage
Earthquake policies don't use flat-dollar deductibles. The deductible is a percentage of the coverage limit, chosen from a menu when you buy. Pick a lower percentage and the premium rises; pick a higher one and you're self-insuring more of the moderate-damage scenarios. This is the design decision that shapes the whole product: earthquake insurance is catastrophe protection. It exists for the loss that threatens the house itself, not for cracked plaster.
| Design choice | What it means for you |
|---|---|
| Percentage deductible | Your retained share scales with your limit — size it deliberately |
| Modular coverage | Dwelling, contents, and loss-of-use limits are often selected separately |
| Sub-limits | Masonry veneer, pools, hardscape often limited or excluded — read the form |
| Retrofit credits | Brace-and-bolt style foundation work commonly earns premium credits |
CEA vs private, qualitatively
CEA policies are standardized and available wherever your homeowners carrier participates. Private earthquake markets compete on deductible menus, higher limits, and coverage details — sometimes meaningfully better for a specific home, sometimes not. This is a two-quote decision, and we price both sides. How market tiers work →
Who should seriously consider it
Think in terms of what a total or near-total loss would do to you. Equity concentration (the house is most of your net worth), proximity to known fault zones, older construction — especially pre-1980 homes with cripple walls or unbolted foundations — and soft-story configurations all push toward yes. A well-retrofitted newer home whose owner could absorb major repairs pushes the other way. There's no universal answer; there is a personal one, and it deserves better than "I'll think about it after the next big one." Older-home underwriting →
Quote it alongside
We price earthquake next to your homeowners policy, where it belongs.
Start with the four-minute HO-3 indication — then your broker adds CEA and private earthquake options to the same conversation.
Get a pricing indication →Why brokers quote it alongside homeowners
Three reasons. CEA eligibility rides on where your homeowners policy sits, so the two placements interact. The limits should agree — an earthquake dwelling limit set years ago won't rebuild at today's costs any more than a stale Coverage A would (same discipline). And the retrofit conversation overlaps with the hardening work you may already be doing for wildfire underwriting. One broker holding both files means nothing falls between them.
Frequently asked
Isn't earthquake insurance overpriced?
It's priced for a catastrophe peril in a catastrophe state, and the percentage deductible means it doesn't behave like your HO-3. Whether it's worth it is an equity question, not a premium question: what would an uninsured rebuild do to your finances?
Does the FAIR Plan cover earthquake?
No — the FAIR Plan is fire-lines only, and pairs with a DIC policy for the other gaps. Earthquake remains its own policy in every configuration.
Will a small quake claim raise my homeowners rates?
Earthquake claims go to the earthquake policy, not your HO-3 — separate policies, separate histories. What matters for your homeowners renewals is your homeowners claim record. Claims strategy →