It seems like for the past few years, we’ve heard weekly about earthquakes occurring in Oklahoma constantly. Some people say it woke them up in the middle of the night, others may have felt their desk rattle. To be honest, I’ve only ever felt one and it was pretty anticlimactic. Still, with this all happening, we are having more and more people asking about earthquake coverage.
Now, with Oklahoma having some of the highest premiums in the entire nation thanks to tornadoes, flooding, high winds, and wild fires- this earthquake is just one more thing to add to the list. Did you know that less than 1% of Oklahomans actually carry earthquake coverage? That’s the statistic according to the Oklahoma Insurance Department. We are seeing people becoming more and more aware as the earthquakes are changing from weekly occurrences to sometimes daily. At least once a day, I’m asked about it. There are two ways to add earthquake coverage. The easiest way is to add it on to your existing policy. It can cost anywhere from $75-$300, depending on the company. There’s a catch as there usually is in insurance. There are only a few companies that are willing to provide that coverage as a part of your homeowner’s policy. There is another way to provide it though. There are companies that can write a stand-alone Earthquake policy. I have seen those range from $300-$700 depending on your house, when it was built, updates, where it’s at, etc. Usually deductibles stand around 5% of your homes value. Be aware though, just because on your policy says you have earthquake coverage does not mean that it’s what you need. It’s important to get what you pay for so when it comes to earthquake, one of the most important thing you need to check and double check is that is specifically covers brick and mortar. A majority of Oklahoman’s homes are brick and sometimes if that coverage is not specifically chosen, you are paying for essentially nothing.
The key to adding on earthquake coverage is like everything else with insurance, planning. Don’t wait until we’ve had two weeks full of seismic activity to jump into action. You don’t know what damage might have already been done. If you have questions regarding your insurance, ECI is always here. Contact us for an Oklahoma earthquake insurance quote.
