What I've Learned About Earthquake Insurance Since Virginia's 5.9 Quake
This is a post from Chris Ann Cleland. Being New Jersey just had it's first one in a over a lifetime, it's always wise to be insured for the unexpected. Damage to a home can happen at any time for any reason.
What I've Learned About Earthquake Insurance Since Virginia's 5.9 Quake
I reposted a blog by Pat Kennedy earlier today in which she asks the very relevant question about whether you're current home owners policy covers earthquake damage. Well, one call to my insurer, Erie Insurance and I learned that had yesterday's earthquake actually done structural damage to my home, I would be out whatever the cost to fix it. With the value to rebuild my home at $621,500, I don't know about you, but I don't have that kind of money.
So here's what Erie Insurance's policy costs vs. what it offers. The price for one year's worth of earthquake coverage is $186. Less than half of one of my car payments. Less than what I paid for my new Coach handbag.
It would cover structural damage to my home, but not with the same $1,000 deductible I currently have on my home owners policy. It would cover me once I come out of pocket 2% of my home's rebuild value. That's $12,430. That I can cover. And happily if my home ever ends up destroyed, or seriously damaged due to an earthquake.
Sure, the last earthquake in Virginia prior to the August 23, 2011 quake was in 1897. The odds that we will be hit with another earthquake in my lifetime is not good. If anything, yesterday was a wake up call that it COULD happen and you NEVER KNOW WHEN. There's one thing I know for sure: The odds of me being able to come up with $621,500 to rebuild my home are not good either. I'd rather pay the $186/year and know that in the event of that total freak occurence where my home is damaged in a larger earthquake thatI would be covered. That's worth it.
I saw how quickly my home was put together. And that's what was going through my mind as as it shook for 45 seconds during the 5.9 earthquake. It took 8 months to build. How quickly can it come apart? I'm not going to take any chances. That's what insurance is all about. Preparing for the unexpected and catastrophic.
Chris Ann Cleland, Associate Broker- Licensed in Virginia, GRI, SFR, Northern Virginia Short Sale Specialist. Affiliated with Long & Foster, 7526 Limestone Drive, Gainesville, VA 20155. To contact Chris Ann, call 703-402-0037 or email chrisann@LNF.com. Or you can visit her website: www.nvarealestate.net.
Header is a combination of photos, taken by Chris Ann Cleland, of various listings and neighborhoods in the Bristow-Gainesville-Haymarket area.
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