Earthquake Insurance

8 Loss Assessment for Condo Unit Owners If you are a condo unit owner, your HOA may have insurance for common areas and the exterior structure of the building; however, it may not cover earthquake damage to those common areas and exterior structures. Additionally, your association may require you and other unit owners to share repair costs or pay part of their policy deductible through an assessment. CEA condo unit policies provide up to $100,000 for your share fo certain assessments if your association imposes an assessment for covered damage caused by an earthquake. Additional Coverage You may be able to buy building code upgrade coverage (now up to $30,000). CEA homeowners policies include the first $1,500 for emergency repairs with no deductible. Stand-alone or Monoline Policies These are not CEA policies. A few companies offer these policies. They are policies that you can buy without buying homeowners insurance from the same company. How do earthquake insurance premiums vary? Your premium depends on many things, such as the location of your home, the cost to rebuild, type of construction, the coverages selected and the deductible. With CEA insurance, older homes may qualify for a discount of up 20 percent if they have been properly retrofitted. Homeowners Choice Policies The CEA Homeowners Choice policy offers the option of choosing separate coverage for dwellings and personal property, with different deductibles. Even though you can select separate deductibles for dwelling and personal property, the Homeowners Choice policy will not apply both deductibles for the same earthquake claim. This means that CEA waives the personal property deductible if covered damage to your house exceeds the dwelling deductible.