What earthquake insurance costs in California, and what moves the number.
For most California homeowners the premium lands between $800 and $3,000 or more a year. That range is wide because six things about the house and one choice of yours set the price. This page walks through each of them, then shows the two moves that lower the premium without lowering the coverage.
Ranges on this page are illustrative. Your premium comes from the CEA and private carrier quotes for your specific home, usually inside 24 hours.
Six facts about the house, and one decision of yours.
Carriers rate each of these. Some you cannot change. Two you can.
Where homes tend to land.
These are patterns from the quotes we run, not a rate card. Two homes that look the same on this table can still quote apart by hundreds of dollars once the carrier looks at the soil and the foundation.
A lower deductible costs more every year. It pays back on one bad day.
Every step down in deductible raises the premium and lowers what you absorb in a claim. On a $600,000 home with $250,000 of damage, a 15% deductible leaves $90,000 with you. A 5% deductible leaves $30,000. The premium difference between those two is what you are paying to move $60,000 of risk to the carrier.
There is no universally right answer. The right deductible is the largest loss you could absorb without touching the equity, and no larger. Try your own numbers, then let us put a real premium next to each row.
Two ways to lower the premium without lowering the coverage. First, a documented brace-and-bolt retrofit on a pre-1980 home earns a credit with the CEA and with several private carriers, and California's Earthquake Brace + Bolt program offers grants in eligible ZIP codes. Second, quote the CEA and the private market together. For the same home at the same deductible the two columns regularly differ, and only one of them is the one your home insurer showed you.
Two ways that do lower the coverage. A higher deductible, and trimming the contents or loss-of-use options. Both are legitimate. We show the premium saved next to the coverage given up, so it is a decision rather than a surprise.
Priced per $100 of value, and driven by the PML.
Commercial earthquake rates are quoted per $100 of covered value and vary widely, from well under ten cents for the best modern buildings to several times that for challenged ones. The building's Probable Maximum Loss, its construction era, soft-story status and soil decide it. How commercial pricing works.
What people ask before they get the number.
The full FAQ covers coverage, claims and exclusions.
How much does earthquake insurance cost in California?
For most California homeowners, earthquake insurance runs between $800 and $3,000 or more per year. The biggest price drivers are distance from active faults, soil type, the age and construction of the home, the dwelling coverage amount, and most of all the deductible chosen.
What lowers the cost of earthquake insurance?
A higher deductible, a documented brace-and-bolt retrofit on an older wood-frame home, right-sizing the contents and loss-of-use options, and comparing the CEA against private carriers for the same home. The retrofit credit and the comparison are the two that do not reduce coverage.
Is earthquake insurance worth the cost in California?
For anyone with meaningful equity in a home, usually yes. Earthquake damage is excluded from every homeowners policy, so without a separate policy the whole loss is yours. The policy is catastrophic-loss protection: it exists so a bad earthquake does not take the equity with it.
Why did my earthquake insurance premium go up?
The usual causes are a higher dwelling limit after a homeowners policy adjustment, a rate filing by the carrier, or updated hazard mapping for the area. When a renewal rises we re-quote the private market against it before it renews.
Stop estimating. Get the real number.
The CEA quote and the private quotes for your home, on one sheet, usually inside 24 hours. No obligation.