Quake Home Survival
Turn on the news and you will probably see footage of a natural disaster somewhere in the world as flooding, hurricanes, wild fires and earthquakes top the list. California in particular is vulnerable and driving this home is a series of earthquakes in China, Japan, Haiti and Chile. Many Californians have emergancy kits and know how to respond to a quake but very few have insurance coverage on their homes. Recent studies show that less than 12% of home owners in California have it and less than 10% of businesses do. The rates for the rest of the country are even lower.
Most people in the United States think they are safe from earthquakes but as a rare, recent, medium level earthquake in Virginia showed, that is far from the case. Another example is in the 1800's a quake outside Memphis hit so hard that the Mississippi River actually flowed backwards. That same fault line is still active today. An earthquake off the coast of Mexico two years ago was felt as far away as Arizona. You might think that a minor quake doesn’t warrant insurance, but if it causes just a few cracks in the foundation it can costs you thousands. If Mexico had a big quake in Baja, it could damage old homes in Tuscon, and they probably don't have insurance. For a great interest rate on a new home check mortgage lenders.
One homeowner in the Virginia quake found out the hard way. Rick Waugh of Louisa, VA., suffered cracks in his homes foundation in the Virginia quake. The damages cost up to $40,000 and he had no insurance to cover it. To make matters worse, the East coast and South are filled with older houses that aren't built to modern standards. They are much more likely to suffer damages then modern homes.
“We didn’t even know there was an earthquake policy available for Virginia,” he said. Most people don’t, as they believe the larger part of the United States is immune to earthquakes but that is simply not the case. In fact, 90% of the country lies in potential quake areas. If you want to know about your mortgage try mortgage interest calculator to see how much you can save.
The last major quake in Southern California was a 7.9 magnitude that hit near Bakersfield in 1857. Simulations show that if such a quake happened today then it could cause $150 billion in damages with only around $20 billion of that covered by insurance.
One of the main challenges to convincing people they need coverage on their homes is the common belief that if a major disaster hits, insurers won't be able to cover it all. That being said, all it takes is one good shake and your house could need repairs. Rick Waugh found this out the hardway. Even if an insurance company couldn’t cover that much in damages, whatever they could cover is still less you will have to pay out of your own pocket. If are thinking of refinancing, now is a great time at fixed rate home loans to do so.
Given the fact so many live in potential earthquake areas you might want to rethink passing on that policy, it might seem expensive at first, but compared to rebuilding your entire home, suddenly it isn’t so bad.
