Preparing your property for earthquake coverage is a proactive and rewarding process that not only helps to mitigate potential damage but also can result in significant savings on your insurance premium. Insurers, particularly the California Earthquake Authority (CEA), offer substantial discounts for homes that have been seismically retrofitted, as these measures reduce the likelihood and severity of damage from a seismic event.
By taking these steps, you are not just making your home safer; you are making it a more attractive risk to insurers.
The most important step you can take to prepare your property is to seismically retrofit your home’s foundation. A major source of damage in an earthquake is a home sliding off its foundation. For homes built before 1979 with a raised foundation, the primary retrofit measures are:
Bolting the Foundation: This involves drilling through the foundation sill plate and securing it to the concrete foundation with anchor bolts.
Bracing the Cripple Walls: Cripple walls are short walls that support the floor of the house. Bracing these walls with plywood or OSB provides lateral stability and prevents the home from collapsing on itself. In many cases, these retrofitting measures can be done by a qualified contractor and are a sound investment in protecting your property.
Another important measure is to secure the contents of your home. While earthquake insurance will cover the cost of replacing damaged personal property, preventing the damage in the first place is a better outcome. To prepare your personal property, you should:
Secure Heavy Furniture: Anchor tall, heavy furniture like bookcases, china cabinets, and armoires to the wall studs using brackets or straps.
Use Latches on Cabinets: Install latches on kitchen and bathroom cabinets to prevent their contents from spilling out during a quake.
Secure Appliances: Secure your water heater, furnace, and other heavy appliances to the wall studs using straps. This is a simple but effective way to prevent them from tipping over and causing a fire or gas leak.
Store Valuable Items Carefully: Secure breakables on lower shelves or in closed cabinets, and consider storing particularly valuable items in a safe or a secure location.
Finally, when you have taken these steps, you must document your mitigation efforts. Take photographs of the foundation bolting and cripple wall bracing, and keep receipts for any retrofitting work done by a professional contractor. This documentation will be essential when you apply for earthquake insurance, as it will qualify you for premium discounts.
By taking these proactive measures, you can make your home safer and more insurable, reducing your risk and your financial burden in the event of an earthquake.