Earthquake insurance, decided on purpose.

What California law makes your insurer offer you

The earthquake offer in your renewal packet is required by Insurance Code section 10081; section 10083 sets the mechanics. The offer comes before, with, or within 60 days after a residential policy is issued or renewed, in boldface, with blanks for the dwelling limit, deductible, contents limit, additional living expense limit and estimated annual premium. You have 30 days from the mailing date to accept; silence counts as declining, and a declined offer must be repeated every other year at renewal. A CEA participating insurer's notice must add that you may apply later, and that higher contents or living-expense limits, more building code upgrade coverage or a lower deductible can be bought separately.

Section 10089 sets the floor:

• Dwelling: may leave out outbuildings, pools, non-structural masonry fences and walls, walkways, patios, awnings, decorative features, landscaping, and a masonry chimney the policy replaces with a non-masonry earthquake-resistant one.
• Contents: either not less than 10 percent of the covered dwelling loss or not less than $5,000, and not less than $5,000 when the underlying policy does not cover the structure; glassware, china, artwork and decorative items may be excluded.
• Additional living expenses: not less than $1,500, waivable in writing only for a dwelling that is not owner-occupied.
• Deductible: no more than 15 percent of the dwelling coverage.

Outside California these sections do not apply and the rules vary by state, so ask for the endorsement or a separate policy instead of waiting; see earthquakes by state and insurance by state.

Buying after an earthquake: how the 15-day seismic event is counted

The Ridgecrest sequence of July 2019 is the worked example. A magnitude 6.4 struck on July 4 and a 7.1 on July 5. The CEA policy defines a seismic event as the 360 hours, or 15 days, after an initial earthquake, so the July 4 shock opened the event, and the 7.1 and every related aftershock in the next 15 days belonged to it: covered for policies in force on July 4, not for anyone who bought afterward. The Insurance Commissioner's notice of July 11, 2019 drew the other line too: an unrelated quake on a different fault inside that window starts a new 360-hour event, covered for any policy in force when it happens.

The notice also records, anecdotally, that some residential insurers paused their own new homeowners and fire policies in the affected area, and an insurer writing no new companion policy makes no earthquake offer with it. For existing policyholders the notice is direct: CEA expects participating insurers to take the application and bind the coverage when asked. The Department's consumer guide still warns that companies often stop selling earthquake coverage for a period after a quake; that caution fits new home policies and private carriers, not a CEA policy for a home already insured with a participating company.

So: companion policy first, then the CEA or private quote, then the effective date. A CEA policy sits with the insurer that holds your home policy, so before you move the home policy, ask what happens to the earthquake policy.

If you go without: what the federal programs actually provide

The Department of Insurance's 2025 data call, issued July 3, 2026, counts 1,591,648 residential earthquake policies against 12,754,225 residential policies, 12.48 percent: 15.24 percent of homeowners policies, 14.13 percent of condo, 13.30 percent of renters, 18.95 percent of mobilehome and 2.20 percent of FAIR Plan dwelling-fire policies. The pages for Los Angeles, San Francisco and Oakland cover the local faults.

What the uninsured are counting on:

• FEMA Individuals and Households Program: only for a presidentially declared emergency or major disaster. FEMA's notice for disasters declared on or after October 1, 2025 caps financial assistance for any single event at $44,800 for housing and $44,800 for other needs.
• SBA physical disaster loans: up to $500,000 for a homeowner's primary residence and up to $100,000 for personal property, with insurance proceeds deducted from the eligible amount and up to 20 percent of the verified loss added for mitigation. They are loans, repaid over up to 30 years.

None of that rebuilds a house. Put the deductible you would pay next to the ceiling on what the government provides, and the decision usually makes itself.

Official sources

• California Earthquake Authority
• California Department of Insurance: residential insurance guides
• Cal. Ins. Code § 10083: earthquake offer, 30-day window, every-other-year re-offer
• Cal. Ins. Code § 10089: minimum terms of the mandatory offer
• CDI consumer guide: earthquake insurance (the offer, buying CEA through your insurer, stand-alone policies, CEA forms)
• CDI notice, July 11, 2019: participating insurers must write CEA policies; 360-hour seismic event; Ridgecrest
• CEA homeowners coverages and deductibles
• CEA condominium coverages and deductibles
• Cal. Civ. Code § 5300: annual budget report and insurance summary
• CDI Earthquake Premium and Policy Count Data Call, 2025 summary (edition July 3, 2026)
• FEMA notice of maximum IHP assistance, disasters declared on or after October 1, 2025 (FR Doc. 2026-19854)
• SBA physical disaster loans: limits and terms