Posted on 05/31/2006 8:09:54 PM PDT by paulat
Allstate dropping earthquake coverage in Washington
06:52 PM PDT on Wednesday, May 31, 2006 By GLENN FARLEY / KING 5 News
SEATTLE - A major Washington insurer will stop offering coverage for earthquakes in the state, a decision that will affect about 50,000 property owners.
Allstate insures nearly 250,000 homeowners in the state and about one in five has quake insurance.
The move by Allstate has state Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler concerned that other carrier may follow suit.
"I'm very concerned, because you never know, if Allstate is just the first of several that are going to take this step," he said.
Kreidler said Hurricane Katrina has the insurance industry re-thinking its exposure to mass disasters.
And when they start pulling away from those risks, they start evaluating other risks as well, including tsunami's and earthquakes.
So far, no other insurance companies in Washington appear to be following Allstate.
"We have not found a trend that our insurance companies have stopped writing earthquake insurance," said Darrin Sangar, with the Northwest Insurance Council.
KING
Marshel Lvie's Lakewood, Wash. home will no longer be insured against earthquakes unless he can find another carrier. Allstate Insurance has announced it will no longer write earthquake policies.
Lakewood homeowner Marshel Lvie got the news in a letter recently that his earthquake insurance rider would not be renewed. Lvie has been a customer of Allstate for 30 years.
"I count my blessings, but this did come as a little bit of a shock," Lvie said.
He said a quote from his agent to use a different company just for earthquakes would mean higher deductibles, higher premiums and possibly less coverage.
Customers like Lvie can shop around and don't have to stay with the company Allstate agents are now offering quake coverage through He has until the end of July, to find that important policy.
Allstate says customers buying new policies with another carrier could see the price of earthquake insurance go up, or in some cases even go down depending on where and how their homes were built.
Unfortunately, it isn't. And either a Cascadia Megathrust (which may or may not be "due" which is an overused term anyway) or an earthquake of similar size on a much shallower local fault would easily do upwards of 100 times more damage than Nisqually.
or just require a larger deposit
or require a specfic portion of the collateral to be unencumbered.
They do similar loan policies to do loans without income verification.
some reasonale solution will have to develope if there is no insurance avalable at all.
We won't miss allstate:
http://www.badfaithinsurance.org/indexdetaillist.html
...well...DANG! I wonder what deductable applies if you're swallowed up in the Earth!!
But I can still get auto insurance...and the chances....
"but it's clear Insurance companies are taking a look at the information and going "Holy Crap, there's a lot more risk here than I thought."
I think they know the government will foot the bill in the event of a quake, so why take the risk?
Drat - I just got earthquake coverage for the first time last year -- through AllState. What a waste of money.
I don't think the insurance companies care whether there is a gov't bail out or not. They are there to make money and if they don't think they can, they would leave even if there isn't a gov't bailout. But if they think they can make money, no gov't bailout is going to keep them away.
Is the Cascadia megathrust active? Or are there associated strike/slip faults which are the problem?
It is still active, although the last great event was 1700.
http://www.pnsn.org/HAZARDS/CASCADIA/cascadia_event.html
There was a very interesting show on PBS talking about it. One of the main questions was "minute of terror" or "decade of terror".
The idea being, does the fault give a little here, then a little there, then a little more somewhere else, or
DOES IT ALL GO AT ONCE?
By checking the sediments in the deep ocean valleys offshore, they are able to map eqs. (sediment falls down from the sides of the chasms during a quake that are not normal annual depositions).
The answer is: at least the last time, in 1700, it went ALL AT ONCE. A 9.0+ quake stretching from north Vancouver island to sothern Oregon, almost the Bay area...
Rock 'n roll!!
Thanks for the link! I am unfamilliar with the geology in the area and that will help.
My personal opinion based on what I've learned is we are safe here for another hundred years or so, based on history.
Two areas to watch are the extreme southern California area (California is basically being ripped in half, the Baja peninsula will eventually be an island) OR
the west coast of Chile. Location of the greatest quake in recorded history.
Absolutely. And if it lets go in the middle of the night, nobody will have enough warning to get to high ground.
Fortunately for me, I live north and at a high elevation, so I already live at an evacuation point. Kiss south Auburn goodbye, though.
Then why do you do give them your business?
You could not be more wrong, or more ignorant.
Do not pretend to speak knowingly about that which you know nothing, just to insult fellow Americans. This behavior is more suited for liberals.
You could not be more wrong, or more ignorant.
Do not pretend to speak knowingly about that which you know nothing, just to insult fellow Americans. This behavior is more suited for liberals.
They are, and have always been, allowed.
Which is why I'm glad I live on a ridge-line. I've studied those lahar channels - I am well out of harms way, thank goodness. But, of course, I'd be very stuck at home (or stuck at work - I work in downtown Seattle) because there'd be lahars just south of me and lahars just north!
Say goodbye to mortgages in that case. When you buy a car and get a loan, the bank requires you to provide full coverage. Houses are much more expensive.
Your argument was overwhelming with facts and persuasive rhetoric.
Not!
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