NEW YORK, January 13, 2014 — A recent poll by the Insurance Information Institute (I.I.I.) found that only one out of 10 American homeowners (10 percent) have earthquake insurance, compared with 13 percent in 2012. In western states, 22 percent of homeowners said they have earthquake insurance, down from 27 percent.

 

“When the Northridge earthquake happened 20 years ago, we estimated that nearly 29 percent of homeowners in California had earthquake coverage,” said Pete Moraga with the Insurance Information Network of California (IINC). “However today, according to the California Department of Insurance, only about 10.6 percent of homeowners have the coverage.”

 

“While the number of people buying earthquake insurance has declined, the potential cost of U.S. earthquakes has been growing because of increasing urban development in seismically active areas and the vulnerability of older buildings, which may or may not have been built or upgraded to current building codes,” said Dr. Robert Hartwig, CPCU, an economist and president of the I.I.I.