CEA’s condo unit earthquake insurance provides affordable and flexible earthquake coverage. Earthquake damage to the inside of your home is not covered by your residential insurance policy. To protect your investment in your condo unit and belongings, you need a separate earthquake policy.
CEA is not-for-profit. Our insurance rates are based on the best available science and research, not profit. . Choose deductibles from 5%-25%.
Talk to your home insurance agent about CEA earthquake coverage choices to fit your needs and budget.
Does Condo-Unit Insurance Cover Earthquakes?
Your earthquake loss isn’t covered by your condo-unit or HOA insurance.
In California, your condo-unit policy does not cover damages from the shaking by an earthquake. A separate condo-unit earthquake insurance policy is required to cover the effects of a quake.
Without an earthquake policy, you will be responsible for replacing and repairing the damage to the inside of your unit including appliances, flooring, walls, electronics, furniture, clothing and sporting equipment.
You will also be responsible for additional expenses if you need to move to temporary housing while your building or unit is under repair. Purchase condo unit earthquake insurance protection today!
CEA condo-unit coverage options*
Select among our coverage and deductible options. Consider your condo unit earthquake insurance needs and budget. CEA is not-for-profit. Our insurance rates are based on the best available science and research, not profit. More than one million homeowners have chosen CEA’s California earthquake insurance policies.
Building Property**
If your homeowners association (HOA) has earthquake insurance, it covers only the outside of the condominium buildings and the common areas. Individual condo-unit owners earthquake policies cover the contents inside the walls of the condo unit, not the structure itself. Building Property coverage helps you repair interior walls, flooring, fixtures and windows when the inside of your condo unit is damaged by an earthquake.
Personal Property**
Personal property coverage protects your belongings inside your condo unit. This includes furniture, appliances, clothing, sporting goods, and electronics that are damaged or destroyed in the event of an earthquake. Household items damaged in an earthquake may be repaired or replaced under this coverage.
Loss of Use
When there is quake damage to your condominium building or condo unit, a civil authority may restrict access to your building or condo unit. Loss of Use covers the cost for additional living expenses if you must live outside your home. Keep in mind you may be still paying your mortgage while in temporary rental housing. Loss of Use not only covers temporary rent but also food, moving, and storage expenses. Loss of Use coverage never has a deductible or time limit.
Loss Assessment
Loss Assessment coverage helps pay your share of certain additional assessments levied by your HOA on its members for earthquake-damage repairs or to pay a master-earthquake policy deductible. This coverage can help with charges for repairs to the exterior of your condo development or certain common areas, as well as building code upgrades.
Building Code Upgrades
Older condo units that are damaged by an earthquake may need upgraded components such as plumbing, electrical, heating and air conditioning systems to pass local and state building inspections. Rebuilding after a devastating earthquake generally must be done to current building-code standards.
Emergency Repairs
Emergency and necessary repairs may be needed after an earthquake to help protect your condo unit and your family’s safety following earthquakes or aftershocks, or to prevent rain damage that may occur after a major earthquake. This could include labor and materials needed to board up damaged windows or remove broken glass from furniture.
Breakables**
Not available for new policies written on or after August 1, 2023 and renewals on or after November 1, 2023.
learn more about condominium Policy Coverage
Get more details about our condo policy coverages and deductibles.
Do I Need Earthquake Insurance?
Your condo unit may be one of your largest financial assets. Your HOA may have a policy that only covers the outside of your building’s structures and windows. You will be responsible for replacing and repairing damage to the interior of your unit, your appliances, and valuables without separate condo unit earthquake insurance.
Guard your nest egg against a devastating shaking event with CEA condo unit earthquake insurance. Get earthquake coverage today!
How Expensive is Earthquake Insurance?
We have a variety of options that allow you to select the CEA coverage that fits your budget. CEA is not-for-profit. Our insurance rates are based on the best available science and research, not profit. For the best choice of earthquake policies for condo units, choose CEA deductibles that range from 5%-25%.
Where to Buy Earthquake Insurance
Contact your home insurance agent today to discuss adding a separate CEA earthquake policy to your condo unit residential policy.
We work with participating residential insurers in California to make buying earthquake coverage easy. Add a policy today. You don’t need to wait until your condo unit owner policy comes up for renewal.
Read Your CEA Policy Carefully
*We encourage you to read your entire CEA policy—and its policy declarations page—to understand your coverages and how they work. Exclusions and special limits apply. All terms and conditions of CEA insurance coverage are found in the CEA insurance-policy. Refer to a sample policy, below.
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Condo-Unit Owners Insurance FAQs
We’ve gathered some frequently asked questions from condo-unit owners to help you understand how a CEA policy can help you recover from the next damaging earthquake.
A. In California, your residential insurance policy doesn’t cover your home or your belongings against earthquakes. If you don’t have an earthquake insurance policy, you’re not covered for earthquake damage or any additional costs needed to live elsewhere while your home is being repaired or rebuilt after a quake. Contact your residential insurer today to get the earthquake insurance you need.
A. The cost of your policy depends on many factors such as the earthquake risk where you live, the age and characteristics of your home, and the coverages and deductibles you choose. CEA offers several coverage choices as well as a number of deductible options to help you find a policy that best meets your needs and budget. Use our Premium Calculator to estimate the cost of your earthquake insurance policy.
A. You do not pay your deductible out-of-pocket. The deductible is subtracted from your covered damage so you don’t have to pay any of the deductible up front to receive a claim payment.
A. You can buy a CEA earthquake insurance policy through one of CEA's participating residential insurance companies. CEA does not offer stand-alone policies. Learn more about how to buy a CEA earthquake insurance policy.
A. You can choose coverage deductibles of 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, or 25%. For new policies written on or after August 1, 2023 and renewals on or after November 1, 2023, homes with a Coverage A dwelling limit greater than $1,000,000, or dwellings built before 1980 on a raised or other type foundation that do not have a verified retrofit, are only eligible for a 15%, 20% or 25% deductible.
A. Building Property, an optional coverage, covers earthquake damage to built-in features of the dwelling such as appliances, fixtures, and wall-to-wall carpeting, and the policyholder can select a limit of up to $100,000 for that coverage. Optional Loss Assessment coverage, on the other hand, helps pay your share of certain assessments levied by your HOA on its members for earthquake-damage repairs or to pay a master-policy deductible, and you may select a limit of up to $100,000 for that coverage as well. Both coverages are subject to the chosen deductible of 5% - 25% of the coverage limit.
Loss of Use coverage—optional coverage that is combined with Personal Property coverage as a package—pays for additional living expenses if you must live outside of your home because of earthquake damage to your home or as directed by a civil authority following an earthquake. This coverage never has a deductible.
A. It is important for HOAs to have earthquake insurance covering the Association. If they do not, however, and the HOA decides not to rebuild after an earthquake, if you are a CEA policyholder, you can still receive a claim settlement for your covered losses.
For CEA condo policyholders who purchase optional Loss Assessment coverage and whose HOA either cannot afford to or chooses not to repair damage to common property covered under the Loss Assessment coverage, rendering the policyholder’s dwelling uninhabitable, the policy covers the reduction in value of the policyholder’s interest in the condo, up to the policy limits and subject to the deductible for Loss Assessment. (Loss Assessment coverage is subject to exclusions for certain categories of property and losses, so it is important to read and understand that coverage.)
And remember that Loss of Use, which covers additional living expenses if you must live outside of your home because of earthquake damage or as directed by a civil authority, never has a deductible. This coverage can be purchased with limits as high as $100,000.