We told you all about this last week, day after Quake Day in Dallas. Under Texas law insurance carriers are not required to offer earthquake insurance, and veteran agents say they have never felt the need to write such policies.
This weekend, Pamela Yip at the Dallas Morning News quoted Randall Guttery, director of real estate programs at the University of Texas at Dallas’ Jindal School of Management, as saying earthquake insurance isn’t worth it. I think his quote is classic:
“At some point, you have to self-insure some stuff in your life or you’ll be broke.”
No duh.
Well, a source just read me a memo from a major carrier. Yep, the Texas markets are looking at carrying earthquake insurance, but it will be fluff coverage, kind of like mold. Look for coverage only for a quake of 5.0 on the Richter scale, with 5 to 10% deductibles. I love my homeowners insurance more than you will ever know, but I will not be buying earthquake insurance.
Maybe these Texas earthquakes are just nature’s way of helping us minimize?
