Earthquake insurance vs homeowners insurance
This is the most fundamental distinction: your HO-3 or HO-5 homeowners policy does not pay for earthquake damage. It never has. The policies use standard language to exclude 'earth movement' including earthquake, landslide, and earth sinking. Earthquake insurance is purchased separately — either from the CEA through your homeowners carrier or on the private market through a broker.
What the Best Earthquake wizard captures
The application documents all the details underwriters look for. Gathering the following before applying produces a stronger submission and faster broker review:
- Homeowners policy form: HO-3, HO-5, or dwelling fire — all exclude earth movement
- Earthquake policy: separate purchase, separate premium, separate deductible
- Combined review: get both declarations pages to compare limits and gaps
- Endorsement exception: some carriers offer limited EQ endorsements, but these are uncommon and may have narrow coverage
- Simultaneous events: fire following earthquake is covered by most homeowners policies even when the earthquake itself is not
From indication to bindable options
The Best Earthquake Insurance application gives a preliminary annual range anchored to CDI data, then submits a completed Covwell application to Bollinsure for broker review. A licensed California broker reviews your construction, retrofit, and loss details and shops multiple carrier markets to find the best available terms.
The indication is not a bindable quote — final coverage is subject to underwriting, carrier eligibility, and policy terms. But starting with a strong, complete application gives the broker the best possible foundation for market submission.
Ready to submit?
The 5-step application wizard takes approximately 5–8 minutes to complete. It walks through property and applicant details, coverage terms and deductible selection, construction and foundation type, retrofit and loss history, and a review-and-sign step where you can preview the completed PDF before submitting.
Your completed application is reviewed by a licensed broker who follows up — often the same business day — with market options and next steps.