Insurance revelations

According to the DOI:

On average, earthquake premiums in the six counties that comprise the New Madrid area have increased by nearly 700% between 2000 and 2018, and in one county by nearly 1,000%.
In 2000, over 60% of residences in the New Madrid area had earthquake insurance. By 2018, the rate of coverage had declined to just under 14%, a decrease of 46 percentage points.
In other high risk areas outside of the New Madrid zone, take-up rates also substantially decreased, from 67.6% to 46.3% over the same period.
Nearly half a million residences not covered for earthquake losses are located in a Missouri county rated seven or higher on the Mercalli scale (a measurement of vulnerability to a New Madrid earthquake).
In the six county New Madrid area, only one insurer (among those surveyed) offers a deductible of less than 10% of the insured value of the residence. More than 27% of the market requires a deductible of 15% of higher.

Based on the Missouri market share for homeowners insurance:

Carriers with 12.5% of the home insurance market either write no earthquake coverage anywhere in the state or only renew existing earthquake policies but won't issue new coverage.
31% of carriers write somewhere in Missouri but will not provide new coverage in the New Madrid area.
41% issue some new coverage in the New Madrid area but will not insure some types of construction.
Only 26.6% of the market issues coverage in New Madrid on the same basis as elsewhere in the state.

This piece first published at law.com.

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