A 15% deductible on a $4 million building is a $600,000 deductible.
Earthquake cover for commercial buildings — excluded from standard property policies, priced on construction and soil, and sold with percentage deductibles large enough to change the decision.
Tell us the situation.
One licensed human replies the same business day — not five agents, not an auto-responder. If the policy you have is already the right one, we will tell you.
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What commercial earthquake businesses actually need.
Building
Structural damage from shake, written as a separate policy or endorsement.
Without it — Excluded from every standard commercial property form.
Contents and equipment
Stock, plant and business personal property, often on a separate limit.
Without it — Unsecured racking and plant fail long before the structure does.
Business income
Income lost while the building is unusable, which can be many months.
Without it — Post-event contractor availability makes earthquake repairs slow.
Ordinance or law
The cost of rebuilding to current code, which a quake commonly triggers.
Without it — An older building damaged past a threshold must be brought up to code.
What commercial earthquake operators ask us.
Why is the deductible a percentage?
Because the peril is correlated — one event damages every insured building in a region at once — so insurers keep the frequent, smaller losses with the owner and cover the catastrophic tail. Deductibles commonly run from 5% to 15% or more of the insured value, and the number that matters is that percentage in dollars: 15% of a $4 million building is $600,000 before the policy pays anything. Work that out before deciding whether the cover is worth buying, because for some owners it honestly is not.
What drives the price?
Construction, age and ground. Unreinforced masonry is the worst class and is close to uninsurable in some zones; soft-story buildings — parking or retail at ground level under residential — are the other well-known problem, and several California cities have mandated retrofits for exactly that reason. Then soil type and distance from known faults. A documented retrofit is one of the few things that meaningfully moves this pricing, and it needs paperwork.
Is ordinance or law the hidden cost?
Usually, and it is the reason earthquake claims run over. Once damage passes a percentage threshold set by the local jurisdiction, the whole building must be brought up to current code — seismic, accessibility, fire, energy — not just the damaged part. That upgrade is excluded from a standard property policy and needs ordinance or law cover, in all three of its parts: the undamaged portion, demolition, and the increased cost of construction.
Can it be bought as a DIC instead?
Frequently, and in California that is the usual route. A difference in conditions policy written to add quake sits alongside the standard property policy rather than replacing it, which keeps the base cover in the standard market and buys the catastrophe peril separately. It is worth quoting both ways: the DIC route is often cheaper and it also solves the FAIR Plan problem if the base policy has been pushed there.
Not ready to talk? The guides answer the questions this page raises in more depth. Already insured with us and need a certificate or a policy change? Ask the service team rather than starting a quote — it is faster and it goes to the people whose job it is. We also write home and auto, which is usually cheaper alongside the business policy than apart from it.