Earthquake Insurance Lawyers

It would be best if you got homeowners’ insurance before moving into a house. Before applying for a mortgage, you need to get homeowners insurance. The amount of coverage you purchase does not guarantee that you will be compensated for any damage to your home or other personal property.

What Is Covered by My Homeowners Policy?

Typically, such coverage will cover home and possession replacement or repair. If you are temporarily relocated, the coverage typically also covers additional costs. However, the policy will outline which circumstances result in coverage.

Is Earthquake Coverage Included in My Policy?

Your standard homeowner’s insurance probably won’t cover earthquake-related damage. In reality, earthquakes may be expressly excluded from coverage in an all-risk policy. Consequently, you may not be insured if an earthquake causes your home to be destroyed or damaged.

Because of the differences in their dangers, natural calamities such as earthquakes are handled differently. That does not, however, imply that there is no earthquake insurance. For instance, insurance providers are obligated to provide earthquake coverage to everyone who holds one of their policies in California, a state with a high risk of earthquakes.

These “seismic endorsements,” which are expensive and whose cost is based on the location of the house and the materials used in its construction, typically entail paying an additional fee to broaden the coverage.

Although earthquake endorsements can be purchased for a relatively low price in other states, most consumers do not do so since they do not believe they will need them.

What Is an Act of God?

A natural calamity is typically called an “Act of God” in a legal context. An Act of God, like a natural disaster, is essentially any natural occurrence that is thought to be beyond human control, is unpredictable, and would be challenging to quantify in terms of subsequent damages.

The following are some instances of natural disaster events that most likely qualify as Acts of God:

• Floods;
• Earthquakes;
• Lightning;
• Wildfires;
• Hurricanes;
• Tornadoes;
• Avalanches;
• Tsunamis;
• Eruptions of volcanoes; and
• Numerous additional weather-related incidents.

An Act of God clause may have been in a contract or, more frequently, in a house insurance policy. These clauses may occasionally be called “Force Majeure” clauses. Whether the term is chosen doesn’t matter; they both mean the same thing.

Incorporating these clauses into contracts, insurance policies, and other legal documents can help remove liability if an unforeseen occurrence or natural disaster prevents the parties from upholding their legal duties. An Act of God clause will often exclude both parties from their obligations.

There would be one exception, though, if the parties agreed upon particular terms under which the provision only applies to one of the parties, which is signing the legal instrument and not the other. This is why it is crucial to utilize clear, succinct wording when writing an Act of God clause. Otherwise, a party runs the risk of being held liable for damages out of their control.

Therefore, it would be ideal for you to speak with a neighborhood contract lawyer or personal injury lawyer concerning legal documents that include Act of God or Force Majeure clauses. An attorney can advise you on the circumstances where an Act of God clause might apply and suggest other clauses to look out for when drafting your next insurance policy or contract.

How Do I Get My Money Back After a Natural Disaster?

An insurance company might be willing to cover some of the damages incurred if a person suffered harm or losses as a result of something that could be considered an Act of God or that would fall under such a clause.

One should check legal papers such as health insurance policies, rental insurance policies, and homeowner’s insurance policies to see if they specify that they would pay expenses related to Acts of God.

However, it should be remembered that specific insurance can be needed for particular events.

If a person lives on property close to the water, their home insurance provider might not be willing to cover a specific occurrence like coastal flooding. Even though it can seem paradoxical, persons who choose to own property next to a body of water frequently have to abide by this rule.

Most homeowner insurance policies also frequently don’t provide coverage for earthquake-related damages. As a result, in order to obtain coverage for such damages, a person who lives in an area that is vulnerable to earthquakes, such as in a state on the west coast, will probably need to purchase separate insurance.

However, just because a natural catastrophe accident may have been brought about by an occurrence that is regarded as an Act of God event does not necessarily mean that there may not be someone else who a person can hold accountable for the losses they sustained.

Determining who can be held legally accountable in these situations requires parties to thoroughly investigate all of the facts surrounding a natural catastrophe accident.

For instance, even though an Act of God is thought to have contributed to the ensuing damages, a person may be entitled to launch a lawsuit based on claims regarding carelessness, construction flaws, or defective product responsibility.

What Sorts of Lawsuits Relate Frequently to Acts of God?

The most typical association of an Act of God clause is with a lawsuit for contract breach. A breach of contract lawsuit is simply when one party to a contract sues the other for failing to uphold one of the clauses or terms that they jointly agreed upon.

In this situation, one party will almost certainly assert that they could not fulfill one of their contractual obligations because of an unforeseen circumstance. In contrast, the other (likely the non-breaching party) will contend that the circumstance was foreseeable and did not constitute a true Act of God.

The following are some additional lawsuits that are frequently related to Acts of God clauses:

• Claims relating to injuries sustained in a tractor-trailer collision when hazardous chemical spills or gas leaks occurred;
• Injuries resulting from building collapses caused by weather events like earthquakes, aging construction materials, or a lack of upgrades;
• Claims for injuries received during terrorist attacks, wars, and perhaps even riots, provided they were not the fault of a party to a legal agreement or were foreseeably likely before a legal agreement took effect;
• Claims relating to unrest, strikes, labor union conflicts, or unrest at work;
• Claims involving the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent pandemics (note that this is still up for question and is evolving into a per-jurisdictional issue);
• Claims relating to data breaches, cyberattacks, and other digital incidents that injure or destroy sensitive data, including financial data, for an individual or a company; and
• Claims relating to governmental rules that result from a recently implemented law hinder the responsibilities of a legal agreement from being carried out.

What Do I Need to Do to Get Earthquake Insurance?

You should buy supplementary insurance if you want to be covered for earthquake-related property damage. This is especially true for homeowners who reside in an earthquake-prone region.

Do I Require an Insurance Attorney?

You most likely do not need an attorney if you want to get earthquake insurance coverage. However, if you have had a claim under your policy denied, an insurance lawyer can assist you in determining if you have grounds to sue your insurer.