By mid-afternoon, Hight said his office had taken about 20 calls Wednesday from people asking about buying earthquake coverage. Kuresman Insurance Inc. in Poulsbo also fielded some of those calls, owner Mike Kuresman said. Make that difficult to impossible. Insurance companies routinely place moratoriums on sales of earthquake coverage immediately after an earthquake. The length of the moratorium varies by company, said Kuresman, an independent agent.
Most insurers offer the coverage only as an add-on to a standard homeowner's policy.
Those that do sell separate earthquake policies charge more, agents said. Their purpose is to cover a home-destroying quake, not a broken mirror or vase. Homeowners policies may cover some personal property damage. Hight heard from one policyholder whose Bremerton house suffered extreme structural damage. Most of the rest of those who called his agency to initiate claims reported broken household items or other damaged personal property.