Downtown Portland, Oregon
Downtown Portland, Oregon

How Your Oregon Landslide Insurance Works

Landslide insurance coverage is a type of insurance policy that provides protection against a loss due to landslide which is sometimes called a ‘Difference in Conditions’ policy or a ‘Natural Catastrophe’ insurance policy. Here are common questions that are asked about landslide insurance coverage:

N0, all home policies have exclusions for damage due to landslide, earthquake, and flood. The protections against these perils can be purchased in a Difference in Conditions policy.
This type of insurance policy provides protection against a loss due to the following perils:

 Landslide

 Earthquake

 Flood

 

This type of policy would define each peril as the following:

 Landslide means the natural and sudden fall, slipping or displacement of earth or rock, including mud flow and land collapse other than that arising out of Earthquake shock.

 Earthquake Shock means earth movement due to natural, seismic disturbance, caused by a sudden movement of the earth’s crust, and including as a direct and immediate result of Earthquake Shock, landslide, mud flow, earth sinking, earth rising, or earth shifting.

 Flood means a general and temporary condition of partial or complete inundation of normally dry land areas above the surface of the ground, caused by the overflow of a body of water including rivers, streams or lakes, waves, tidal water, surface water or spray from any of these, whether or not driven by wind.

The deductible for this type of insurance policy works as percentage rather than a dollar amount. Deductible options typically provide deductible at 5%, 10%, 15%, and 20% of your homes replacement cost value.

For example, rebuilding your home after a landslide, earthquake, or flood you would be responsible for 5% of the insurance replacement cost of your home. If the insurance replacement cost of your home was $355,000 this would equate to $17,750. out of your pocket for rebuilding to begin.

Like all insurance policies this type of insurance has exclusions and you always need to take responsibility to read what is and what is not going to be covered so you have no surprises. A few of the types of exclusions that exists in a landslide policy are the following:

 No coverage for a loss out of nuclear reaction, nuclear radiation or radioactive contamination. You will find this similar exclusion on a home insurance policy.

 No coverage for a loss out of war; invasion, acts of foreign enemies, civil war, rebellion, insurrection, military or usurped power or martial law or confiscation or nationalization or requisition or destruction of or damage to property by or under the order of any government or public or local authority. That’s quite a mouthful but as you can see anything close to being considered of an act of war is not going to be covered. Again, you will find an exclusion similar to this on your home insurance policy.

 No coverage for loss or damage arising out of normal settling, shrinking or expansion of land, buildings, structures or foundations; or erosion, gradual subsidence or the processes of erosion that take place over time, or any other gradually occurring loss whether caused by Earthquake Shock, Flood or Landslide or not, or any loss or damage which commenced prior to inception of this policy. The event has to be sudden and accidental, as stated above anything that happens over a period of time is going to be excluded from coverage.

These are only a few of the exclusions that are found in a Difference Conditions Policy. You need to review the policy for yourself to get an understanding of where you might not have coverage.

As an insurance broker I help individuals throughout Oregon and the Pacific Northwest manage risk.