Reading the CEA's own deductible page and policy form to see why an earthquake retention is set by a limit on a different policy

What happened

What information mattered

• The CEA deductible options are stated as 5, 10, 15, 20, or 25 percent of the Coverage A and B limit, so the deductible is a percentage rather than a dollar figure [1].

• CEA Coverage A and B must be the same as the residential homeowners policy's Coverage A dwelling limit, so the base of the percentage is set on a different policy [1].

• The 5 percent and 10 percent options are not available for homes with a Coverage A dwelling limit greater than $1,000,000, or for dwellings with frame construction [1].

• CEA offers a Standard Homeowners policy under which all coverages fall under one deductible, and a Homeowners Choice policy that provides separate deductibles, so which policy is held changes how many retentions there are [1].

• Loss of use carries no deductible under either policy, and its available limits are listed separately [1].

• Coverage C personal property available limits are stated as $5,000 or $25,000, with $500 included for damage to some breakable personal property [1].

• The policy form defines the dwelling as not including land, whether or not beneath the residential structure, even if required for support [2].

• The form's Property Not Covered items exclude land including land underlying the dwelling, and the cost of land stabilization [2].

• The form excludes fire or explosion, and separately excludes flood, precipitation, surface water, waves, tsunami, and tidal water [2].

The insurance question

What was decided, and by whom

• No authority decided this. It is illustrative only. The coverage and deductible mechanics come from the California Earthquake Authority's own published homeowners coverages and deductibles page and from the published BEQ-3B (01-2026 edition) policy form, both read on 2026-08-31. Nothing here reflects a decision about any specific property, applicant, deductible, or claim, and no dollar figure is produced for anyone.

What cannot be generalized from this

• No figure is calculated here. The dollar retention depends on limits shown on the reader's own two declarations pages, and the arithmetic is theirs to do and confirm with their insurer.

• Program terms, deductible options, and availability conditions are set by the CEA and change by edition. The form read here is the 01-2026 edition; verify the current published documents before relying on any option list.

• This describes the published CEA program only. A non-CEA standalone earthquake policy or an earthquake endorsement on a homeowners policy may state its deductible on an entirely different basis, and none was read here.

• Whether any particular dwelling meets a stated availability condition, such as the construction type or the dwelling limit threshold, is determined by the program and the participating insurer rather than by a document reading.

• Nothing here states what the reader's own policy covers or excludes. The exclusions quoted are from the published form, and the reader's own form, endorsements, and declarations control.

• This is not a coverage determination and not an eligibility statement. Whether coverage is available, and whether any particular loss is paid, is decided by the insurer and the program.

Source ledger

2 sources. Every citation number above resolves to a record below. Nothing here sits behind an account.

1. [1]

   Homeowners Coverages and Deductibles (CEA homeowners policy)(opens the original record on California Earthquake Authority)

   California Earthquake AuthorityCarrier officialPrimaryJurisdiction CALast checked August 31, 2026Updates: changes with CEA rate and form filings; verify limit and deductible options each review cycleID cea-homeowners-coverages-deductibles

   What this source supports (11)

   • CEA offers a Standard Homeowners policy under which all coverages fall under one deductible, and a Homeowners Choice policy that provides separate deductibles for dwelling and for personal property and allows the purchase of dwelling coverage only.
   • The deductible options are 5, 10, 15, 20, or 25 percent of the Coverage A and B limit.
   • The 5 percent and 10 percent deductible options are not available for homes with a Coverage A dwelling limit greater than $1,000,000, or for dwellings with frame construction built before 1980 that are not on a slab foundation and do not have a verified retrofit.
   • CEA Coverage A and B must be the same as the residential homeowners policy's Coverage A dwelling limit.
   • Coverage C personal property available limits are $5,000 or $25,000, with $500 included for damage to some breakable personal property.
   • Coverage D loss of use available limits are $1,500, $10,000, $15,000, $25,000, $50,000, $75,000, and $100,000, and loss of use carries no deductible under either policy type.
   • Building code upgrade coverage is $10,000 with purchasable options of $20,000 or $30,000, and is paid once the covered dwelling damage exceeds the Coverage A and B deductible.
   • There is no deductible on the first $1,500 of emergency repairs coverage, and amounts exceeding $1,500 require meeting the Coverage A and B or Coverage C deductible.
   • CEA states that exclusions and special limits apply and that all terms and conditions of CEA insurance coverage are found in the CEA insurance-policy form.
   • CEA lists the deductible choices for its homeowners policy as 5, 10, 15, 20, or 25 percent, expressed as a percentage of the Coverage A and B limit.
   • The page states: 'The 5% and 10% deductible options are not available for homes with Coverage A dwelling limit greater than $1,000,000, or dwellings with frame construction built before 1980 that are not on a slab foundation and do not have a verified retrofit.'

   Effective: not stated on the page

   Active
2. [2]

   Basic Earthquake Policy - Homeowners, Form BEQ-3B (01-2026 edition), sample policy(opens the original record on California Earthquake Authority)

   California Earthquake AuthorityCarrier officialPrimaryJurisdiction CALast checked August 31, 2026Updates: CEA refiles its policy forms periodically; this edition is designated 01-2026 and supersedes the 01-2019 sample previously published.ID cea-beq3b-homeowners-policy-form

   What this source supports (11)

   • Every page carries the form line 'BEQ-3B (01-2026 edition)'; the sample runs 26 pages. A notice page states 'THE LANGUAGE OF THIS POLICY HAS BEEN APPROVED BY THE CALIFORNIA INSURANCE COMMISSIONER'.
   • The AGREEMENT states: 'This policy is issued by the California Earthquake Authority (CEA), a public instrumentality of the State of California established and authorized by law to transact insurance in California as necessary to sell policies of basic residential earthquake insurance.'
   • Definition 12 defines 'Earthquake' as 'a vibration-generating rupture event caused by displacement within the earth's crust through release of strain associated with tectonic processes and includes effects such as ground shaking, liquefaction, and damaging amplification of ground motion', and ends 'Earthquake does not mean or include tsunami or volcanic eruption.'
   • Definition 11 states: 'Dwelling does not include land, whether or not beneath the residential structure or mobile home, even if required for support.'
   • LOSSES EXCLUDED Item 1 excludes 'Fire or explosion.'
   • LOSSES EXCLUDED Item 2 excludes water damage including 'Flood, precipitation (including but not limited to rain, snow, hail, or sleet), or surface water; waves, tsunami, or tidal water; rupture of a dam, levee, berm, or sea wall; overflow of a natural or man-made body of water; or spray from any of these' and water below the surface of the ground, subject to write-backs for earthquake-caused release of water from water heaters, refrigerators, or water supply pipes within the dwelling; displacement of water from an aquarium, drinking water container or dispenser, swimming pool, decorative pool, spa, or hot tub; release of water from municipal or other water supply lines or of water or sewage from sewers or drains; and precipitation entering a building through an opening in a roof or wall that is the direct result of earthquake damage.
   • LOSSES EXCLUDED Item 5 excludes 'Earth movement, settling of land, land sliding, subsidence, mudflows, or earth sinking, rising or shifting' unless it 'is induced by, and would not have occurred in the absence of, an earthquake that commences during the policy period as part of a seismic event that commences during the policy period' and 'causes loss that manifests within one year after the earthquake that caused the loss.'
   • Property Not Covered under Coverage A and Coverage B, Items 1 and 2, excludes 'Land, including land underlying the dwelling' and the cost of land stabilization, stabilization structures, and associated engineering, in each case except as provided under OTHER COVERAGES Item 3, 'Land'. OTHER COVERAGES Item 3 pays up to $10,000, as a sublimit of the combined single limit for Coverage A and Coverage B, to restore or stabilize land necessary to support the dwelling where stabilization is necessary for habitability.
   • IMPORTANT NOTICES Item 2, Companion Policy Requirement, states that during the entire policy period the insured must keep in force a companion policy providing fire insurance for the same property, issued by the same participating insurer, and that 'if no companion policy is in effect at the time of loss, this CEA policy is void and no payment will be made under this CEA policy.' The AGREEMENT Item 5 states the same requirement.
   • The DEDUCTIBLE CLAUSE states: 'The deductible amount is a percentage of the combined single limit of insurance for COVERAGE A: DWELLING and COVERAGE B: EXTENSIONS TO DWELLING.' Coverage D Loss of Use is not subject to a deductible, nor is the first $1,500 of coverage under OTHER COVERAGES Item 1, Emergency Repairs, and the deductible amount does not reduce any limit of insurance stated on the declarations.
   • IMPORTANT NOTICES Item 3 states that the policy does not have a 'guaranteed replacement cost' or 'extended replacement cost' feature and that the combined single limit for Coverage A and Coverage B is not modified by any such feature in the homeowners or other companion policy.

   Replaces the 01-2019 sample cited in the draft, which is a superseded edition. Fetched 2026-08-31; WebFetch could not parse the PDF inline, so the saved file was extracted with pdftotext and the DEFINITIONS, DEDUCTIBLE CLAUSE, IMPORTANT NOTICES, COVERAGES, OTHER COVERAGES, and LOSSES EXCLUDED sections were read directly. effectiveDate is 'unknown' because the sample states an edition designation but no filing effective date. Published: 2026-01

   Active

Questions this example illustrates