Palm Springs is about as close to the San Andreas Fault as a resort town gets. The fault runs along the north and east side of the Coachella Valley, and geologists who study the section near here estimate it has gone roughly 300 years without a major rupture, longer than its usual gap between big ones. Nobody can say when, but “whether” isn’t really the question.
Your homeowners policy won’t cover quake damage, and we walked through the California basics of how separate earthquake policies and their deductibles work. Here’s what’s a little different out in the desert.
Your pool probably isn’t covered. This one surprises almost everyone here. Policies through the California Earthquake Authority, where many Californians get quake coverage, don’t cover pools, spas, or hot tubs, and they leave out fences and landscaping too. In a town where the pool is half the backyard, that matters. It’s worth asking about private carriers, and worth checking your liability side as well, which we touched on in our pool liability post.
Mid-century glass walls. Post-and-beam homes with floor-to-ceiling glass are what make neighborhoods like Twin Palms and Racquet Club Estates special. They can also mean pricey glass and framing repairs after a shake. Knowing your home’s age, construction, and any retrofit history helps us price coverage honestly.
Second homes count too. Plenty of Palm Springs houses sit empty half the year. Earthquake coverage for a second home is available, but it’s written a little differently, and a quake can do its damage long before anyone’s back in town to see it.
What’s on the walls. Desert collectors love their modern art and design pieces. Those usually need their own coverage, which is where a policy for art and collectibles comes in.
So do you need it? That comes down to how much of a rebuild your savings could handle on their own. We’re brokers who work with desert homeowners all the time, so if you’d like the real numbers for your house, we’re glad to line them up. No pressure either way.