Exclusive | Threat of The Big One sends Californians scrambling for earthquake insurance

A series of earthquakes that have rattled the Golden State have triggered a new kind of aftershock — insurance costs.Californians are scrambling to protect their houses amid fears “The Big One” could strike but are being met by sky high policies and ludicrous deductibles.One broker who connects homeowners with deals told The Post he has seen calls per day surge by 700% and warned it has been sparked by the recent flurry of tremors hitting the region.Meanwhile owners revealed they are shelling out thousands a year on top of their crippling other insurance plans to protect in case of an earthquake.Yet they say even with this if their property is damaged or destroyed they could be in for a six-figure hit due to massive deductibles written into their policies.It comes as a wave of increasingly large quakes have rocked the West Coast in recent weeks, including a 4.2-magnitude striking Frazier Park on Sunday and a 5.6 hitting Northern California at the end of June.Experts warn there is a 99% chance of a massive one of 6.7 or greater hitting the state within the next 30 years, with 15,000 fault lines across SoCal alone.The recent surge in tremors has sent homeowners flocking to get insurance, with the latest figures showing only 10% of households are covered.Ara Muradyan, founder of EarthquakeAgent.com, told the California Post he has seen a huge uptick in people enquiring about coverage.He said: “It’s the same thing every time we have headlines about earthquakes, or earthquakes themselves.”Muradyan, who launched the online insurance brokerage after struggling to navigate the earthquake insurance market himself, said inquiries have surged from five calls a day to over 40.He continued: “When people hear about earthquakes, they become interested.” Muradyan said homeowners often assume their standard insurance policy covers earthquake damage.But earthquake coverage must be bought separately, either through the California Earthquake Authority or private insurer...