Earthquakes, wildfires and what your life policy does

Most policies do not exclude natural disasters

People sometimes worry that a death in an earthquake or a wildfire would not be covered. Most term life policies do not list earthquakes, wildfires or other natural disasters among their exclusions, so a death in one of them is generally treated like any other covered death, and the benefit goes to the people you named.

Policies do have exclusions, and they differ by carrier. Many limit what is paid for a suicide in the first policy years, and some list other exclusions as well. The only way to know what yours says is to read your policy’s exclusions section, or to ask the agency to go through it with you before you sign.

Life insurance is not home, earthquake or fire coverage

A life policy pays money to the people you name when you die. It does not repair a house, replace belongings or pay for a hotel after an evacuation. Fire damage to your home is a matter for a homeowners or renters policy, and in California, earthquake damage usually needs separate earthquake coverage.

Those policies and a life policy answer different questions. One protects the house and what is in it; the other protects the people who rely on your income. A disaster can test both at once, so it is worth checking that each kind of coverage is in place and sized for your household.

Keep your policy where your family can find it

After an evacuation, papers left in a desk drawer may be gone or out of reach. A benefit is hard to claim if no one knows the policy exists. Keep a copy of the policy, or at least the carrier’s name and the policy number, with your emergency documents: the go-bag, a fire-resistant box or a folder you can grab on the way out.

Tell your beneficiaries which carrier issued the policy and where the papers are kept. A digital copy stored where a trusted person can reach it helps too. When your family has the carrier’s name and the policy number in hand, starting a claim is much easier for them during a hard time.

Review your beneficiaries after big changes

A disaster can rearrange a family’s life: a move to another city, a new household shared with relatives, a loss in the family. Marriage, divorce, a new child or a parent’s death change things too. After any of these, look at who you named as beneficiary and whether that choice still matches what you want.

Naming a contingent beneficiary, a second person who receives the benefit if the first cannot, is a simple step that helps when one event affects several family members at once. Changing a beneficiary is usually done with a form from the carrier, not by updating a will, so check with the carrier when you make a change.