Mary Ann and Charley Karambellas took a devastating hit: The earthquake that shook their Sylmar, Calif., home on January 17 put a crack in the family room wall and pulled a wing of their house a half-inch away from the rest. Meanwhile, at Alicia and Hector Buitragos', nearer the Northridge epicenter, the only structural damage was a fallen chimney. Most L.A.-area homeowners, who like the Buitragos live in wood-frame houses built to satisfy quake-conscious post-World War II building codes, came through the quake itself with mostly cosmetic damage. "I don't have a fancy house -- it's essentially a box," says Hector Buitrago. The Karambellas' split-level gave way because its three stories shook at different frequencies.
But in the aftermath, the plentiful cosmetic repairs have brought on major headaches: days spent haggling with insurers (assuming people carried earthquake coverage; almost two thirds of Southern California homeowners don't), weeks of waiting until a contractor is free, painful bills. Repairing hairline stucco cracks in just one wall might run $1,500, for example. And that assumes you can find someone to take on the work. One contractor reports fielding 400 to 500 calls a day.
Many victims who did have insurance got a shock when they dug out their policies. Typically, earthquake coverage requires a deductible worth 10 percent of the insured value of the house, and some insurers impose three separate deductibles that can really add up: one for the house, one for the contents and one for exterior structures such as patios. West Hills resident Arnold Larsen, for example, faces $50,000 in deductibles before he gets help. The Karambellas' 5 percent deductible means they will pay only $10,000 of $200,000 in damage.
