TOKYO —

A record-high 44.0 percent of new fire insurance contractors in fiscal 2007 also signed up for earthquake insurance policies in package deals, an industry body said Thursday. The ratio was up 2.3 percentage points from the previous year and marked the highest since the Non-Life Insurance Rating Organization of Japan began calculating the data in fiscal 2001, the entity said. The high rate of earthquake insurance purchases apparently comes from reactions to a powerful quake which rattled the Noto Peninsula in March 2007 and another strong temblor that hit Sea of Japan coastal areas centering on Niigata Prefecture in July the same year, observers said. An income tax break for earthquake insurance premiums, introduced in 2007, is also believed to have encouraged people to sign up for quake insurance policies, they said.

In Japan, fire insurance policies are sold independently, while quake insurance polices are available as accessory contracts of them. By prefecture, the ratio of new package deals in fiscal 2007 in Ishikawa Prefecture, location of the quake-hit Noto Peninsula, posted the largest gain of 7.5 points from fiscal 2006. Toyama Prefecture, which is adjacent to Ishikawa, came second with 6.3 points, followed by Tokushima Prefecture with 6.1 points, the organization said. A senior official at a major nonlife insurance company said, ‘‘The quake that hit the Noto Peninsula has raised awareness of disaster prevention in the Hokuriku region.’’ In terms of ratio, Kochi Prefecture ranked first, with 72.2 percent of new fire insurance policyholders buying quake insurance polices as well. The ratio in nine other prefectures, including Aichi, Miyagi and Miyazaki prefectures, also topped 50 percent. Seismologists have warned that some of these 10 prefectures may be struck by powerful earthquakes in the future. Nagasaki Prefecture ranked at the bottom with a rate of 24.8 percent, followed by Nagano Prefecture with 27.5 percent, the organization said.

Kyodo

5 Comments

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  DeepAir65 at 11:11 AM JST - 22nd August

  just renewed mine with quake insurance. To be honest it was cheaper than I used to pay for a cheaper house in the UK 8 years ago so no brainer.

  Why is insurance here so cheap? Or is it the other way round - why is it so expensive in the UK

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  TJrandom at 01:08 PM JST - 22nd August

  I just decided against earthquake insurance because of cost - having initially been interested.

  The cost for fire plus earthquake was ten times that of fire alone.

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  majimeaussie at 01:22 PM JST - 22nd August

  I'm a bit like TJ. Also my place is new so has been designed for a strong earthquake. If it is damaged pretty much every building will be damaged and the insurers will probably go broke trying to pay out. At least that is my theory (and my insurance salesman says he doesn't have earthquake insurance).

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  Altria at 01:30 PM JST - 22nd August

  Yeah, insurance is really expensive. You'll probably be ok for a medium-sized earthquake, but if a big one comes the insurance company is going under...though they've probably spread their risk by taking out insurance against that situation.

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  serindipity at 06:55 PM JST - 22nd August

  You've got to weigh it up. What do you own and how much is it worth. I didn't go for earthquake insurance, but I did include fusion, which covers a lot more stuff for a lot less cashola. If any my stuff is damaged in an earthquake I'll wait a week and claim it on fusion.

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