Few takers for new policies under earthquake authority.

Angered by higher prices for less coverage, many Los Angeles area homeowners are deciding not to buy earthquake insurance under the new California Earthquake Authority.

State officials say there are no statistics to measure the number of quake insurance policies sold in the county under the CEA versus sales before its 1996 creation. However, individual brokers say they are selling far less.

Randy Leak co-owner of the Leal Insurance Co. in Paramount, said that prices for coverage in his area - which includes Carson, Lynwood and parts of Long Beach - have nearly tripled.

About 35 percent of Leal's clients used to include earthquake insurance with their homeowner policies. It's now below 15 percent, he said.

"It's far more expensive, and I think people aren't concerned about an earthquake now that it's been a few years since we had one," he said.

San Fernando Valley earthquake insurance rates are the most expensive in Los Angeles County, at between $3.90 and $5.10 per $1,000 of coverage, depending on location.

in Northridge, the rate for a home built after 1960 is $4.80 per $1,000 of coverage, according to Gabriel Kalenian, an agent with Farmers Insurance Group in Northridge.

Thus, $200,000 worth of coverage would cost about $960 a year. It's about half that amount for a similarly priced home in Santa Monica.

In recent weeks, the CEA has proposed a nine percent rate drop for the Los Angeles-Orange County metropolitan area - part of an overall statewide reduction. The cuts corresponded to adjustments to the quake risk model adopted by the authority.

Jan Hardee, an agent with Prudential Insurance Co.'s Tarzana office, said "nearly 100 percent" of his customers chose to add quake coverage to their home and fire coverage in recent years. But under the CEA, only about 65 percent are doing so, he said.

"I didn't renew my policy this year, and a lot of people I'm talking to aren't renewing theirs," said Richard Close, president of the Sherman Oaks Homeowners Association. "With the CEA, my policy tripled in price and there was a substantial reduction of my coverage."

Not all areas report such drastic drops in policy buyers. In Manhattan Beach, where the Law Insurance Co. is based, owner and agent Casey Law said his numbers have fallen only "a little" since the advent of CEA.

"It's more out of resignation that people take the policies," said Law. "There's just nothing else available right now."

The CEA does not track the number of homeowners with policies now versus the number who had policies under the old system, said Leonard, the CEA spokesman.

However, he said there has been a 4 percent drop in policy purchases since the CEA began selling policies last December.

Statewide, there are currently 418,165 policies - 10 percent below the number projected last year, Leonard said.

The authority was formed by the Legislature last year after private insurers demanded a rollback in their liability for earthquake damages in light of massive payouts they made after the Northridge quake.