＜Japanese Version＞

　５月末に地震保険の契約が切れるので、６月１日以降の契約を結んでほしいと保険会社から案内の手紙が来た。中身を見ると地震保険の部分に新しい項目「地震上乗せ特約」なるものが書かれていた。今年の元旦に能登半島地震が起きて、震源から２００Kｍほど離れている滋賀県の我家でも震度３くらいの揺れが起こり、震源付近の損害も大きくて大変驚いたものだ。この「地震上乗せ特約」がどんなものなのか保険会社に電話を掛けて問い合わせてみる事にした。夕方１６時頃に電話を掛けたが、数分待ちでオペレーターに繋がった。「地震上乗せ特約」がどんなものなのかを先ず聞いて見たところ、損害状態が半壊以下と判定された場合に地震保険料に記されている建物と家財に対して記されている最高額の半額までが給付されるらしい。この場合、地震で全壊や火災が発生した場合は火災保険金は給付されず、地震保険と地震上乗せ特約の保険金からしか給付されないそうだ。「地震上乗せ特約」分の私の場合の保険料は幾ら増えるか聞いたところ、今の地震保険料２万円より高い２万４千円の払い込み増になると言う。地震保険料は出始めた２０年位前の当初は数千円だったものが、阪神淡路震災や東北大震災が起こって以降に急に高騰しており、「地震上乗せ特約」も契約期間が１年と短くて毎年何割かずつ払い込み金額を上昇させる積りなのだろう。我が家では、自動車保険・車検代も未だ５年以上払わねばならず財政が厳しい状態である、この様なことから、自動車からリタイヤするまでは「地震上乗せ特約」は入らないことにしようかと目下思案している。

 

 

＜English Version＞

　　　Since my earthquake insurance contract expires at the end of May, I received a letter from my insurance company asking me to sign a contract after June 1st. 　　　When I looked inside, I saw a new item called ''Earthquake add-on special clause'' written in the earthquake insurance section. The Noto Peninsula Earthquake occurred on New Year's Day this year, and even my home in Shiga Prefecture, which is about 200 km away from the epicenter, was shaken with a magnitude of 3 on the seismic intensity scale, and I was very surprised to see that there was extensive damage near the epicenter. 　　　I decided to call the insurance company and inquire about what this "earthquake surcharge rider" was. 　　　I called around 4:00 pm, but it took me a few minutes to get through to an operator. When I first asked what the "earthquake add-on rider" was, I found out that if the damage is determined to be less than half-destruction, the maximum amount written on the earthquake insurance premium for buildings and household goods. Apparently up to half of the amount will be paid.　　　In this case, if the building is completely destroyed or a fire occurs due to an earthquake, fire insurance benefits will not be paid, and payments will only be made from the earthquake insurance and the earthquake add-on rider. 　　　When I asked how much my insurance premium would increase for the ``earthquake add-on'' rider, I was told that it would be an increase of 24,000 yen, which is higher than my current earthquake insurance premium of 20,000 yen. 　　　Earthquake insurance premiums were initially a few thousand yen when they first started appearing 20 years ago, but they have skyrocketed since the Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake and the Great Tohoku Earthquake, and even the ”earthquake add-on'' contract period has increased. 　　　It's only one year, so the plan is to increase the amount paid by a certain percentage every year. 　　　Our family is in a difficult financial situation as we still have to pay car insurance and vehicle inspection fees for more than 5 years, so we are currently thinking about not taking out the ”earthquake add-on rider'' until we retire from driving are doing.