- During an insurance claim
- For adjusters and carriers
- For housing companies and TPAs
- For crews and project managers
- For agencies and disaster response
- Living in the unit
- Billing and paperwork
During an insurance claim
Can I stay on my property during insurance repairs?
In most cases, yes. We deliver a fully furnished travel trailer to your property, level it, and set it up so you sleep on your own land while the contractors work on the house. You keep your address, your commute, your kids’ school, and an eye on the rebuild. Before delivery we check the local rules on a temporary RV during a rebuild, and where the property allows it, the utility connections are completed by licensed, insured contractors from our preferred vendor network.
Does insurance cover a travel trailer as temporary housing?
Usually, when your policy includes Additional Living Expenses (ALE) coverage and the claim is covered. ALE pays for a place to live while your home is unlivable, and a furnished travel trailer on your own property is one way to use it. We bill the carrier directly and track the placement against your ALE limit, so a family on a covered claim pays $0 out of pocket. If you are not sure what your policy says, we can walk through it with you or talk with your adjuster.
How long can I stay in temporary housing after a fire?
As long as the rebuild takes and your policy allows. Every policy sets an ALE limit, usually as a dollar amount, a time period, or both, and the placement has to fit inside it. Rebuild timelines depend on the damage, the permits, and the contractor, so we do not guess at a number. We track the placement against your ALE limit as the claim runs, and if the schedule changes, we adjust the stay rather than making you move.
What does ALE cover?
Additional Living Expenses, sometimes called Loss of Use, is the part of a homeowners policy that pays the extra cost of living somewhere else while your home is repaired after a covered loss. That generally means the housing itself, plus reasonable increases in things like meals and mileage above what you normally spend. The exact list and the limit are set by your policy, and your adjuster is the authority on both. Our part is the housing: we place the unit, bill the carrier, and keep the placement inside the limit.
Do I need a permit to put an RV on my lot during the rebuild?
It depends on where you live. Many cities and counties allow a temporary RV on a residential lot while a building permit is open. Some require a separate temporary-use permit, and a few restrict it. We check the rules for your address before delivery so you know what applies and what, if anything, needs to be filed. When a permit is needed, we tell you what it is so nothing surprises you at the permitting office.
Who pays for the unit?
On a covered claim, your insurance carrier does, through your ALE coverage. We invoice the carrier, TPA, or housing company that is managing the file, not you, and there is no reimbursement to wait on. Families pay $0 out of pocket on a covered claim. If the claim is not covered, or you are outside an insurance situation entirely, Temporary RV Living, the rental operation that supplies the trailers, can quote a private rental at temporaryrvliving.com/rentals.
What if my claim closes early?
Tell your named contact when you hear it. Claims close early for a few reasons: the repairs finish ahead of schedule, the ALE limit is reached, or the carrier and the policyholder settle. In each case we coordinate the pickup date with you and the adjuster so the unit leaves after you are back in the house, not before. If you want to keep the unit beyond what the claim will cover, we can talk through a private rental for the remaining time.
For adjusters and carriers
What documentation does the adjuster get?
Setup documentation with the unit and the start date, site condition documentation at setup and again at takedown, and invoices on the cycle you set. We track the placement against the ALE limit for the life of the file. If you want a status summary during the stay, tell us the cadence and we send it. When a file needs property documentation as well, LossMap can supply aerial and photo documentation of the property.
How do you track a placement against the ALE limit?
We ask for the limit when the file opens and track the placement against it for the life of the claim, so you and the policyholder know where it stands. When the placement is getting close to the limit, we talk with you and the family about the next step, whether that is extending, settling, or ending the placement, so it is decided on purpose. That is also why a family on a covered claim never sees a bill from us.
What do you need from us to start a placement?
The property address, how many people are in the household, the claim number, the ALE limit, and where to send invoices. From there we check the local rules on a temporary RV at that address, confirm the site can take a unit, and schedule delivery with the family. You get one named contact from the first call to pickup, and the family gets the same person.
Why place a trailer on the property instead of a hotel or an apartment?
Because the family stays home. They keep their address, their commute, their school, and their eye on the contractor, which tends to keep a claim calmer. For the file, an on-site placement means one vendor, one invoice, and a placement that is easy to track against the limit, with none of the lease negotiations or deposits that off-site rentals bring. Most providers move the family away from the property. We bring the housing to it.
What happens when the family moves back in?
Tell us the move-in date and we schedule the pickup around it. The unit is disconnected, site conditions are documented the same way they were at setup, and the trailer leaves. The final invoice closes the placement and shows the total against the ALE limit. If the rebuild slips and the family needs the unit longer, we extend the placement with you rather than making anyone move twice.
For housing companies and TPAs
How does a housing company set you up as a vendor?
Send us your vendor packet and we complete it. Most housing portals are built for landlords with a fixed property address, and that does not fit us, because the unit goes to the policyholder’s own address. So we are set up as a vendor, the same way you would set up any service provider. Once the packet is in, files flow the normal way: you send the placement, we handle the site, the delivery, and the service, and invoices route wherever your program wants them.
Do you work nationwide?
Yes. We have served families and crews nationwide since 2004, with units staged near the placement rather than run out of a single hub. When a file comes in, we look at where the property is and stage the unit from there. The site check, the local rule check, and the utility connections all happen at the address, through licensed, insured contractors from our preferred vendor network.
Who does our team talk to during a placement?
One person. Each placement gets a named contact from the first call to pickup, and that person is the same one the family calls. You are not routed through a general queue or handed between departments as the file moves from setup to service to takedown. If you want a summary during the stay, tell that contact the cadence and you get it.
Do you handle the site work, or do we?
We do. The site check, the local rule check, delivery, leveling, setup, utility connections by licensed, insured contractors, scheduled service visits during the stay, and takedown with site documentation at the end. The housing company sends the file and gets updates. Nothing on the ground lands on your desk, and the policyholder has one number to call for anything in the unit.
For crews and project managers
How many units does a crew need?
Divide headcount by the sleeping capacity you want per unit. Our trailers sleep two to ten, but crews rarely want ten to a unit, so the real number comes from how your crew is organized: who shares, who needs a private unit, and how many rotate at once. We size the set with you during the site check and stage it in tranches as headcount ramps, then pull units as it winds down.
Who hooks up water, sewer, and power on a job site?
Licensed, insured contractors from our preferred vendor network complete every connection, whether the site has services already or needs them brought in. On a raw site we assess power, water, and sewer options during the site check and build the plan around what is there. Your crew does not run cords or hoses. The connections are done and documented before anyone moves in.
Do we have to re-rent when a crew rotates out?
No. The unit stays for the project and the people change with the schedule. When one rotation leaves and the next arrives, scheduled service visits keep the units ready between them, and the contract does not restart. That is the difference between crew housing and a string of hotel bookings: you hold the beds for the job, not for the individuals.
Where can the units go on a job site?
On the site itself or on the nearest suitable ground: a laydown yard, an adjacent parcel, or land the owner makes available. Ground, access, and utilities set the practical limit, which is why we do a site check before quoting a set. Where the site cannot host units, we place them as close as the land allows and coordinate the site with you.
What does the crew get inside each unit?
A fully furnished travel trailer with a kitchen, a bathroom, real beds, and heat and air conditioning. Units can arrive with a boxed housewares package from Temporary Housewares so the crew walks in ready: cookware, linens, and the things nobody wants to shop for after a shift. Scheduled service visits keep the units working for the life of the project.
For agencies and disaster response
Can you house displaced residents after a declared disaster?
Yes, and it is where our crew housing began. After a storm, hotels fill with everyone else, and a family with a standing lot and a damaged house often wants to stay on it. We place furnished units on the resident’s own property where local rules allow it, connect them through licensed, insured contractors, and service them for the length of the recovery. Where the property cannot take a unit, we place on the nearest suitable ground.
Can you house both the residents and the response crews?
Yes, and often at the same time. Residents get units on their own lots. Crews get units on or near the work. The two sets are contracted, billed, and serviced separately, so a public agency, a utility, or a contractor can hold its own scope without mixing files. Both scale from one unit to a full camp, and both are documented at setup and at takedown.
What if the area has no power, water, or sewer?
We plan for it. On a site without services we assess power, water, and sewer options during the site check and build the plan around what is available, with the connections completed by licensed, insured contractors from our preferred vendor network. The plan is honest about what the ground can support. We do not promise a clock; we promise a plan that tracks the recovery.
How do agencies and their contractors engage you?
Tell us what your procurement requires. We work within existing vendor programs and reporting requirements, and we bill direct to the contractor, the utility, or the corporation holding the scope. One contract and one invoice per project, site conditions documented at setup and at takedown, and one named contact for the length of the deployment. Start with the contact form and choose government or disaster response so the request lands with the right person.
Living in the unit
What sizes are there?
Our travel trailers sleep two to ten. Smaller units suit a couple or a single occupant. Larger units carry a family with several kids or a crew that shares. Every size arrives fully furnished with a kitchen, a bathroom, real beds, and heat and air conditioning. We match the unit to the household and to what the property can take, since driveway access and ground conditions sometimes decide the size before the headcount does.
Is there heat and air conditioning?
Yes. Every unit has heat and air conditioning. Power for them comes through the electrical connection completed by a licensed, insured contractor, so the unit runs the way a small home does. If something stops working during the stay, you call your named contact and a service visit is scheduled. Scheduled service visits during the stay are part of every placement, not an add-on.
What about winter?
Units have heat and are winterized for the season, and the setup accounts for the freeze risk at the address. There are still things a household can do to keep water lines and tanks from freezing on a hard cold night, and Temporary RV Living keeps a help article on winter care and freeze protection at temporaryrvliving.com/help/winter-care-and-freeze-protection. Read it before the first cold snap, and call your named contact with anything the article does not answer.
Can pets come?
Pets are discussed per placement. Tell us on the first call what animals you have, with type, size, and count, and we will tell you what works for the unit and the site. Being on your own property helps, since the yard your dog already knows is right outside the door. It is a conversation, not a form, so ask early and we will give you a straight answer.
What about mail and internet?
Mail keeps going to your home address, because you are still at it. The house is being repaired, but the address has not changed and neither has the mailbox. Internet depends on the site. Some families keep their existing home service running through the rebuild, and others need something arranged for the unit, which can be set up depending on what is available at the address. Tell your named contact what you need before delivery so it is part of the setup plan.
What is a housewares package?
A boxed set of the household items a furnished unit does not come with: cookware, dishes, utensils, linens, towels, and the small things a family reaches for on the first night. Temporary Housewares (temporaryhousewares.com) assembles the packages and ships them nationwide, to an on-site unit, a hotel, or an apartment placement. It means nobody buys a second set of kitchen gear for a home they will only be in for the length of a claim.
What happens at pickup?
We schedule the pickup date with you and with the adjuster or the company on the file, so the unit leaves after you are back in the house. On the day, the unit is disconnected by a licensed, insured contractor, site conditions are documented the same way they were at setup, and the trailer leaves. Your part is to move your own belongings back into the house. The final invoice closes the placement.
Billing and paperwork
How does direct billing work, and does the family ever see a bill?
We invoice the carrier, the TPA, the housing company, or the employer that owns the file, on the billing cycle that party sets. When a claim is involved we track the placement against the ALE limit. The family does not receive an invoice and does not front money for reimbursement. On a covered claim they pay $0 out of pocket. When a corporation or employer is paying instead of a carrier, the same structure applies without the ALE tracking.
How is the site condition documented?
Twice: at setup, before the unit is placed, and at takedown, after it leaves. The documentation shows the condition of the site before the unit arrived and after it was gone, so everyone on the file has the same record. It is documentation, not a restoration promise. What it gives the policyholder, the adjuster, and us is a clear before-and-after that settles questions about the yard without anyone relying on memory.
What is LossMap?
LossMap (lossmap.io) supplies aerial and photo documentation of a property. On a claim, that gives the adjuster and the policyholder a shared visual record of the loss and the site, which supports the file alongside the site condition documentation we produce at setup and at takedown. Ask your named contact if you want LossMap documentation on a placement, and we will bring them in.
Can a company or employer be billed instead of an insurance carrier?
Yes. We bill corporations and employers directly for crew housing and for any placement that is not tied to an insurance claim. It is one contract and one invoice per project, with terms that run month to month or for the length of the job. No per diem reconciliation, no expense reports, and no hotel folios for your accounting team to chase.
Still have a question?
Call us or send the form. One named contact from the first call to pickup.