Chubb Additional Living Expenses: The Two Year Period, No Deductible, and a Trailer on Your Own Lot

When a covered loss makes a house unlivable, the part of a homeowners policy that pays for somewhere else to live goes by different names at different carriers, and the time and dollar limits sit in different places. This page is the Chubb version: what the coverage is called, what the published wording says about how long and how much, and how a furnished travel trailer on your own property becomes the housing that coverage pays for. 1st Choice Living has placed trailers on homeowners’ own lots, nationwide, since 2004, and bills the carrier directly where the claim covers it.

Chubb loss of use at a glance

The other four carriers side by side: loss of use coverage by insurance carrier.

What the Chubb policy form says

Chubb does not post its Masterpiece policy on chubb.com, but the Maine Bureau of Insurance posts the Deluxe House Coverage section of the Masterpiece policy, form 0800018, dated 03/08/21, for Federal Insurance Company, Great Northern Insurance Company, Pacific Indemnity Company, and Vigilant Insurance Company. That is the form quoted below. It is a Maine copy and Chubb's forms vary by state, so the wording on your policy may differ, and your Coverage Summary shows whether a Limited additional living expenses amount applies to you.

“Under certain conditions when your house or other permanent structure cannot be lived in because of a covered loss to your house or other permanent structure or, if applicable, its contents, we provide coverage for additional living expenses which consists of extra living expenses, loss of fair rental value, and forced evacuation expenses. If Limited additional living expenses coverage is shown in the Coverage Summary, the amount shown for this limited coverage is the maximum amount we will pay for all additional living expenses combined for each occurrence. There is no deductible for this coverage.”

“Extra living expenses. If a covered loss makes your house or other permanent structure uninhabitable, we cover the reasonable increase in your normal living expenses that is necessary to maintain your household's usual standard of living, including the boarding of domestic animals not primarily owned or kept for business use.”

“We cover these increases to your normal living expenses for a period of time commencing with the date of loss and ending with the earliest of the following: the reasonable amount of time required to restore your house or other permanent structure to a habitable condition; the shortest amount of time required to settle elsewhere if you or members of your household permanently relocate; the reasonable amount of time required to restore the house or other permanent structure to the condition it was in prior to the covered loss if you are newly constructing your house or other permanent structure or constructing additions, alterations, or renovations to your house or other permanent structure at the time of a covered loss, but we will only cover the increase in your normal living expenses incurred by you; or up to two years from the date of loss, or a later date if agreed to by us.”

“You must inform us of your decision whether you intend to repair, replace, or rebuild the house or other permanent structure, or to permanently relocate, within 180 days from the date of loss, or a later date if agreed to by us. If you do not inform us of your decision by this date, the extra living expenses will cease in 30 days. This period of time is not limited by the expiration of this policy.”

“Forced evacuation expenses. If you evacuate your house or other permanent structure due to a reasonable threat of a loss covered under this policy, or you are forced to evacuate by a civil authority as a direct result of a covered peril, we cover the reasonable increase in your normal living expenses incurred by you that is necessary to maintain your household's usual standard of living, including the boarding of domestic animals not primarily owned or kept for business use.”

“We cover these forced evacuation expenses for up to 30 consecutive days, even if the policy period ends during that time.”

What Chubb says on its own website

“If your home cannot be lived in due to a covered loss and you need a temporary residence while your house is rebuilt, Chubb will help you find a place to stay where you'll be comfortable, whether that’s at a similar home in your school district if available or a suitable hotel.”

“And, we’ll provide additional living expenses for up to two years or a later date, should you experience a covered loss and need another place to stay.”

“Chubb will provide additional living expenses for up to two years or a later date if agreed to by us.”

A trailer on your own lot as your Extra living expenses housing

Nothing quoted above names a hotel, an apartment, or a trailer. The wording pays the increase in cost to keep your household at its normal standard of living while the house is uninhabitable, up to the limits. A furnished travel trailer delivered, leveled, and connected on your own property is one way to do that, and it keeps you next to the rebuild, your kids in their school, and your pets at home. Whether it is approved on your claim is up to your Chubb adjuster. Here is how that approval usually comes together.

Chubb's homeowners page says Chubb will help you find a place to stay, a similar home in your school district if available or a suitable hotel. A furnished trailer on your own lot is a third option to raise with the adjuster, and the form's test is the reasonable increase in your normal living expenses necessary to maintain your household's usual standard of living, not one type of housing.

The form has a deadline the other carriers' forms we read do not: you must tell Chubb within 180 days of the loss whether you intend to repair, replace, rebuild, or permanently relocate, or extra living expenses cease 30 days later. Put that date on the calendar at the start of the claim, and ask the adjuster whether a Limited additional living expenses amount appears on your Coverage Summary.

1. Open the claim and ask two questions. Does the claim include Extra living expenses, and what are the limit in dollars and the time period on your declarations page? Ask your Chubb adjuster to confirm both in writing.
2. Say what housing you want. Tell your Chubb adjuster you want a furnished travel trailer on your own property as your temporary housing, and ask what they need from the provider to approve it.
3. Call us or send the request form. We ask for the property address, how many people and pets need a place to sleep, the claim number, and the adjuster’s contact. Before anything is delivered we confirm the local rule on a temporary RV at your address; if a trailer on your lot is not the right fit for the property, we will tell you.
4. We send the written terms to the adjuster. The unit, the monthly rate, delivery and setup, and utility connections, so the approved cost is clear before delivery.
5. Direct billing where the claim covers it. On a covered claim we bill Chubb directly under Extra living expenses, tracked against your limit, with site conditions documented at setup and again at takedown. That is $0 out of pocket for your family on a covered claim, and one named contact from the first call to pickup.
6. Already with a temporary housing company? We work with any temporary housing company. Ask the company handling your housing to place you with 1st Choice Living for a trailer on your own lot, and the billing runs the way their program is set up.

The full walkthrough of a placement is on on-site RV housing. If Chubb pays you back rather than paying a provider, our guide to arranging your own temporary housing covers the questions to ask before you commit to anything.

Hurricane Isaias and a Chubb claim

If Hurricane Isaias made your home unlivable in Alabama, Mississippi, or the Florida Panhandle and your policy is with Chubb, two parts of the form above matter from the first day: forced evacuation expenses run up to 30 consecutive days when you leave under a reasonable threat of a covered loss or a civil authority order, and extra living expenses then run from the date of loss for up to two years, or later if Chubb agrees, with the 180 day decision deadline in between. Our Hurricane Isaias page has the storm facts with official sources, how each state's insurance department explains Additional Living Expenses, Florida's temporary shelter law, and the local rule on an RV on your lot for every city and county we cover.

• Temporary housing after Hurricane Isaias
• Hurricane Isaias RV rules by county
• After a storm, after a house fire, and after a flood

Other carriers

Same questions, each carrier’s own words: State Farm, Allstate, USAA, Farmers, Erie, Liberty Mutual and Safeco, American Family, Travelers, Nationwide, Auto-Owners. All eleven side by side: loss of use coverage by insurance carrier.

Questions homeowners with Chubb claims ask