Nationwide Loss of Use Coverage: What Nationwide Publishes, 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 Nationwide 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.

Nationwide loss of use at a glance

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

Why this page quotes only Nationwide’s website

Nationwide does not publish its homeowners policy form on nationwide.com, and we did not find a copy posted by a state insurance department. So this page quotes only Nationwide's own website, and it says less than our pages for carriers whose forms are public. Your policy booklet and declarations page are the words that govern your claim; ask your Nationwide agent for them.

What Nationwide says on its own website

“Also referred to as additional expenses insurance or part D coverage, loss of use homeowners insurance covers living expenses that you incur if your home is deemed uninhabitable as the result of a covered peril.”

“If you were forced to move out of your house or even a rental property due to damage caused by a fire, for instance, loss of use insurance would help to cover costs such as your hotel stay, rental or a temporary apartment or restaurant bills while your residence is being repaired or rebuilt.”

“Loss of use coverage is typically built into your homeowner's insurance policy. While there are limits to what and how much your insurance provider will reimburse you for, the below items are usually covered to help you maintain your current standard of living”

“Loss of use – Coverage for when an insured has to move out of the home while repairs are made as a result of damage caused by a covered loss”

A trailer on your own lot as your Loss of use 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 Nationwide adjuster. Here is how that approval usually comes together.

Nationwide's pages do not describe how temporary housing is approved, so the steps below are the general ones. nationwide.com lists a temporary residence such as a hotel, motel or apartment, moving costs, the excess of normal grocery or restaurant bills, storage, laundry, transportation, parking, and pet boarding as items usually covered, and says there are limits to what and how much Nationwide will reimburse. Ask the adjuster for the loss of use limit and any time period on your declarations.

Nationwide's article tells you to review your home insurance policy to make sure you are adequately covered. Put the trailer's written terms in front of the adjuster so the approved cost is clear before delivery, and keep receipts for every expense.

1. Open the claim and ask two questions. Does the claim include Loss of use, and what are the limit in dollars and the time period on your declarations page? Ask your Nationwide adjuster to confirm both in writing.
2. Say what housing you want. Tell your Nationwide 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 Nationwide directly under Loss of use, 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 Nationwide 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 Nationwide claim

If Hurricane Isaias made your home unlivable in Alabama, Mississippi, or the Florida Panhandle and your policy is with Nationwide, the limit and any time period are on your declarations and in your policy booklet, not on nationwide.com, so ask the adjuster for both at the first call. 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, Chubb, Auto-Owners. All eleven side by side: loss of use coverage by insurance carrier.

Questions homeowners with Nationwide claims ask