Shelter Insurance Loss of Use Coverage: Coverage D, the Time Test, 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 Shelter 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.

Shelter loss of use at a glance

Every carrier side by side: loss of use coverage by insurance carrier.

What the Shelter policy form says

We did not find Shelter's homeowners policy form on shelterinsurance.com, but the Oklahoma Insurance Department posts Shelter Mutual Insurance Company's forms. We read the Homeowners' Insurance Policy HO-3 (01-07), and checked the older Platinum Shield Homeowners Policy HO-5 (10-86) on the same page, which uses the same shortest time test. These are older editions and Oklahoma copies, so the form on your policy may read differently, and your declarations page shows your own limits.

“If your residence premises sustains a covered loss that exceeds the applicable deductible and, as a direct result of that loss, your residence premises is uninhabitable, we will pay the increase in your living expense reasonably necessary to maintain your normal standard of living for the shortest time reasonably necessary: 1. to repair or replace the damaged property, or 2. for you to permanently relocate.”

“If a peril we insure against causes civil authorities to prohibit occupancy of the residence premises, we will pay: 1. the reasonable additional living expenses you incur for up to two weeks from the day you vacate the residence premises, and 2. any loss of income you incur for a part of the residence premises that was actually rented or leased for up to two weeks from the date your tenant vacates the residence premises.”

“The periods of time set out in this section of the policy will not be shortened by the expiration of the policy. No deductible applies to these coverages.”

“Produce receipts for any increased costs you incur to maintain your standard of living while you dwell elsewhere.”

“If a covered loss makes all or part of your residence premises uninhabitable, we will pay the reasonable increase in your living expense necessary to maintain your normal standard of living. We will pay for the shortest time needed: 1. To repair or replace the damaged property, or 2. For you to permanently relocate.”

What Shelter says on its own website

“Your property may be unlivable due to a fire or another covered loss. If so, additional living expenses coverage will reimburse you for the increased cost of living away from home.”

“If your home is uninhabitable from a covered loss, your policy may cover Additional Living Expenses. We sometimes call this “ALE” for short. If your policy includes this coverage, it may reimburse you for your reasonable increased costs necessary to maintain your normal standard of living.”

“We look at your normal living expenses before the loss and compare those to your actual expenses after the loss. If the total of all living expenses exceed the total of your pre-loss living expenses, then we will pay you the difference in ALE.”

“Your adjuster will give you a worksheet to complete that helps establish your increased living expense.”

“The policy also specifies how long it can reimburse you for these extra costs. Check your policy. All have a specific limit each will pay, and most will only pay these additional expenses for the shortest time reasonably necessary to repair or replace the property or for you to permanently relocate.”

“You should also keep all your receipts for any additional living expenses you want to claim.”

A trailer on your own lot as your Additional Living Expense 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 Shelter adjuster. Here is how that approval usually comes together.

Shelter's catastrophe claims guide says your adjuster will give you a worksheet that helps establish your increased living expense, and that Shelter compares your normal living expenses before the loss with your actual expenses after it and pays the difference. It lists a hotel bill or rent for a temporary residence among the expenses that may increase. Put the trailer's written terms on that worksheet so the approved cost is clear before delivery.

On the HO-3 form we read, Coverage D applies when the covered loss exceeds the applicable deductible and makes the home uninhabitable, and then no deductible applies to the living expense coverage itself. Ask the adjuster for the limit on your declarations, since the clause states no dollar figure, and keep every receipt; the form asks you to produce receipts for increased costs while you dwell elsewhere.

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

Storms and a Shelter claim

If a tornado, hail, wind, or fire put you out of a house and the claim is with Shelter, the form we read pays for the shortest time reasonably necessary to repair, replace, or relocate, and Shelter's catastrophe claims guide says your adjuster will give you a worksheet to establish the increased living expense. Our Hurricane Isaias page shows how we work a large storm: local rules checked for the address, direct billing to the carrier where the claim covers it, and one named contact.

• 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, Nationwide, Auto-Owners, Progressive, Citizens Property Insurance, Amica. All fifteen side by side: loss of use coverage by insurance carrier.

Questions homeowners with Shelter claims ask