Temporary Housing on Your Own Property in Kansas

When a tornado, a hailstorm, or a windstorm leaves your Kansas home unlivable, your homeowners policy may pay for somewhere to stay while it is repaired. For many families, the best place is still home: a furnished travel trailer set up on your own lot, close to school, work, your pets or livestock, and the crew rebuilding the house. 1st Choice Living has provided on-site temporary housing nationwide since 2004, and this page explains how it works in Kansas.

What Kansas homeowners are recovering from

On the afternoon and evening of April 30, 2024, severe thunderstorms crossed northeast Kansas. The National Weather Service office in Topeka reports that the storms produced 1 to 2 inch hail, damaging wind gusts over 80 mph, and four tornadoes. The strongest hit the town of Westmoreland in Pottawatomie County: an EF-3 with estimated peak winds of 142 mph that tracked 2.6 miles and caused significant damage to homes along its path. One person was killed, in a mobile home.

FEMA’s major disaster declaration for the April 25 to 30 storms, approved July 15, 2024, made federal public assistance available to state and local governments in 12 counties, including Pottawatomie. That assistance pays for emergency work and repairs to public facilities, not a family’s living expenses, which is why the coverage in your homeowners policy matters.

The Kansas Insurance Department puts the wider risk plainly: living in Kansas brings the threat of damaging winds, pelting hail, and roaring floodwaters, causing hundreds of millions of dollars of property damage across the state.

How the Kansas Insurance Department explains additional living expenses

The Kansas Insurance Department’s Home and Renters Shopper’s Guide explains that additional living expenses coverage provides for some of your extra expenses if your home is damaged and you cannot live there while repairs are made. Key points from the Department:

• What it covers. The guide lists extra food costs, lodging, relocation, and storage expenses.
• It pays the difference. The Department explains that the benefit covers only the difference over and above your normal household expenses, such as the cost of restaurant meals minus normal food expenses.
• Keep your receipts. The guide says to keep receipts for hotel bills and meals if you must move out, and to submit receipts for additional living expenses to your insurance company for reimbursement.
• Check before you need it. On its storm and flood page, the Department reminds homeowners that not all policies cover additional living expenses if a disaster forces you from your home.
• Flood is separate. The Department explains that homeowners, farm and ranch, renters, condominium, and mobile home policies do not cover damage caused by rising water. Flood insurance is available through the National Flood Insurance Program.

The guide also notes that most homeowner policies have a separate wind and hail deductible, generally 1 to 2 percent of the amount of insurance on the structure, so check your declarations page after a hailstorm.

This is general information, not legal or coverage advice. Your policy and your adjuster decide what is covered.

How a trailer on your lot works with your ALE

1st Choice Living bills your carrier directly under ALE, so on a covered claim you pay $0 out of pocket and there are no lodging receipts for you to submit. We track your placement against your ALE limit, so you and your adjuster can see where things stand while the rebuild moves forward. You have one named contact from the first call to pickup.

Our furnished travel trailers sleep 2 to 10. We deliver, level, and set up the unit on your property, whether that is a city lot or acreage. Utilities are connected by licensed, insured contractors. We document site conditions at setup and takedown, so everyone has a clear record.

Local rules in Kansas are set by your city or county

We did not find a statewide Kansas rule on living in a travel trailer on your own lot while you rebuild. It is handled by your city or county, and rules in town can be very different from rules in the country.

We check your local rules before delivery. If you want a head start, call your city or county planning or zoning office and ask about temporary occupancy of a travel trailer during repairs: whether a temporary-use permit is needed, how long it lasts, and what water, sewer, and power connections the office requires.

Kansas recovery resources to know

The Kansas Division of Emergency Management’s Response and Recovery Section is responsible for assisting individuals and communities in recovering from disasters, working through FEMA’s Public Assistance and Individual Assistance programs. When a federal declaration includes Individual Assistance, you apply with FEMA at DisasterAssistance.gov or 1-800-621-3362.

For insurance questions, the Kansas Insurance Department’s Consumer Hotline is 800-432-2484, or 785-296-3071 from out of state.

For crews and agencies working in Kansas

The same furnished units house crews on job sites and support agencies coordinating displaced households. Adjusters get one named contact and a placement tracked against the policy limit.

Frequently asked questions