American Family Loss of Use Coverage: How Long It Pays, Your Coverage D Limit, and Where an RV Fits

    Published October 7, 2026. Last updated October 7, 2026.

    When a covered loss makes your home unfit to live in, American Family's Coverage D pays the added cost of living elsewhere until the repair is done or your household settles somewhere new. The current form has no month cap. Your dollar limit is on your declarations page.

    Agile RV Housing is an independent temporary housing provider. We are not affiliated with or endorsed by American Family Insurance, and coverage decisions on any claim are made by the policyholder's adjuster.

    American Family loss of use: the short answer

    American Family's homeowners form calls this Coverage D, Loss of Use. It pays the reasonable and necessary increase in living expense you incur to keep your household's normal standard of living. Payment runs for the shortest time needed to repair or relocate, with no month cap, up to your Coverage D limit.

    How long it pays
    The shortest time required to repair or replace the damaged property, or to permanently relocate. The current-generation form, HO 80 03 01 14, sets no month cap. Older Gold Star forms from 1994 capped it at 12 months.
    The dollar limit
    The Coverage D limit on your declarations page, one total for additional living expense and civil authority together. American Family's own site says its homeowners policy sets loss of use at 20% of dwelling coverage, with an option to raise it to 30%.
    Where to find your own limit
    The Coverage D, Loss of Use line on your declarations page. If you can't find it, ask your agent to read you that line and the form numbers listed with it.

    If you're unsure how these numbers apply to your repair timeline, call us at (614) 655-4286 and we will go through your declarations page with you. To see how other insurers set these limits, compare loss of use time limits across 11 insurance companies.

    What does American Family loss of use coverage pay for?

    It pays the extra cost of being displaced, measured against how your household lived before the loss. Housing you would not otherwise pay for, food costs above your normal grocery bill, added laundry, utilities, transportation, parking, storage, and pet boarding all fit. Your mortgage and your existing bills do not.

    Here is the clause from American Family's Homeowners Form HO 80 03 01 14, the specimen hosted by the Nevada Division of Insurance:

    This Coverage applies when a loss covered by this policy makes that part of the residence premises where you reside unfit to live in. We then pay for the reasonable and necessary increase in living expense you incur to maintain the normal standard of living of the household.

    Two words in that sentence matter. Increase means the policy pays the difference, not the whole bill. Household means the standard is set by everyone who lived there: the number of bedrooms you needed, the kitchen you cooked in, the pets that lived with you.

    American Family's website lists what it treats as covered: added laundry costs, added utilities, additional transportation, increased food expenses, increased parking, moving costs, pet boarding, storage, and temporary living arrangements such as a hotel. It lists your permanent rent or mortgage, preexisting bills, and lease or mortgage cancellation fees as not covered.

    This form has no fair rental value part. Coverage D holds two things: additional living expense, and civil authority. The civil authority part applies when an authority keeps you out because of possible direct damage to your home from a covered loss, and it pays for no more than two weeks.

    How long does American Family pay additional living expenses?

    Until the repair is done or your household has permanently relocated, whichever applies, with no month cap in the current form. The repair schedule sets the clock. Your Coverage D dollar limit is the only other ceiling, so the monthly cost of your housing decides how far it goes.

    The form's words:

    Payment will be for the shortest time required to repair or replace the damaged property or, if you permanently relocate, the shortest time required for you to do so.

    It adds that coverage for a loss during the policy period is not limited by the expiration of this policy. A renewal date in the middle of your rebuild does not end anything.

    Why some people expect 12 months

    Older American Family forms did cap it. The Gold Star HO-3 and HO-5 forms from 1994, which Nevada now lists as legacy only, limit loss of use to the actual loss incurred within 12 months following the date of loss. If your policy is old or you were quoted 12 months by someone, check the form numbers on your declarations page. They tell you which version you have.

    Shortest time required still means your adjuster will expect the repair to keep moving. Get a written timeline from your contractor, give it to your adjuster early, and send an update when permits or materials push the date.

    How much will American Family pay for temporary housing?

    Up to the Coverage D limit on your declarations page. American Family says that limit is 20% of your dwelling coverage on its homeowners policy, and that you can raise it to 30%. The form treats that figure as one total for additional living expense and civil authority combined.

    From the form:

    The Coverage D limit shown in the Declarations is the total limit for all coverage in D.1. and D.2. below.

    The 20% and 30% figures come from American Family's own website, not from the policy form, which simply points to your declarations. Your declarations page is the number that counts.

    Is your limit enough?

    Ask your contractor for the repair timeline in writing, in months, and divide your Coverage D limit by it. That gives you a monthly figure for housing and every other added cost, and it is the number to hold each housing option up against.

    Is there a deductible?

    Possibly not, but confirm it. In Nevada, a state endorsement, HO 81 35 01 15, adds the line "No deductible applies to this Coverage" to Coverage D. The base form does not include that line, and American Family's site says it depends on your policy. Ask your adjuster.

    For how carriers size these limits in general, see our guide to loss of use coverage (ALE).

    Can you choose your own temporary housing on your American Family claim?

    Yes, provided the choice is reasonable for your household and approved before you move in. American Family's policy pays the increase in living expense you incur. It does not name a hotel, an apartment, or any other type of housing. A reasonable option you choose, such as an RV on your own property, fits that wording.

    Your adjuster, or a temporary housing agency working on the claim, may suggest a hotel or a rental. Those suggestions are help, and often good help. They do not decide where your family lives. What the policy decides is what gets paid: the increase in your living costs needed to keep your household at its normal standard of living.

    The step that protects you is simple. Get the housing and the nightly rate approved in writing before anyone moves in. We coordinate that approval with your adjuster or the housing agency on your file.

    More on how this works, and what makes a choice reasonable: you can choose your own reasonable temporary housing.

    How do you ask American Family for an RV?

    Call your adjuster, then follow up in writing. Say the home is unfit to live in, that your household wants to stay on the property, and that a written estimate for a furnished RV is ready to send. Point to the standard the form uses: your household's normal standard of living.

    What to say to your adjuster

    Our home isn't fit to live in and we'd like to stay on the property during the repair. Can we use a furnished RV placed here as our additional living expense housing? Agile RV Housing can send you a written estimate today.

    What to say if a housing agency is handling your housing

    Some American Family claims hand housing to a national temporary housing agency such as ALE Solutions, Alacrity, Sedgwick, CRS, or National Corporate Housing. Those agencies place families every day, and a household that already knows it wants an RV on its own property makes their job easier. Tell the agency coordinator:

    We want to stay on our property during the repair. Please add a furnished RV placed here to our housing options. Agile RV Housing can send you a written estimate today, and they already bill through your system.

    What we handle from there

    • A zoning check for your property, so the placement is allowed where you live.
    • A site walk to plan where the unit sits and how it connects.
    • A licensed electrician for the 50 amp outlet.
    • The sewer tie-in.
    • Delivery, leveling, and setup.
    • Billing coordinated with American Family or the housing agency, with an itemized invoice.

    Move-in is usually about four days from approval. The main variable is scheduling the electrical contractor.

    Can you ask American Family for an advance on additional living expenses?

    You can ask. American Family's site says insurers typically reimburse additional living expenses, so the default is that you spend first and send receipts. An advance is a request your adjuster can grant, not something the form promises, so make it in writing and say what it covers.

    American Family's form requires receipts for additional living expense as part of your proof of loss, and its site advises keeping records of your normal living costs alongside the receipts for anything above them. Start that file on day one.

    United Policyholders, a nonprofit that advises homeowners on claims, tells displaced families to ask the insurer for an advance while noting that "ALE benefits are generally paid on a reimbursement basis." See its property damage claims FAQ.

    Put the request in writing, to your adjuster, and say what the money is for: deposits, the first weeks of meals, transportation, pet boarding. A short email is enough:

    Our home is not livable and we have moved out. Please consider an advance on our additional living expense coverage to cover our first weeks of displacement costs. We will submit receipts for everything it is used for.

    The housing itself is often a separate question. On most of our placements the adjuster approves our written estimate and pays us directly, so the RV is not a cost your family fronts and waits to get back. When a housing agency manages the file, we bill through its system instead.

    Why does an RV stretch American Family loss of use coverage further?

    With no month cap, your Coverage D dollar limit is the only thing that ends your housing early. An RV sized to your household replaces the hotel rooms your family actually needs, and one unit at $120 to $140 a night, tax included, houses a family of five that would need two hotel rooms.

    Two rooms at typical adjuster-approved rates pass $140 a night before meals, pet fees, and laundry. That is why an RV placement draws substantially less against your limit each month than an extended hotel stay.

    The other costs on American Family's covered list shrink too. A unit with a kitchen means groceries instead of restaurant bills. Pets stay with you instead of in boarding. You don't pay extra to commute, because you're home.

    Our placements average about five months, with a 60 day minimum and month to month after that. Delivery and setup are quoted per property. For sourced costs of every option by region, see what temporary housing actually costs, by region.

    American Family loss of use facts at a glance

    Item What the policy says Source Date checked
    Coverage section name Coverage D, Loss of Use. Additional Living Expense is part 1 HO 80 03 01 14, Nevada specimen 2026-10-07
    Additional living expense Reasonable and necessary increase in living expense to maintain the household's normal standard of living HO 80 03 01 14, Coverage D.1 2026-10-07
    Time limit Shortest time to repair or replace, or to permanently relocate. No month cap HO 80 03 01 14, Coverage D.1 2026-10-07
    Legacy forms Actual loss incurred within 12 months following the date of loss HO-3 (NV) and HO-5 (NV) Ed. 6/94, legacy only 2026-10-07
    Civil authority No more than two weeks, when an authority prohibits use because of possible direct damage from a covered loss HO 80 03 01 14, Coverage D.2 2026-10-07
    Dollar limit Coverage D limit on the declarations, one total for D.1 and D.2 HO 80 03 01 14 2026-10-07
    Limit as published by the carrier 20% of dwelling coverage, optionally 30% amfam.com, loss of use coverage page 2026-10-07
    Deductible Nevada endorsement adds no deductible for Coverage D. Base form has no such line HO 81 35 01 15; HO 80 03 01 14 2026-10-07
    Policy expiration Not limited by the expiration of the policy HO 80 03 01 14, Coverage D 2026-10-07

    Download this table as a CSV

    These are specimen forms filed with the Nevada Division of Insurance. Editions and state endorsements vary, and your declarations page lists the forms that control your claim.

    Questions homeowners with American Family claims ask

    Are additional living expenses the same as loss of use with American Family?

    Yes, in practice. American Family's policy names the coverage Coverage D, Loss of Use, and calls the part that pays for housing Additional Living Expense. Its website uses loss of use coverage and additional living expenses coverage interchangeably.

    How long does American Family pay for temporary housing?

    For the shortest time required to repair or replace the damaged property, or to permanently relocate. The current-generation form sets no month cap. Older 1994 Gold Star forms capped it at 12 months, so check the form numbers on your declarations page.

    How much loss of use coverage does American Family give me?

    Whatever your declarations page shows for Coverage D. American Family's website says its homeowners policy sets loss of use at 20% of dwelling coverage and lets you raise it to 30%. That one figure covers every part of Coverage D.

    Does American Family pay for an RV on my property during repairs?

    It can. The form pays the reasonable and necessary increase in living expense needed to keep your household's normal standard of living, and it does not list approved housing types. An RV on your own property can meet that standard. Your adjuster approves it, and we prepare the written estimate.

    Does American Family pay loss of use if I'm evacuated?

    Possibly, for up to two weeks. The form's civil authority part applies when an authority prohibits use of your home because of possible direct damage from a loss the policy would cover. American Family's site says coverage depends on your policy, state, and circumstances.

    Can I choose my own temporary housing with American Family?

    Yes, as long as the choice is reasonable for your household. The policy pays the increase in living expense you incur and does not name a housing type. Get the housing and the nightly rate approved in writing by your adjuster before you move in.

    Sources

    Policy form editions vary by state and are revised over time. The specimens above are the editions we pulled and read on the date shown. Your own declarations page and the policy form issued in your state control your claim. Nothing here is legal advice or a coverage determination.

    Have an open American Family claim?

    We prepare the written estimate your adjuster needs and handle the placement from approval to move-in.