Loss of use coverage (Coverage D) on your Pennsylvania homeowners policy pays for your temporary living expenses if a covered disaster, like a fire, makes your home uninhabitable. It covers the extra costs of living away from home, such as hotel bills, apartment rentals, restaurant meals, and even pet boarding, while your house is being repaired.
How Much Loss of Use Coverage Do You Actually Need?
- The 20% Baseline: Most standard policies automatically set your loss of use coverage at 20% of your main dwelling limit. If your home is insured for $400,000, you have $80,000 to spend on temporary housing and food. For most families, this is plenty of coverage to survive a 6-to-12-month rebuild.
- Maintaining Your Standard of Living: The goal of this coverage is to maintain your normal standard of living, not to pay for a luxury vacation. It pays for the difference in your expenses. If you normally spend $500 a month on groceries, but eating at restaurants while displaced costs $1,500, the insurance company pays the $1,000 difference.
- Watch Out for Time Limits: While you might have a high dollar limit, many policies also include a strict time limit—often capping payouts at 12 or 24 months. If supply chain issues or contractor delays cause your rebuild to take longer than the time limit, the insurance company will stop paying for your temporary housing, even if you haven’t spent all the money.
What should you do next?
If you are reviewing your policy, make sure you aren’t overpaying or leaving yourself exposed. Check out the complete list of common questions at our Pennsylvania Home Insurance FAQs, or request a quick, no-pressure policy review to see if we can improve your coverage.