Texas Home Insurance — What Is Loss of Use Coverage?

Texas · The house is unlivable, the mortgage is not

Loss of use pays extra living costs after a covered peril makes the home unfit to live in. It does not pay the mortgage, it does not pay a remodel you chose, and this page will not invent the percent of Coverage A.

The limit is on the declarations. On many forms it is a percentage of the dwelling limit. The percentage is whatever that form prints. Additional living expense is the extra cost of a place to stay, and of meals if you cannot cook at home, above what you normally spend. It is not your entire hotel bill if you already spent that money on groceries and a mortgage. Fair rental value, on many owner-occupant forms, is the rent you lose on the part of the house you were renting out, after a covered peril. It is not a landlord policy, and it does not pay nights between short-term bookings. If a civil authority keeps you out because of damage nearby, some forms pay a short prohibited-use period. The days are on the form. Do not assume them.

The peril has to be covered. Wind or hail that opens the house can trigger loss of use. Flood over the ground does not, because flood is not a homeowners peril. A vacancy you chose, or a kitchen you tore out to remodel, is not a covered loss. The dwelling deductible may or may not apply to this section. Read the form. It does not cancel the mortgage payment, the property tax, or the rent a lease still charges a tenant. A tenant’s own extra housing is their renters policy, not your Coverage A.

The same section, in more detail: loss of use and en español. What has to be damaged first: what the policy covers, the dwelling, and how Coverage A is set. The peril people mean: hail and hail season. The peril it does not follow: flood. How the form is built: how it works and coverage. The product: Texas homeowners insurance and Texas.

Ask what dollar limit is on the declarations before you book a long stay. Ask an agent or get a quote.