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What is Additional Living Expense/Loss of Use and What Does it Pay For?

Additional Living Expenses

When a fire or other covered peril renders your home not fit to live in, your homeowners insurance policy likely provides Additional Living Expense/Loss of Use coverage that pays for temporary housing and other extra expenses you incur to maintain your standard of living. ALE also reimburses you for other expenses that rise above and beyond what you would normally spend.

Along with the temporary housing expense, ALE/Loss of Use pays for additional mileage, utilities, groceries, restaurant bills, animal boarding, temporary storage, and other expenses that you incur because of the damage caused by a covered peril.

What Does Additional Living Expense/Loss of Use Cover?

Many claimants are confused about what’s reimbursable under Additional Living Expense/Loss of Use and what isn’t. Basically, Additional Living Expense/Loss of Use reimburses insureds for the cost of maintaining a comparable standard of living following a covered loss that exceeds the insured’s normal expenses prior to the loss.

Here’s a good rule of thumb when tracking ALE/Loss of Use expenses: Ask yourself, “Is this an expense I incurred because of the loss?” If the answer is yes, then you can reasonably submit the expense to your insurance company for reimbursement under ALE/Loss of Use coverage.

For example, if a fire destroys your home to an extent that it is not fit to live in, you’ll have to immediately seek shelter for your family. If that requires a hotel stay, the cost for the hotel and meals are reimbursable through ALE/Loss of Use, along with any additional mileage expense. In addition, if your home is not fit to live in for an extended period of time, ALE/Loss of Use covers the added expense to rent a house or apartment.

Any increase in the cost of utilities, or connect/disconnect fees at your damaged residence, is covered. For example, If your temporary housing has utilities that you didn’t incur before, that is 100 percent reimbursable. Of course, you would still need to maintain the utilities in your primary home. Anything above and beyond “normal” at your primary home would be covered under Additional Living Expense.

Another example is mileage. Say your temporary rental unit is located 15 miles farther from your job than your home. Or your child, who normally takes the bus to school, now needs to be driven there. That’s additional mileage you normally would not incur and therefore, reimbursable through ALE/Loss of Use coverage.

Here are some other expenses that might not immediately come to mind, but would be eligible for Additional Living Expense/Loss of Use coverage:

  • Credit check fee charged by a home or apartment rental management company.
  • Mileage to/from a temporary rental house to/from the various locations you need to visit for rebuild-related business, such as furniture stores, your bank, flooring stores, cabinet makers, fixtures stores, appliance/electronics stores, etc.
  • Mileage for increased distance traveled from temporary rental to adult and children’s activities (school/sports/clubs/lessons), or your house of worship.
  • Meals eaten when out on rebuild-related business, (visiting construction site, shopping to replace personal property items, researching/purchasing rebuild items).
  • Fee charged to set-up new computer system at temporary rental home.
  • If your temporary housing has a sewer fee, but your home has holding tanks or a septic system, the sewer fee is reimbursable, as are any charges incurred to establish a new account or “setup” fees for utilities at temporary rental home.
  • Photocopies and mailing expenses related to your claim. 
  • Cost of fencing to secure damaged/destroyed house and/or pool.
  • Moving costs incurred to move to the temporary rental home and back into the repaired/rebuilt home (moving company; moving van; moving boxes; packing paper and tape).
  • Reconnection fees for services (cable/telephone/utility) at the rebuilt home.
  • Required carpet cleaning when moving out of rental home.
  • Pet boarding, or if you have horses or other livestock that need to be relocated, those expenses are also covered.
  • Increased veterinary bill for pets for illness/symptoms resulting from the loss event.

You can see how important it is to be very organized and track your expenses, so you can be reimbursed for these out-of-pocket costs. Keep meticulous records of every expenditure, and save all your receipts.

Tip: Get a waterproof, zippered pouch to keep all receipts safely together in one place so they’re at the ready when needed.

Added benefit: If you demonstrate you’re organized and methodical in your ALE/Loss of Use documentation, and you present your arguments so that the insurance company can see that you are organized, the insurer will have less ammunition to dispute your claim. For help, download a free copy of our ALE Tracker.

What’s Not Covered?

Remember, Additional Living Expense/Loss of Use coverage pays for expenses incurred by you that would not have occurred were it not for the fire or other covered peril causing damage to your home. That means you have to continue paying your mortgage as usual—payment is due whether or not you suffered a loss. This normal expense would not be covered under ALE/Loss of Use.

Also not allowed under ALE/Loss of Use are claims for lost work hours while dealing with claim-related tasks, such as meeting with contractors or shopping for new furniture. Nor should you expect the insurance company to approve restaurant receipts for routine meals, if your temporary home includes a furnished and functioning kitchen.

Baseline Basics

The key to a seamless Additional Living Expense/Loss of Use claim is to establish your baselines: What did you typically spend on groceries, restaurants, mileage, utilities, etc., before the loss, and what do you need to spend now to maintain your household’s standard of living?

Because of the many subtleties and differences between policies, it’s important to understand if the coverage you have is limited by time—often 12 or 24 months—or a monetary amount,  commonly capped at 15-20 percent of the dwelling coverage amount. You should understand your insurance policy’s limits from the outset.

Other Suggestions

If you need long-term temporary housing, corporate apartments—fully furnished and equipped dwellings for extended temporary stays—might be a suitable and convenient housing solution. Search online for suitable offerings in your area.

You might be able to get a lump-sum ALE/Loss of Use payment up front. Ask your agent or adjuster about this.

Four Ways to Ensure Maximum Additional Living Expense/Loss of Use Benefits

  • Be organized and ready to provide receipts for all your expenses.
  • Document how the expenses are an increase from your normal expenses.
  • Provide proof of your normal expenses to be used as a comparison point for the insurance company in case they question things.
  • Get written authorization for any special expenses from the insurance company to avoid misunderstandings.

Contact Miller Public Adjusters to learn more about how we can help you recover the full amount of your Additional Living Expense/Loss of Use claim settlement and ensure you receive all you’re entitled to under the provisions of your property insurance policy.

 

Miller Public Adjusters proudly serves policyholders in
Wisconsin - Illinois - Indiana - Michigan - Minnesota - Texas - Florida

Call us 24 hours a day at (866) 443-5167 to schedule an appointment or
please fill out a Free Claim Review to see if we can help.

 

David Miller
David Miller
Thank you for visiting us. My name is David Miller, and I know what it means to have to fight with your insurance carrier just to get fair payment for your property damage claim. My family suffered a total loss house fire that took nearly two very stressful years to settle. Since, I combined my experience in construction with my expertise in contract language to create Miller Public Adjusters. We work exclusively for policyholders. Please feel free to comment, ask questions, and let us know how we can help.

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