Most homeowners don’t like to think about what would happen if a fire or another catastrophic event made their property uninhabitable. You and your family would need to find another place to live, at least temporarily, and incur additional costs for items like food, laundry, utility bills and furnishings. These are often higher than your normal living expenses, which could create a significant financial hardship.
You might not be aware that your homeowners insurance policy likely contains a provision known as additional living expense (ALE) to assist you in these situations. Continue reading to learn more about this helpful coverage.
What Is Additional Living Expense?
ALE is a standard coverage included in most homeowners insurance policies that reimburses the policyholder for the cost of maintaining a comparable standard of living after a covered loss like a house fire, extensive water damage or an act of vandalism. The intent of ALE is to pay for costs that exceed your typical living expenses. Depending on the policy, the ALE maximum amount can range from 10% to 20% of the home’s replacement cost limit.
What Does ALE Cover?
ALE coverage applies to these expenses:
- Accommodations, such as a hotel room or a temporary house or apartment rental
- Moving/relocation costs
- Furniture rentals if you need to furnish a temporary residence
- Utilities
- Storage costs for your belongings in some circumstances
- Laundry and dry-cleaning services
- Dining costs that exceed your normal food expenses
- Pet boarding
- Additional mileage if you must drive farther to work
Be aware that ALE won’t cover the total amount of food, housing and utilities you pay for — it only applies to the difference between what you normally pay and any higher expenses resulting from your temporary situation. You’ll need to justify these expenses to the insurance company’s claims adjuster to ensure you receive the appropriate payout. Therefore, it’s crucial to provide receipts and other relevant documentation.
Also, remember that ALE coverage has limits. Avoid going overboard with your living expenses, especially if it will take a few weeks or months to resolve your situation.
How Can Performance Adjusting Public Insurance Adjusters Help?
Understanding insurance policy jargon can be challenging for anyone who doesn’t work in the industry. It’s easy to make a mistake or overlook an important policy detail when dealing with an insurance company, which could mean you’ll miss out on crucial benefits.
At Performance Adjusting, we can help by handling the insurance claim process on your behalf in northern or central Rhode Island. We work for you and not the insurance company — our role is to help you get the most money for your property damage claim.
Our Process
The best time to reach out to us is immediately after a loss occurs and before contacting your insurance carrier. Our experienced, savvy public adjusters negotiate with the insurer and help you obtain the highest settlement, typically more than policyholders would receive when attempting to navigate the process themselves.
We understand that most people don’t enjoy dealing with insurance companies. Besides helping you receive a higher amount, Performance Adjusting can alleviate the stress by working with the companies ourselves. We’ll also enable you to focus more time and energy on moving on with your life after a loss.
Why Choose Performance Adjusting?
When you partner with us, you’ll experience excellent service every step of the way. We have a dedicated staff member for each portion of the claims process to ensure everything goes smoothly and efficiently. Also, our well-trained adjusters and estimators utilize advanced technologies to accurately assess your property damage and determine the appropriate ALE coverage amount you should receive.
Our pricing is upfront and transparent. We get a flat fee of 10% of the total amount we recover on your behalf, so you never have to worry about extra or add-on charges.
Contact Us for a Free Consultation
Do you need help with a property damage claim or have questions about additional living expenses? Call us at 401-724-9111 for more information and a free consultation today.
