Here’s the scenario: It’s 2AM and the smoke alarms in your residence start beeping. Your house/condo or apartment fills with smoke, but thankfully everyone escapes to safety with no injuries. The property burns to the ground before the fire department arrives and you have no where to stay that night! But you know you need to file a claim on your insured property so you give us a call!When you suffer that type of tragic loss and you’re not able to stay at your home afterward, one of our first priorities is to assist you in arranging temporary housing. Our company’s home/condo/rental policies provide Additional Living Expense coverage when a covered loss leaves your home uninhabitable. The policies cover the reasonable increase in living expenses necessary for you to maintain a similar standard of living while living elsewhere (1). While the policy provision doesn’t cover every expense, reasonable expenses are covered that are above and beyond normal expenses.
Some items that can be included in an additional living expense claim are:
- Increased housing expenses, such as:
- Temporary housing fees
- Furniture rental for temporary housing
- Rental of household goods for temporary housing
- Increased maintenance expenses
- Increased insurance expenses
- Increased utility expenses, such as:
- Heat (fuel)
- Electricity/gas
- Water
- Telephone
- Cable/satellite
- Internet Service
- Increased food/meal expenses (until you are in a temporary house or other living quarters with a kitchen)
- Increased service expenses, such as:
- Laundry/dry cleaning
- Refuse service
- Day care/baby sitter
- Pet care/boarding
- Increased transportation expenses
- Automobile
- Additional miles
Most of the time, insurance company claims adjusters use an additional living expense worksheet to obtain information regarding your needs. Items included would be information regarding the number of members of the insured’s household, number/type of pets and the estimated period of time to repair/replace the dwelling. If the repairs will take only a few days, a hotel is usually the best option for occupancy. Oftentimes this can be arranged directly by you or the claim representative from the company. If the loss is reported after-hours, our companies are there to help as well and if you will be displaced for a long period of time, a rental home is usually the best option to maintain a normal standard of living.
As you can see, additional living expenses often include more than just rent payments for temporary housing. At Benton White Insurance, we are here to help with issues such as this. We’ve paid Additional Living Expense claims over these many years. We know how to help you if you unfortunately are in need of this excellent coverage benefit!
Thank you for your business and if we haven’t helped you yet, we’re here and ready. Simply email us at info@BentonWhite.net or call any of our staff at 615.377.1212.
(1.) Subject to the terms and conditions of the policy outlining who qualifies for coverage.
(2.) Fuel expenses are not reimbursable under the policy.
(3.) This analysis of coverage is in general terms and is superseded in all respects by the insuring agreements, exclusions and conditions of the policy.
