3 Things You Need To Know About Additional Living Expense When Filing A Property Insurance Claim
If your home was recently damaged to such an extent that you cannot live in your home until repairs are completed, and you have an additional living expense or ALE coverage, this should help pay for your living expenses while the repairs are under way. Here are three things that are important to understand about how your ALE can help you out in this particular situation.
#1 Evaluate Your Shelter Needs
The first and most obvious expense that your ALE will cover is shelter. It should cover a variety of different shelter types, such as a regular hotel, long-term stay hotel, vacation rental or regular rental house.
You are going to want to think strategically about what type of shelter you use. If you know that you are going to need shelter for a week or so, staying at a regular hotel should work just fine. If you know that your house repairs are going to take a long time, you are going to want to seek out an affordable rental house as soon as possible, as your ALE expenses will have a specific cap on them, based upon the coverage that you have signed up for. You want to make sure that your ALE coverage will pay for all of your shelter needs, which requires you to evaluate how long you will need shelter for, the cost of shelter in your area, and your overall amount of coverage.
#2 Get A Place Where You Can Cook
Your ALE should cover the cost of food if you are living somewhere where you cannot make food. You should be able to give your restaurant receipts to your insurance company for reimbursement. However, this can quickly eat up your entire ALE budget as eating out is not cheap, which is why you should look for a place where you can cook your own food in order to stretch out your ALE funds. For example, you can rent a hotel room or suite that has a mini-kitchen so that you can cook your own food. Or, you can rent a vacation house where you can cook and make your own food. This will allow you to stretch out your ALE funds, especially if a lot of work needs to be done on your home to make it inhabitable.
#3 Find Out What Else Is Covered
Third, find out what else your insurance will cover. Many insurance companies will cover other items as well. Ask your insurance company for a written list of things and items that they will cover. For example, if you have to drive farther than normal to get to work and school, your insurance company may reimburse you for that extra mileage. Or if you need to replace certain essential items, those may be covered as well. Talk with your insurance agent because you may be surprised what they will cover.
For property insurance, contact a company such as Advanced Building Assesment Inc.
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