What Is Additional Living Expenses (ALE) or Loss of Use (LOU) Coverage?

Unfortunate events like natural or home disasters can leave you in panic, making your home unlivable. In such cases, you may be forced to leave your home while it is being repaired and restored. Luckily, filing a claim under Additional Living Expenses (ALE) can help cover the costs of living elsewhere.

Read on to learn about Additional Living Expenses (ALE) and how they can help ease your unfortunate situation.

What Is Additional Living Expenses Coverage?

Additional Living Expenses are a part of the Loss of Use insurance that can help if your house has become uninhabitable. The insurance basically covers the cost of having to live somewhere else while your house is being repaired. Examples of additional living expenses coverage include:

• Pet boarding.
• Laundry costs.
• Temporary housing costs like rentals or hotels.
• Transport or car rental costs.
• Storage expenses.
• Moving costs.
• Any additional fuel costs.
• Food expenses that are more than what you usually pay, e.g. restaurant bills. For 2024, the average yearly food cost is $16,297.20 for a family of four. So, this value may be taken into account for ALE to decide if you qualify for food coverage.

When Should You File a Claim Under Additional Living Expenses?

Before filing a claim under Additional Living Expenses, it’s important to understand if you even qualify for the coverage. The claim is only valid when you are forced to leave because of an event covered by your insurance. So, you can’t just file for an ALE if you’re leaving because of the inconvenience of any other repairs.

An example of an event that will qualify you for the insurance is not having running water or electricity in your house. It’s also valid if a civil authority asks you to empty your house because of a health hazard or threat.

What is Not Protected by Additional Living Expenses (ALE)?

The following are things that will not be covered under the ALE insurance:

• Living in a temporary rental that is bigger than your house.
• Mortgage or property tax.
• Wages in case you have taken time off from work.
• Utility bills of the place you are staying at.
• Payments for things like a cellphone plan, gym membership, etc
• Food costs will only be covered if cooking at your temporary accommodation isn’t possible. If it is, the food cost will not be covered.

What are the ALE Coverage Limits?

The ALE coverage limit is usually 20% to 30% of your home replacement cost. So, let’s assume that the replacement cost in your home policy is $500,000, and the coverage is set at 25%. Then, the maximum coverage you can get will be $125,000.

Note that you can also increase this limit by talking to your insurance company. For this, they may ask you to get an additional premium.

Conclusion

Your home becoming uninhabitable can become an alarming situation, but no need to panic. The ALE claim will help relieve some financial burdens caused by the displacement. At the time, you may be confused about what temporary housing to choose.

In that case, just contact us at Sinistar. We are a temporary housing provider for displaced families dedicated to helping you find a home-like accommodation. We’ll consider all your needs, comfort and insurance to get you the best deal.

Currently looking for temporary housing?

You can get a free housing quote from us anytime by giving us a call at +1 855-717-8878, emailing us at claims@sinistar.ca, or simply filling out our temporary housing request form at https://sinistar.ca/request.