Your policy includes Additional Living Expenses coverage—so why won't they pay?
When your home is uninhabitable after a covered loss, your insurance company is contractually obligated to pay for temporary housing and related expenses. If they're refusing, delaying, or underpaying your ALE claim, you need to know your rights and how to fight back.
Additional Living Expenses (ALE), also called Loss of Use coverage, is one of the most important protections in your homeowners insurance policy. When fire, water damage, or another covered peril makes your home unlivable, ALE coverage pays for hotel bills, rental housing, restaurant meals, storage fees, and other reasonable costs while your home is being repaired.
But despite this clear contractual obligation, many insurance companies refuse to pay ALE claims, delay payments for months, impose arbitrary limits, or cut off benefits before repairs are complete. Policyholders are left scrambling to cover thousands of dollars in temporary housing costs out of pocket—even though they've been paying premiums specifically for this protection.
If your insurance company is not paying your ALE claim, you're not alone. This is one of the most common disputes in property insurance, and it's one where policyholders have strong legal rights. Understanding why insurers deny ALE claims and how to challenge those denials is essential to getting the coverage you're entitled to.
Insurance companies use a variety of tactics to avoid paying Additional Living Expenses, even when the claim is clearly covered. Here are the most common reasons they give—and why most of them don't hold up:
Insurers often argue that your home is "livable" even when it clearly isn't. They may say you can still sleep there even if there's no heat, no running water, smoke damage throughout, or exposed electrical wiring. This is one of the most common—and most unreasonable—denials.
Some adjusters tell policyholders that ALE coverage only lasts 30, 60, or 90 days. But most policies don't impose fixed time limits—they cover the "shortest time required" to repair or replace your home. If repairs take six months, ALE should cover six months.
Your policy typically requires the insurer to pay for housing that's "comparable" to your home. But adjusters often try to force you into cheaper, smaller, or less convenient accommodations. If you have a four-bedroom house, they can't force you into a studio apartment.
Insurance companies frequently stop paying ALE before your home is actually ready to move back into. They may claim repairs are "substantially complete" even if the house lacks flooring, appliances, or working utilities.
If the insurer denies your property damage claim entirely, they'll also deny ALE. This is why it's critical to fight the underlying denial—if you win that, ALE coverage should follow.
Insurers sometimes allege that you're not cooperating with the claim process, which they use as grounds to deny or suspend ALE payments. This can be based on missed deadlines, incomplete documentation, or disputes over repair timelines.
Even when insurers acknowledge that ALE is owed, they often employ strategies to pay as little as possible:
Delay tactics: They drag out the claims process, hoping you'll give up or run out of money to cover temporary housing on your own.
Partial payments: They pay only a fraction of your actual expenses, forcing you to either accept the shortfall or fight for every dollar.
Demanding excessive documentation: They require receipts, invoices, and proof for every expense, then reject claims for minor paperwork issues.
Disputing "reasonableness": They claim your hotel, rental, or meal costs are "unreasonable" even when they're standard for your area and situation.
Pressuring you to move back early: They push you to return home before it's safe or comfortable, claiming repairs are "good enough."
Applying policy limits incorrectly: They may claim you've hit your ALE limit when you haven't, or misapply sublimits that don't actually exist in your policy.
These tactics are designed to wear you down and save the insurer money. But they're also often violations of your policy terms and state insurance laws.
Claim Command Pro is built specifically to help policyholders fight back against insurance company tactics and recover the full ALE benefits they're entitled to. Here's how it works:
Policy analysis: We review your policy's ALE provisions, limits, and conditions to determine exactly what you're owed. Many policyholders don't realize their ALE coverage is 20-30% of their dwelling coverage—often $50,000 to $100,000 or more.
Habitability assessment: We help you document why your home is uninhabitable, including lack of utilities, safety hazards, health risks, and code violations. This counters the insurer's claim that you can still live there.
Expense tracking and documentation: We guide you through tracking and documenting every ALE expense—hotel bills, rental payments, meals, laundry, pet boarding, storage, and more—in a format insurers can't easily dispute.
Comparable housing analysis: We research comparable rental rates and hotel costs in your area to prove that your temporary housing expenses are reasonable and necessary.
Timeline enforcement: We track repair timelines and contractor schedules to prove how long ALE coverage should last, countering arbitrary cutoff dates imposed by the insurer.
Demand letter generation: When the insurer refuses to pay or underpays, we help you draft formal demand letters citing specific policy language, state regulations, and legal precedents.
Bad faith documentation: If the insurer's denial or delay is unreasonable, we help you document potential bad faith violations, which can lead to penalties and attorney involvement.
Our tools are designed to level the playing field. Insurance companies have teams of adjusters, lawyers, and claims specialists working to minimize payouts. Claim Command Pro gives you the knowledge, documentation, and strategy to fight back effectively.
Don't let your insurance company force you to pay out of pocket for temporary housing. Claim Command Pro helps you fight back and recover the full Additional Living Expenses you're entitled to.
Get Claim Command ProMost policies cover ALE for the "shortest time required" to repair or replace your home, not a fixed number of days. If repairs take six months, ALE should cover six months. Some policies have dollar limits (often 20-30% of dwelling coverage) but not strict time limits. If your insurer is imposing an arbitrary deadline, challenge it.
ALE typically covers hotel or rental housing, restaurant meals (the difference between your normal food costs and eating out), laundry and cleaning, pet boarding, storage fees, increased commuting costs, and other reasonable expenses that result from being displaced. Keep all receipts and document everything.
No. Your policy requires "comparable" housing, which means similar size, location, and quality to your home. If you have a four-bedroom house in a good school district, the insurer can't force you into a one-bedroom apartment across town. Document your needs and push back on unreasonable offers.
Document everything that makes your home uninhabitable: lack of heat, air conditioning, running water, electricity, working toilets, safe flooring, mold, smoke damage, structural hazards, or code violations. Take photos and get written statements from contractors. "Livable" means safe, sanitary, and functional—not just having four walls and a roof.
If your insurer is denying a significant ALE claim or acting in bad faith, consulting a property insurance attorney is often worthwhile. Many attorneys offer free consultations and work on contingency (they only get paid if you win). Claim Command Pro can help you document your case and determine whether legal action is warranted.