How additional living expenses work, and what to keep

What the term means

Additional living expenses, sometimes called loss of use, is a term many homeowners policies use for the extra costs of living somewhere else while your home cannot be lived in. In general it is described as the increase over what you normally spend, not the whole cost of living.

Whether your policy includes it, what counts, how long it lasts, and how it is calculated all come from your policy. Check your policy and ask your insurer how it applies to your claim.

Questions to ask your insurer early

• Does my policy include additional living expenses, and is there a limit?
• Which kinds of costs do you want receipts for?
• Do I need approval before booking a longer stay or a rental?
• Will you pay some costs directly, or reimburse me?
• How often do you want receipts, and in what format?

Write down the answers, who gave them, and the date. They are easy to forget weeks later.

What to keep

• Lodging: hotel folios, short-term rental confirmations, and any rent you pay.
• Meals, with a note on the ones you ate out because you had no kitchen.
• Laundry, if you are paying for it now and did not before.
• Mileage: the date, where from, where to, the miles, and why.
• Other costs that came from being away, such as storage or pet boarding.
• Your normal monthly costs, such as a typical grocery total, so there is something to compare against.

How to keep it

Log each receipt on the day it happens, while you still remember what it was for. Photograph paper receipts before they fade or get lost, and add one line about why the cost came up.

Keep a running total, and note what you have already sent to your insurer and when. It saves sending the same receipt twice or not at all.

When payments arrive

Record the date, the amount, and what your insurer said the payment was for. Set against your receipts, that shows what has been paid and what is still open. If a payment does not match what you expected, ask your insurer to explain it.

Where Radby fits

Radby's living-expense ledger keeps each receipt with its date, amount, and note, and its payment tracker records what arrives. You can flag a receipt to add later and Radby reminds you. What counts toward living expenses is a question for your insurer.