If your home caught on fire, and was damaged badly enough that you were unable to live in it, that’s when your home insurance comes into play. Part of your home insurance policy is coverage for your living expenses when your home is unusable. It is classified as “Additional living expenses” and is usually included with every standard policy. However, just because you have a standard policy doesn’t mean that you automatically have additional living expense coverage. You should do some research on your policy to make certain you will receive coverage when you need it.

If your house did catch on fire, it can be a very stressful time in which you need your insurance company to depend on. In the event you were unable to live in your home, your insurance company would pay for all living expenses such as a hotel, food, and any other reasonable living expenses. Don’t plan on any fancy hotels or restaurants though, chances are your insurance company will only pay the difference of your normal living costs.

Part of your homeowners insurance is knowing what types of coverage you will need. If your caught in a situation where your home was destroyed or temporarily unable to be used, you need to make sure that the cause is covered. Say that your house flooded, and now you cannot live in it for two weeks because it is being repaired. If you don’t have flood insurance added on your policy, then insurance will not pay for repair costs as a result of that incident. While the insurance will not pay for damage repairs in that situation, you still may be able to collect insurance coverage for your living expenses during those two weeks. That is all part of your additional living expenses section on your policy and in most cases it does not matter what the cause of destruction is, you will receive money to live normally while your home is out of service.

With additional living expenses it can be different coverage for everybody, but the main cause is to provide money for a place to live in a time of need . The limit of additional living expenses can vary from company to company, but know that your insurance will almost always cover most of the living costs. The coverage limits can be based on your percent of total coverage, or by a predefined time period. That means you cannot stay in a hotel for a year and expect the insurance to pay for it, they will usually only give you coverage for a reasonable amount of time. Review your policy and make sure you have the coverage you want, because the last thing you need is no way to pay for living costs in a time of disaster.