Get the Best Additional Living Expenses Coverage in Canada

What is Additional Living Expenses (ALE) coverage?

Additional Living Expenses, or ALE, is insurance that covers the costs of living elsewhere if you are displaced from your home. This usually occurs when your house, condo or apartment becomes temporarily uninhabitable due to a covered incident, requiring repairs. The coverage lasts until you are able to move back into your home or until the policy limit is reached.

A potential scenario that may require ALE:

Your home partially burns down due to a fire, becoming too dangerous to occupy. As a result, you and your family temporarily move elsewhere – a hotel, for example – while your home is being repaired. ALE would cover all the costs associated with you living away from home, including the cost of your hotel room, meals and potentially even travel costs (if for instance, your commute to work becomes much more expensive than it used to be).

Your home insurance would, of course, also cover your home repairs – via the home replacement coverage.

Here's what ALE covers:

• Your accommodation costs (hotel, Airbnb, rent, etc.)
• Restaurant/takeout meals (if you don’t have a kitchen)
• The cost of moving Rental of special items (such as furniture) you’re used to having
• Laundry, if you don’t have access to a free washer or a dryer (but had it before)
• Transit expenses, including increased mileage
• Pet boarding
• Storage, if certain contents of your home require it

Other things covered under ALE:

• Fair rental value: If you’re renting out a part of your home (such as a room or basement) and your tenant is forced to move out due to a covered incident, your insurance could cover the loss of your rental income.
• No access: If your home becomes inaccessible due to an unexpected incident, such as a government-mandated evacuation order or a threat to your life, your insurance could cover you.

What are Additional Living Expenses (ALE) coverage limits? 

In many cases, total ALE coverage limits are 20% to 30% of the replacement cost coverage on your home policy. For example, if your home is valued in your policy as $500,000, the maximum ALE coverage would be $100,000 to $150,000.

Can you add coverage?

You can expand your ALE coverage by expanding your overall home insurance coverage. For instance, if you don’t have an overland water add-on, which protects your home from floods caused by overflowing rivers, lakes and so on, then getting displaced by this incident would not qualify you for ALE coverage. However, adding overland water would fix the issue (though you can’t do so retroactively, of course).

Some additions are unlikely to happen, however. For instance, an insurer will never provide you with ALE coverage for a preventable issue, such as pest infestation, for instance. That said, there might be other little adjustments your insurer could make, so be sure to ask, just in case.

Can you increase coverage limits?

Insurance companies will allow an increase in coverage limits for an additional premium.

Filing an Additional Living Expenses (ALE) claim

Should you get displaced from your home due to a covered incident, contact your insurer and let them know about it (either by calling them or submitting an online form). You should contact them as soon as the incident occurs to cover the incident itself and then after you return to cover your ALE expenses.

When filing an ALE claim, you’ll need to provide additional documentation, like receipts and proof of your displacement. The insurance company should guide you through this process and confirm your reimbursement amounts.

When does ALE coverage come into effect?

ALE coverage comes into effect when your primary place of residence becomes uninhabitable due to a covered incident, or you’re forced to evacuate.

Be sure you discuss the specifics of when and how ALE coverage is applicable with your provider, so there are no surprises. Every insurer is different, after all.