At times, temporary housing arrangements for homeowners' claims can leave many adjusters wondering if they could have found a better solution for their policyholders' additional living expense (ALE) needs. For instance, consider the following scenario.

An adjuster estimates the repair time of a loss to be 45 days and has a family of four make arrangements to stay in a local extended stay hotel. Before she knows it, the six weeks have gone by and the contractor is telling her that he needs at least another six weeks. The hotel bill for the family already is around $5,400 and if they stay in the hotel another six weeks, the adjuster will have paid roughly $10,800 for three months of temporary housing. This figure does not account for taxes on the hotel room, mileage, meals, pet boarding, and other incidental receipts the policyholder likely will turn in as incurred costs as a result of the loss. She wonders if she could have done anything differently to cut down on these expenses.

Meanwhile, the policyholder is calling about his concerns related to the family being out of their home. The small space of the hotel is wearing on them and everyone's ability to move forward with the claim is being affected.

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