Consider this nightmarish scenario: You're on a two-week vacation when a neighbor strolling by your house spies a small trickle of water creeping out from underneath your front door. Armed with the key you've given him to look after your house, he enters to discover a pipe underneath the wet bar has burst. Unfortunately, by the time the neighbor discovers the problem, water has already caused considerable damage to the house.

You hop the next flight back home, where neighbors have begun the process of loading your worldly possessions into garbage bags. Considering the prospect of living on cold cement in the dead of winter, surrounded by a sea of garbage bags, you opt for temporary shelter. Before now, you've never carefully reviewed the terms of your homeowner's insurance policy to determine just how much you'll be compensated for the unforeseen expenses you're about to incur.

Homeowners throughout the Mid-Atlantic and New England states received a recent reminder -- as if they needed one -- that snowstorms can be quite damaging to their property. Although we don't necessary group snow with other, more "serious" natural phenomena as fire, water, tornadoes, hurricanes and earthquakes, severe winter storms create strain on a roof as it attempts to withstand the weight of snow. Roofs can and often do collapse under this weight. Ice accumulation may cause damage, as well. And frozen pipes can wreak havoc, particularly if residents aren't home when they burst and arrive days or even weeks later to discover a flooded, soggy home.

Do you have to be canoeing in your living room or living on cement floors to be justified in seeking alternate shelter? Under which scenarios are you entitled to such coverage?

Most homeowner's insurance policies will contain some coverage for any temporary accommodations you may have to take in the event of such a disaster. In addition, under a clause called additional living expenses, your policy will often cover at least some percentage of your daily living expenses during this period. Just how much your policy will cover is variable, of course. But as the above example so clearly illustrates, you can't assume that because you reside in a region typically immune from many of the weather extremes that plague other parts of the country, you don't need to consider a homeowner's policy that includes provisions for temporary residence and living expenses.

Before assuming that your situation merits coverage for temporary shelter, read and re-read your policy. As an example, the North Carolina Department of Insurance, warns that in many cases the "lack of power or water is not considered physical damage and therefore additional living expenses will not be covered."

If you are approved for temporary shelter coverage and associated costs, how does your insurance company determine how much money to allocate for your "additional living expenses"?

According to Insure.com, "additional living expenses" are defined as any increased cost required for you to maintain your normal standard of living in a temporary residence -- for example, if you have take up residence at a hotel for a month-long period, and the total cost of that stay exceeds your monthly mortgage payment. Or, if you have to pay moving fees to transport your belongings into a temporary residence.

Depending upon your insurance company and coverage, you may either see money up front for your additional living expenses; or you may simply be reimbursed later.

Regardless of whether you're paid now or later, though, your insurance company will require you to save every single receipt you get while paying for your temporary living arrangement. So be sure to keep thorough records of every expense, no matter how large or small.

Additional living expenses also may cover such items as restaurant meals, which will cost more than preparing your own meals at home; the cost of sending out your laundry because you lack access to a washer and dryer; and/or the cost of a temporary parking space for your car(s). However, it's important to note that coverage for your additional living expenses, while certainly helpful, isn't indefinite.

"Payment," says Insure.com, is limited to the reasonable time required to repair or rebuild your home, or for you to settle elsewhere.

"Generally, additional living expenses are paid for about two weeks."

And as any homeowner who's experienced a disaster will tell you, in many cases, two weeks is hardly enough time to complete needed repairs and move back into your home. Insurance-related delays, problems with contractors and other dilemmas can stretch the time you spend in your temporary residence to several weeks or even months.

One note about the maintenance of your "normal" standard of living. Your insurance provider certainly has to maintain a few boundaries for that definition; otherwise, every disaster-afflicted homeowner would seek refuge at a five-star resort and drown their sorrows over Dom Perignon and a filet mignon each evening.

For more information about snowstorm damage and related homeowners' insurance coverage, check out the following sites:

• Today's Homeowner describes the proper safety procedures homeowners should follow after discovering plumbing leaks.

• Repairing Your Home a report issued by the American Red Cross.

• Insure.com's snowstorm damage area.

For more articles by Courtney Ronan, please press here.

Published: April 12, 2001

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