Loss of Use Coverage in Washington: How ALE Limits Work After a Fire
Most Washington homeowners policies cap loss of use at 20% to 30% of the dwelling limit, for 12 to 24 months, or both. Those are the Insurance Commissioner's numbers, and they're the two figures on your declarations page that decide how long your insurer pays for a hotel, a rental and the extra costs of living somewhere else after a fire.
That gap between the limit and how long rebuilding really takes isn't theoretical in this state. In June 2024, then-Commissioner Mike Kreidler publicly urged insurers to extend additional living expense coverage for survivors of the Gray and Oregon Road fires near Spokane who were nearing a 12-month limit on it. Many policies, his office noted, end ALE after 12 months. The OIC's own ALE page now says it plainly: after recent wildfires, many people found their ALE ran out before they could go home.
The timing matters again. The Spokane Complex Fires in early August 2026 were, in Commissioner Patty Kuderer's words, the most devastating fire in state history, and the OIC's fourth Spokane claims workshop for survivors is Monday, Nov. 9. Here's how Coverage D works, what it pays and doesn't, what Washington law adds (and doesn't), and what to check before you need it.
Source: WA OIC: Additional living expenses coverage; ISO HO 00 03 10 00 sample form (Triple-I); Commissioner Kuderer bulletin, Sept. 28, 2026. Individual policies vary.
What Coverage D is
On a homeowners or renters policy, Coverage D is usually labeled "loss of use." The part people actually use is additional living expenses, or ALE. The OIC describes it as the coverage that pays the extra costs when a covered loss leaves your home unsafe or unlivable and you need temporary housing while it's repaired or rebuilt.
The word that matters is extra. ALE pays the difference between what it costs your household to live while displaced and what you normally spend. It is not a check for your whole cost of living.
On the standard ISO homeowners form (HO-3), which many policies are modeled on, Coverage D has three parts that share one limit:
- Additional living expense. If a covered loss makes the part of the home where you live "not fit to live in," the form pays "any necessary increase in living expenses" so your household can keep its normal standard of living.
- Fair rental value. If you rent out part of the house (a basement unit, say) or hold it for rental, and a covered loss makes it unlivable, the form pays the fair rental value, minus expenses that stop while it's empty. The OIC's homeowner guide says many policies offer this "loss of rent" piece.
- Civil authority. Covered below, and it's shorter than most people think.
Two other lines in that form are worth knowing. ALE is paid "for the shortest time required to repair or replace the damage," or, if you permanently relocate, the shortest time required for your household to settle elsewhere. And the time periods under Coverage D are "not limited by expiration of this policy." So if your policy is nonrenewed after the fire, the loss-of-use payments tied to that loss don't automatically stop at the renewal date. Your own policy wording controls; check that your form says the same.
Two triggers have to line up. The damage has to come from a covered loss, and the home has to be unfit to live in. The OIC says ALE is usually triggered when your adjuster decides the home is uninhabitable, based on safety and whether water, electricity and heat are available.
What ALE pays for, and what it doesn't
| Usually paid (if it's an extra cost) | Usually not paid |
|---|---|
| Temporary housing: hotel or short-term rental | Your normal mortgage or rent at the damaged home |
| Meals above your usual food costs if you don't have a kitchen | Normal utility bills at the damaged home |
| Storage and moving costs | Luxury lodging (housing must be comparable to yours) |
| Laundry and dry cleaning | Unrelated shopping, entertainment, non-essentials |
| Pet boarding | Costs from a loss the policy doesn't cover (flood, earthquake) |
| Extra transportation to get the family to work and school | Lease cancellation costs (ISO form exclusion) |
Source: WA OIC: Additional living expenses coverage; WA OIC: How renter insurance works; ISO HO-3 sample form. Typical coverage, not a decision on any specific policy.
Notice the mortgage line. The OIC is clear that ALE doesn't pay your normal house payment. If you still owe on the house, you keep paying the mortgage while ALE pays for the rental. Kreidler put the problem bluntly in 2024: "Most insureds do not have the financial means to pay a mortgage and temporary housing costs simultaneously." That's exactly what happens once ALE runs out.
"Comparable" housing is the other place disputes start. The policy aims to keep your normal standard of living, not raise it. The OIC says temporary housing must be comparable to your normal housing: for a three-bedroom house, that points to something like a three-bedroom rental, not a motel room.
Smoke counts. The OIC's smoke damage page says ALE pays for temporary housing and food if your home is unlivable during smoke cleanup and repairs. A house still standing can still qualify.
How the limits work
Per the OIC, ALE may be capped three ways:
- A dollar amount, usually 20% to 30% of your dwelling coverage (Coverage A). The OIC's example: $100,000 of dwelling coverage with a 20% cap gives a $20,000 ALE maximum. Its homeowner guide says most policies set the limit at 20%.
- A time limit, usually 12 to 24 months.
- Both. Then whichever runs out first ends the coverage.
The declarations page and the Coverage D section of the policy tell you which of these you have. The time limit, if there is one, is often in the policy wording rather than on the declarations page.
Because the dollar cap is a percentage of Coverage A, it moves with your dwelling limit. If your house is underinsured, your ALE is underinsured by the same percentage. That's one more reason to check the dwelling limit against today's rebuilding cost, not the price you paid for the house.
The time limit is the one that bites after a wildfire. The OIC lists why rebuilding stretches out: contractor shortages, debris removal, permitting and environmental testing. None of that is in your control, and a 12-month clock keeps running through all of it. For a home lost in early August 2026, a 12-month limit would end in early August 2027.
Worked example: 20% vs. 30%
Hypothetical, for illustration only. Say your dwelling limit is $400,000, your home is a total loss, and your household's extra costs while displaced come to $4,500 a month: $3,800 for a comparable rental (you're still paying the mortgage) plus $700 in extra meals, mileage and storage. These are made-up round numbers, not market data. Plug in your own.
Source: Author's arithmetic on a hypothetical; cap range from WA OIC. A separate time limit can end coverage sooner.
Show the numbers
| Coverage D cap | Months |
|---|---|
| 20% cap ($80,000) | 17.8 mo |
| 25% cap ($100,000) | 22.2 mo |
| 30% cap ($120,000) | 26.7 mo |
| Coverage D cap | Paid by ALE | Out of pocket |
|---|---|---|
| 20% ($80,000 limit) | $80,000 | $28,000 |
| 30% ($120,000 limit) | $108,000 | None |
| Either cap, plus a 12-month time limit | $54,000 | $54,000 |
Source: Author's arithmetic on a hypothetical. 24 months x $4,500 = $108,000. Typical caps and time limits from WA OIC.
The 20% cap runs dry around month 18. The 30% cap covers the full 24 months with $12,000 to spare. But if either policy also has a 12-month time limit, both stop at $54,000 and you're carrying the last year yourself.
My read: the percentage gets the attention, but the time limit is often the tighter constraint after a wildfire. For any policy in a fire-prone area, the question I'd ask is simple: if the house burned in August, could my family afford to live elsewhere until it's rebuilt? If the honest answer depends on a 12-month clock, that's worth a conversation at renewal about whether higher limits or a longer period are available, and what they cost.
Evacuation orders and civil authority
During the August fires, tens of thousands of people around Spokane left their homes under evacuation orders; the commissioner's bulletin puts it at 67,000. Far fewer lost their homes: the bulletin counts more than 850 buildings destroyed. Does loss of use pay for the nights away?
It depends on the policy. The OIC says a government evacuation order "can also be a trigger for ALE, depending on your policy's terms," and its wildfire page lists a local evacuation order among the situations Coverage D can cover.
On the standard ISO form, that coverage is the civil authority clause. It applies when a civil authority prohibits you from using your home "as a result of direct damage to neighboring premises" by a covered peril, and it pays ALE and fair rental value "for no more than two weeks." My reading of that wording: a precautionary evacuation before any neighboring property is damaged may not fit it, and a longer closure is capped at two weeks unless your policy says otherwise. Read your Coverage D section for the words "civil authority" and the number of days.
If you evacuated, keep the hotel and meal receipts anyway, and note the dates of the order. It costs nothing to submit, and the insurer has to tell you in writing which policy provision it relies on if it says no (more on that below).
When there's no loss-of-use coverage at all
ALE follows the underlying coverage. If the policy doesn't cover what damaged the house, it doesn't pay for you to live somewhere else.
| Situation | Loss of use / ALE |
|---|---|
| Homeowners policy, covered loss (fire, smoke, burst pipe) | Usually yes, within the Coverage D limit |
| Renters policy, covered loss | Usually yes, only if the loss itself is covered |
| Condo unit owner policy, covered loss | Usually yes, if your unit is unlivable from a covered claim |
| River flooding with no flood policy | No: flood isn't covered, so ALE isn't either |
| NFIP flood policy | Most NFIP policies include no ALE |
| Earthquake damage, no earthquake coverage | No: earthquake is typically excluded, and ALE is granted only if the loss is covered |
| Washington FAIR Plan policy | FAIR Plan says it doesn't write time element coverages such as fair rental value; ask what yours includes |
Source: WA OIC: Renter insurance; WA OIC: Condo insurance; WA OIC: ALE (NFIP); Washington FAIR Plan.
The renters example comes straight from the OIC: if you don't have a flood policy and have to evacuate your apartment because a nearby river overflows, you pay out of pocket to live elsewhere. My read: for renters, ALE may be the most valuable part of the policy, since there's no house to rebuild. More on that in my post on renters insurance in Washington.
The flood gap is the big one in Western Washington river valleys. The OIC notes that people relying only on NFIP often discover the missing ALE after a major flood, and suggests a private flood policy may be worth considering for that coverage. If you're weighing flood coverage, I cover the options on our Washington flood insurance page.
What Washington law adds
Start with what it doesn't add. I searched the full text of RCW 48.18, RCW 48.30 and WAC 284-30 and found no Washington law that sets a minimum ALE limit, a minimum ALE time period, or requires insurers to extend ALE after a declared emergency. The 2024 request to extend ALE after the Gray and Oregon Road fires was exactly that, a request. The OIC's 2027 legislative priorities don't include an ALE bill either. So the limits and time period in your policy are what you have.
What Washington does regulate is how the claim is handled. The OIC's claim-settlement rules in chapter 284-30 WAC were amended effective Oct. 18, 2026, and several apply directly to a loss-of-use claim:
| Deadline | What the insurer must do |
|---|---|
| 10 business days | Acknowledge your claim notice; notice to the insurer's agent counts (WAC 284-30-360) |
| 10 business days | Reply to other communications that reasonably call for a response (WAC 284-30-360) |
| 30 calendar days | Finish investigating, or explain in writing why it can't, then update you every 30 days (WAC 284-30-370) |
| 30 calendar days | Tell you whether the claim is accepted or denied, counted from your claim notice; a denial must be in writing and cite the specific provision (WAC 284-30-380) |
| 30 calendar days before | If it's still negotiating directly with you and you have no attorney, warn you in writing 30 days before a policy or legal time limit may expire (WAC 284-30-380) |
| 15 business days | Provide the parts of your claim file you request (WAC 284-30-340) |
| 15 business days | Have procedures designed to deliver payment of a settled claim after receiving signed releases (WAC 284-30-330(16)) |
Source: WAC 284-30-360, -370, -380, -340, -330, as amended by WSR 26-17-089 (effective Oct. 18, 2026).
A few other lines in the rules matter more for ALE than for most claims:
- Full disclosure of benefits. WAC 284-30-350(1) says an insurer can't fail to fully disclose all pertinent benefits and coverages under the policy you're claiming on. Insurance producers can't conceal them either. If you lost your home, loss of use is pertinent. Ask your adjuster to put your Coverage D limit, any time limit and any civil authority provision in writing.
- Every payment says what it's for. WAC 284-30-330(9) makes it an unfair practice to pay a first-party claim without a statement of the coverage the payment is made under. That matters when ALE, contents and dwelling money arrive at different times and you need to track how much of each limit is left.
- No holding one coverage hostage. Under WAC 284-30-330(12), an insurer can't delay settling a part of the claim that's clear to influence the settlement of another part.
- A denial has to explain itself. WAC 284-30-330(13) requires a prompt, reasonable explanation of the basis for a denial or compromise offer.
If ALE is cut off early, reduced, or you have questions about it, the OIC says to contact its consumer advocacy team at 800-562-6900. I walk through the broader rules in Washington home insurance claim laws, and what to do when the answer is no in home insurance claim denied in Washington.
Getting paid: advances, receipts, the monthly packet
ALE is mostly a reimbursement coverage, so the paperwork decides how fast money moves. The OIC's guidance comes down to this:
- Write down your normal costs first. Pull a few months of bills and bank statements. ALE only pays the increase, so you need a baseline for food, commuting and utilities.
- Ask for an advance in writing. Insurers can issue advances against ALE so you're not fronting a security deposit and first month's rent. Ask for a specific, itemized amount; you reconcile it with receipts later. The OIC has a template letter on its ALE page.
- If the house is a total loss, ask for a personal property advance too. That comes out of Coverage C, not your ALE, so it doesn't shrink the pool you need for housing. The OIC says these advances are more commonly granted after a total loss.
- Save every receipt and keep a mileage log. Hotels, meals, laundry, storage, pet boarding.
- Send a packet every month. Receipts, with temporary versus normal costs marked. The OIC says this helps your insurer process reimbursement faster.
- Screenshot the rental market. After a disaster, temporary housing gets scarce and prices jump. Screenshots of what's available help your adjuster see what comparable housing actually costs.
- Log every call. The OIC's call log (PDF) is a simple way to record who you spoke with, when, and what they said.
And keep checking the balance. Ask the adjuster for a running total of ALE paid against your limit, and the date your time limit ends. The OIC says once ALE runs out, insurers generally don't extend it. Knowing month 14 is coming beats finding out in month 18.
What to check on your declarations page
Pull up your declarations page and the Coverage D section of your policy and find these:
- The Coverage D amount. A dollar figure or a percentage of Coverage A.
- The time limit. 12 months, 24 months, or none stated. Look in the policy wording, not just the declarations page.
- Civil authority. Whether it's there, and for how many days.
- Fair rental value. If you rent out a unit or ADU, whether lost rent is covered and whether it shares the same limit.
- Your dwelling limit. If Coverage D is a percentage, an outdated Coverage A shrinks it too. My post on wildfire insurance in Washington covers the rebuild-cost side.
- What isn't covered. Flood and earthquake damage won't trigger ALE on a standard policy.
Then do the math the OIC recommends: compare your ALE limit with what a comparable rental near you costs, multiplied by a realistic rebuild time. If the number looks thin, ask your agent what higher limits or a longer period would cost. If you'd like a second set of eyes on a Washington policy, our Washington home insurance page and Washington insurance FAQ are good places to start.
Your own policy wording and Washington law control how any claim is handled. Confirm your situation with a licensed agent or the Washington Office of the Insurance Commissioner, and talk to an attorney for legal questions.
Sources
- WA OIC: Additional living expenses coverage
- WA OIC: Wildfires and insurance
- WA OIC: A consumer's guide to homeowner insurance (PDF)
- WA OIC: How renter insurance works
- WA OIC: Learn how condo insurance works
- WA OIC: Smoke damage and your homeowner or renter insurance
- WA OIC: Steps to take after home damage or a loss
- WA OIC: Wildfire recovery toolkit
- WA OIC: Call log for conversations with your insurer (PDF)
- WA OIC news, Nov. 2, 2026: OIC experts offer help with wildfire claims at Nov. 9 workshop
- WA OIC: Wildfire claims workshops
- WA OIC bulletin, Sept. 28, 2026: Patty's Takes: Recovery continues from Spokane Complex Fires
- WA OIC news, June 24, 2024: Kreidler asks insurers to extend additional living expenses for wildfire survivors
- WA OIC: 2027 legislative priorities
- Insurance Services Office HO-3 sample form, HO 00 03 10 00 (published by Triple-I)
- Washington FAIR Plan: Customers (coverage)
- RCW 48.18 (full chapter)
- WAC 284-30 (full chapter)
- WAC 284-30-330
- WAC 284-30-340
- WAC 284-30-350
- WAC 284-30-360
- WAC 284-30-370
- WAC 284-30-380
- WSR 26-17-089: OIC claim settlement rules, effective Oct. 18, 2026
This article is for general educational purposes only and is not legal, tax or insurance advice. Coverage depends on the actual policy, its terms, conditions and exclusions, and state law. Maru Insurance · WA License (WAOIC) #1365574 · FL License #G363233 · NPN 22261820.