What is Alternative Accommodation?
If your home is damaged by an insured peril (such as fire or water) and is deemed uninhabitable, your insurer will provide alternative accommodation (AA) for you and your family for the duration of the time it takes to repair your home, subject to any policy conditions.
Under some policies there is a time limit after which AA will cease so it is important that you understand what this limit is if it exists and also to ensure the level of monies available to cover AA are adequate. Often a period of protracted un-occupancy is necessary, and it may be that this applies not only to you but to many other leaseholders in a block of apartments.
Insurers definition of ‘uninhabitable’ is that you do not have a kitchen or bathroom or sleeping facilities. Being inconvenienced by mess or damage to walls or ceilings is not sufficient for insurers to consider a claim for AA. If you believe you require AA you must seek approval from the insurer prior to making arrangements or you may be liable for some or all of the expenses incurred.
If it is necessary for you to move out of your home, it may be some or all of your contents will also need to be moved. On occasion, the buildings insurance will pick up the cost of moving and storing your contents, but this will depend entirely on the circumstances of the loss. The buildings policy will certainly not cover any damage caused to your personal contents, so it is important that you consider purchasing contents insurance in case of damage.
The type of AA will be considered in line with the type of accommodation you are living in at the time of the incident. However, on occasion, it may only be necessary to move out for a day or two and under these circumstances, a hotel is often offered, or policyholders may decide to stay with a family member to keep disruption to their lives to a minimum.
If the damage to your home is severe it may be necessary for you to vacate your home for a protracted period. If this is the case insurers will look to find you a property that you can rent for the appropriate length of time it takes to repair your home. In these instances, we would advise taking with you any passports, driving license, insurance documentation etc., that you may need access to as it may not always be possible to gain access to the property during repair works.