The short version: if your home is uninhabitable, your policy owes the increase in your cost of living, hotels versus mortgage, restaurant meals versus groceries, laundry, pet boarding, and often furniture rental. It is called additional living expenses or loss of use, it is typically not capped by the dwelling limit, and carriers rarely volunteer it.
What counts
The test is the increase over your normal expenses. A hotel that costs 180 dollars a night against a 2,000 dollar mortgage and 600 dollar food budget generates a documented daily difference. Receipts decide everything; the policyholder with a shoebox recovers a fraction of the one with a spreadsheet.
The time limit trap
ALE is usually capped at a time period, often 12 to 24 months, and the clock starts at the loss, not at the start of repairs. On fire claims where rebuilds stretch, the limit becomes the battleground. Track the timeline from day one and put carrier delays in writing, because delays the carrier causes are the strongest argument for extending.