Is homeowners insurance responsible for motel expenses of the caregiver of a demented person in the case of a fire in which the home is completely uninhabitable?
No. I had a client in exactly this situation. They had a fire. I was their caregiver. The homeowner insurance will not pay for caregiver wages. They will also not pay for the caregiver to be put up in a hotel so they can care for their client. My clients had to go into a nursing home and I was out of work for over a month. Don't expect a caregiver to take care of a demented elder in a hotel. Find a nursing home for them to go to. What the insurance will pay for is a respite stay in a nursing home until the house is fixed. If it is beyond repair they will pay out what it's insured for and the homeowner will have to so somewhere else.
How was the fire caused? Do you have a parent living with you and they set the fire or visa versa, you living with them and now you have no place to go?
Like said, you need to call the Homeowners insurance and find this out. I know a couple where there was a fire and the insurance company placed a trailer on the property they could live in while work was being done on the house.
If you find that a hotel is not covered, go to Social Services and see if they can help with temporary housing. Red Cross, the United Way and Salvation Army may be able to help.
Have you checked the terms and conditions of your policy? Or contacted your insurance agent? That's really the best place for you to get your answer.
I expect some policies would cover living expenses, but they are likely more expensive than those that wouldn't. But I don't think that a homeowner's policy would *automatically* cover motel expenses, just as auto insurance policies don't automatically cover rental car expenses should you get into an accident and are without your car while it's being repaired.
I sincerely hope you are asking this just to prepare for such an emergency, and not that this has already happened to you.
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The homeowner insurance will not pay for caregiver wages. They will also not pay for the caregiver to be put up in a hotel so they can care for their client. My clients had to go into a nursing home and I was out of work for over a month.
Don't expect a caregiver to take care of a demented elder in a hotel. Find a nursing home for them to go to.
What the insurance will pay for is a respite stay in a nursing home until the house is fixed. If it is beyond repair they will pay out what it's insured for and the homeowner will have to so somewhere else.
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Like said, you need to call the Homeowners insurance and find this out. I know a couple where there was a fire and the insurance company placed a trailer on the property they could live in while work was being done on the house.
If you find that a hotel is not covered, go to Social Services and see if they can help with temporary housing. Red Cross, the United Way and Salvation Army may be able to help.
I expect some policies would cover living expenses, but they are likely more expensive than those that wouldn't. But I don't think that a homeowner's policy would *automatically* cover motel expenses, just as auto insurance policies don't automatically cover rental car expenses should you get into an accident and are without your car while it's being repaired.
I sincerely hope you are asking this just to prepare for such an emergency, and not that this has already happened to you.