Starting out
How to Get Corporate Housing Clients: 9 Channels That Work
Where corporate housing clients come from: relocation companies, HR and travel teams, hospitals and staffing agencies, insurers, government, universities and more.
Insurance displacement is one of the steadiest sources of corporate housing demand, and one of the most demanding. The family did not plan the trip, the end date depends on a contractor, and the bill goes to an insurance company. Here is how it works and what it takes.
What ALE is
Many homeowner's policies include "loss of use" coverage, and part of it is additional living expense: the extra cost of living somewhere else while the home is repaired. Renter's and condo policies often include something similar. The coverage has limits, in dollars, in time or both, and it pays for costs above the family's normal living expenses.
Who books the stay
- Insurance adjusters, who handle the claim and approve the housing budget.
- Temporary housing placement firms, which work for insurers, find suitable housing and manage the stay on the insurer's behalf.
- The policyholder, sometimes, who books and is reimbursed.
For most operators, the placement firms and adjusters are the clients to know. Getting approved as a supplier looks a lot like it does with relocation companies: W-9, certificate of insurance, rates, photos and terms.
What these stays look like
| Typical insurance stay | |
|---|---|
| Start | Urgent, often within a day or two |
| Who stays | Families, often with children and pets |
| Where | Close to the damaged home, the school and work |
| Size | Often houses or larger apartments, not one-bedrooms |
| Length | Unknown at the start; follows the repair schedule |
| Ends | When the home is ready, or when coverage runs out |
| Paid by | The insurer, directly or through a placement firm |
What it takes to win
- Speed. Answer within the hour, and have units that can be ready fast.
- Pet-friendly inventory. Displaced families rarely leave the dog behind.
- Family-sized units. Three and four bedrooms, houses and townhomes are in demand.
- Flexible end dates. Repairs slip. Extensions should be a reply, not a negotiation.
- Clean invoicing. The claim number on every invoice, billed the way the carrier or placement firm wants it.
- Calm service. These families have just lost their home for a while. Small kindnesses matter.
Running the stay
Set up the payer as a client. The insurer or placement firm is the corporate client; the family is the resident. Put the claim number on the booking (the PO number field works well) so it flows onto every invoice.
Agree the terms in writing. Rate, deposit or damage responsibility, pet rules, notice for the end of the stay, and what happens if coverage ends before the repairs do.
Plan for extensions. Ask for updates on the repair schedule, and confirm extensions with the adjuster before the end date.
Document the unit. Families with children and pets mean more wear. Move-in and move-out inspections with photos keep charges fair.
How Staylio helps
In Staylio, the carrier or placement firm is a corporate client with its contacts and credit terms, the family is the resident, the claim number rides on the booking, extensions regenerate the invoices, and the client sees its invoices in its own portal.
Frequently asked questions
What is ALE in insurance?
Additional living expense coverage. It is part of the loss of use coverage in many homeowner's, condo and renter's policies, and pays the extra cost of living elsewhere, including temporary housing, while a home is repaired after a covered loss.
How long do insurance housing stays last?
As long as repairs take, within the policy's limits. That can be a few weeks for minor damage or many months after a major fire or storm. Extensions are common.
How do corporate housing providers get insurance placements?
By getting approved as a supplier with the temporary housing placement firms that work for insurers, and by building relationships with local adjusters. Speed, pet-friendly and family-sized units, and clean invoicing win repeat placements.