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Baselines5 min read
Normal expense baselines explained
A single daily spending figure flattens the claim. Category-level baselines capture the realities a blunt number misses.
The normal expense baseline is the foundation of every ALE claim, because ALE pays the additional cost over normal. Some tools reduce the baseline to a single 'normal daily spending' figure. It's simple, but it flattens important realities — and it can understate or overstate the additional depending on the category.
Why category-level beats a daily figure
Carrier worksheets generally work category by category. A category-level baseline mirrors that structure and lets you defend each line on its own terms.
- Normal groceries and normal meals out
- Normal electric, gas/fuel, water/sewer, cable/internet
- Normal transportation and fuel
- Normal laundry / dry cleaning
- Normal pet, housekeeping, and recurring fixed costs
How to establish a baseline
Build baselines from evidence where possible: prior bank and credit-card statements, prior utility bills, and a guided questionnaire for categories without clean records. The more the baseline rests on documents rather than recollection, the harder it is to discount.
Educational content only. This is not legal advice or a guarantee of coverage; final coverage and payment decisions depend on the policy, facts of loss, carrier review, and the public adjuster's professional judgment.
Put this into practice with LossLedger.
Baselines, monthly reconciliation, and carrier-ready reports — built for public adjusters.