The insured is concerned with taking on a $56,000 expense with no guarantee that it will be reimbursed. We offered to sign the proposal (and essentially incur the expense) and submit and to Olympus and they said no, you have to prove the policyholder spent the full Cov A, B, and C amounts before that additional coverage can be triggered. I disagree, the language says "if the amount to be paid for the actual damage to the covered property". The amount actually (agreed) paid for covered property has been tendered in full. Does that not trigger the additional coverage? Seems backwards to try and force the insured to show/prove/spend their entire coverage A, B, and C limits before that coverage kicks in? You're telling me the insured is forced to go buy $417,000 worth of personal property and then show they spent however much to dispose of all of their damaged personal property and then they have access to their 5% debris removal? Doesn't sound right.

We disagree as we have been recovering debris removal payments for 20 years without meeting these newfound interpreted requirements.

Can you help me?

Florida Subscriber

E. Additional Coverages
1. Debris Removal
a. We will pay your reasonable expense for the removal of:
(1) Debris of covered property if a Peril Insured Against that applies to the damaged
property causes the loss; or 
(2) Ash, dust or particles from a volcanic eruption that has caused direct loss to a
building or property contained in a building.
This expense is included in the limit of liability that applies to the damaged property.
If the amount to be paid for the actual damage to the property plus the debris removal expense is more than the limit of liability for the damaged property, an additional 5% of that limit is available for such expense.

Part b. Of debris removal addresses fallen trees which is not an issue here. 

The Loss Settlement provisions likewise do not require expenses to be incurred before payment is made. The only section that remotely requires expenses to be incurred is part d, which refers only to Coverages A and B, and not the Additional Coverages - see pages 31 and 32.  

C. Loss Settlement
In this Condition C., the terms "cost to repair or replace" and "replacement cost" do not include the increased costs incurred to comply with the enforcement of any ordinance or law, except to the extent that coverage for these increased costs
is provided in E.11. Ordinance Or Law under Section I – Property Coverages. Covered property losses are settled as follows:
1. Property of the following types:
a. Personal property;
b. Awnings, carpeting, household appliances, outdoor antennas and outdoor equipment, whether or not attached to buildings;
c. Structures that are not buildings; and
d. Grave markers, including mausoleums;
at actual cash value at the time of loss but not more than the amount required to repair or replace.
2. Buildings covered under Coverage A or B at replacement cost without deduction for depreciation, subject to the following:

d. We will pay no more than the actual cash value of the damage until actual repair or replacement is complete. Once actual repair or replacement is complete, we will settle the loss as noted in 2.a. and b. Above.

Debris Removal is an Additional Coverage, as seen on page 23; there is no lead in language for Additional Coverages that restricts payment to expenses needing to be incurred first. Debris removal is an additional coverage - separate from the other coverages. If there were separate loss settlement provisions for debris removal, the way there are separate loss settlement provisions for Ordinance or Law or a Pair or Set, then the policy would say that directly. There is no such language, therefore debris removal should be paid.