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ESA SNAP Policy Manual 148  Insurance on the structure but not separate charges on the contents, such as furniture, clothing and personal belongings (if the cost of insurance includes coverage on the structure and the contents, the entire charge may be deducted)  Costs for repair of a home that was substantially damaged or destroyed as a result of a natural disaster (i.e. fire or flood) that have yet to be reimbursed  Shelter costs associated with an unoccupied home, including homes in another state, temporarily unoccupied by the SNAP household due to employment or training away from home, illness or abandonment caused by a natural disaster or casualty loss; all shelter expenses listed in this section incurred on a temporarily unoccupied home can be counted as a shelter expense and used when calculating the household’s excess shelter deduction, provided all of the following conditions are met: − The SNAP household intends to return to the home. − The current occupants of the home, if any, are not claiming shelter costs on that home for SNAP purposes. − The home is not being leased or rented to others during the SNAP household’s absence. Example Mr. Powell was arrested and borrowed money for bail. As collateral for the loan, he used his home. Because failure to pay the loan, including interest, would result in the loss of the household’s shelter, payments on the bail loan are allowable as shelter costs.

The following expenses are not allowable:  Insurance on furniture or other personal belongings  Rental insurance  One-time deposits (i.e. security deposit)  Repairs to dwelling resulting from a disaster that have been or will be reimbursed  Amounts carried forward from past billing periods (i.e. past due amounts)  Late fees or penalties Households cannot receive credit for utility expenses for unoccupied homes when they also receive credit for utility costs for the residence they presently occupy. Shelter expenses are allowed when billed. The expenses do not have to be paid to be allowed. For example, rent that is due each month must be included in the household’s shelter costs, even if the household has not yet paid the expense. The household can elect to average recurring nonmonthly expenses or one-time expenses instead of taking the deduction in the month the expenses are billed or become due as follows:  Recurring expenses not billed monthly are averaged forward over the interval between scheduled billings or, if there is no scheduled interval, averaged forward over the period the Return