Unallocated Loss Adjustment Expenses (ULAE) are necessary and common expenses that an insurance company must pay out in order to operate and manage their insurance business on a day-to-day basis. Unlike Allocated Loss Adjustment Expenses (ALAE), ULAE cannot be attributed to a specific claim and are typically of a more general nature. While ALAE expenses help cover the cost of what the insurance company is responsible for paying out to successfully settle a particular claim, ULAE is a necessary payment to cover administrative costs of the insurance company to help operate their daily business.

In order to manage the cost of ULAE, insurance companies maintain reserve funds for both ALAE and ULAE. It is important for the insurance company to continuously monitor and adjust these funds when necessary to ensure that all expenses are accounted for. Due to the fact that ULAE are not claim-specific, reserves for ULAE are often less accurate than for ALAE and require insurers to perform adjustments or estimates in order to remain accurate.

ULAE can include salaries, travel and expense reimbursements, office supplies, rent, legal fees and other administrative costs that may not be part of the settlement cost associated with an individual claim. ULAE can also involve more in-depth, long-term costs such as the expense associated with developing new products, upgrading computer systems and technologies, or training new personnel. Ultimately, ULAE can represent a significant and unbudgeted cost to an insurance company, one that must be monitored and managed carefully.

ULAE are ultimately an unavoidable cost of doing business for any insurance company, but can be managed and minimized with the help of reserve funds and proper monitoring by the insurer. For any company, having a clear idea of costs associated with ULAE can help them better budget for the future, ensuring that any potential unallocated loss adjustment expenses do not come as a surprise.