Appraisals 101

So what is an Insurance Appraisal?

It's your right. Most policies offer insurance appraisal as an "alternative settlement resolution."

It's buried deep within your policy, so the everyday person doesn't even know it exists.

An appraisal is meant to spare both you and your insurance company the cost of hiring an attorney.*

Appraisal FAQs

Your right to a fair appraisal.

...it's stated in the policy.*

Policy Language*

E. Appraisal

If you and we fail to agree on the amount of loss, either may demand an appraisal of the loss. In this event, each party will choose a competent and impartial appraiser within 20 days after receiving a written request from the other. The two appraisers will choose an umpire. If they cannot agree upon an umpire within 15 days, you or we may request that the choice be made by a judge of a court of record in the state where the "residence premises" is located.

The appraisers will separately set the amount of loss. If the appraisers submit a written report of an agreement to us, the amount agreed upon will be the amount of loss. If they fail to agree, they will submit their differences to the umpire. A decision agreed to by any two will set the amount of loss.

Each party will:

Pay its own appraiser; and
Bear the other expenses of the appraisal and umpire equally.*

What to expect.

Once your insurance company invokes the process of appraisal:

Like you already did, your insurance company, or "carrier," should also name an appraiser to represent their side.
From there, the process will remain closed and impartial, without any unneeded intervention from you or the carrier.
Before beginning, both appraisal parties will agree to an "umpire." This is a 3rd-party individual whom we may call upon in the event of a disagreement in value.
First, a field inspector from Property Insurance Experts will run a thorough initial inspection to document any damage inside or outside your home.
Next, an appraiser from Property Insurance Experts will meet on-site with your carrier's appraiser for a follow-up inspection. We'll walk them through the damages we found during our first visit.
Then, Property Insurance Experts will wrap up your full appraisal report and send it to your carrier's appraiser for review.
The carrier's appraiser will typically then submit his or her report to us within a couple weeks.
From there, we will attempt to negotiate and agree on a fair valuation.
If we cannot come to an agreement, we will then opt to invoke the "umpire" to help us settle your valuation.
Once the umpire reviews all details presented from both parties, he or she will sign off on a final ruling on the valuation of your loss.
The appraisal award is finalized as soon as one (or both) appraisers sign the umpire's final award, as well.
The appraisal award will then be forwarded to you and your carrier, and once validated, the carrier will remit your appraisal settlement within a month.

Learn More

Most homeowners don't know the ins and outs of their right to a fair appraisal.*

Click below for some of our clients' most Frequently Asked Questions.