Appraisal is an out-of-court dispute resolution process that resolves the amount of loss with finality. In appraisal, the insurer nominates a person to serve as an appraiser, the property owner does too, and the two appraisers nominate a neutral umpire. An award signed by two of the three, or three of the three, people on the panel decide the amount of loss with finality. An overview of the process can be found here:
https://beckmannlawfirm.com/2019/12/30/the-insurance-appraisal/
So what makes a good appraiser? The central requirement is that the property owner’s appraiser can never agree to an umpire who is known to simply give insurance companies what they want. The appraiser must hold the line and only let a true neutral be the umpire. If the insurer’s appraiser refuses to agree to a true neutral, the appraiser should give the property owner the option of going to court and having a judge assign a true neutral.
Laws on the books (statutes or regulations) require an insurance policy to include language that governs the appraisal. That language includes the right of the insurer and insured to appoint appraisers, the appraisers select a neutral. When the appraisers cannot agree, the law states the property owner or insurer can go to court and get a judge to select an umpire. Therefore, a good appraiser will have the strength to only agree to a good neutral
The second requirement is that the appraiser must be persuasive – for the umpire. It does not matter if the appraiser is persuasive to you or the insurance company. They are not the decision makers. The audience that must be persuaded is the umpire. If an appraiser can persuade an umpire in the right direction the outcome can be favorable.
So how does an appraiser do that? A bull-in-the-china shop approach doesn’t usually work. First, an appraiser who simply speaks for the insured like the insured would may not actually be adhering to his or her legal requirements. Second, and more to the point of this article, such an appraiser is not persuasive. The umpire is typically a person knowledgeable in construction means and methods, what things like hail damage to shingles looks like, and is otherwise a thoughtful person. That person is only going to be persuaded by a thoughtful appraiser.
If the umpire is not thoughtful, and not going to listen to the property owner’s perspective, the battle was lost in the selection of the umpire. After umpire selection, it should be assumed the umpire is thoughtful and going to listen. An appraiser with the bull-in-a-china shop approach to being an appraiser is going to land poorly. It’s not persuasive. You judge an appraiser’s ability to persuade by judging how well the appraiser will persuade an umpire, and that umpire is almost always going to be someone that’s been around the block. A bad appraiser gets ignored. A good appraiser knows to say things that are worth listening to.
An appraiser can and should concede the obvious. If an old blemish on a shingle is clearly from foot traffic, and not hail, a good appraiser concedes the point. That builds credibility. A poor appraiser concedes nothing, and that is a perfect way for him or her to be ignored.
If you need help with the appraisal process, you email me at: ed@beckmannlawfirm.com