Can a Policyholder Appeal an Appraisal?

[rahulvarshney]

I have a policyholder whose appraisal process went down the toilet. The date of loss was April 20, 2012 due to hail. The policyholder hired a public insurance adjuster. After the joint inspection between the public adjuster and the claim adjuster, the insurance carrier requested an appraisal. The policyholder hired an appraiser at the recommendation of the public adjuster.

The insurance company accepted the appraisal submitted by the policyholder's appraisal.

It turns out there was an error in the appraisal submitted by the policyholder's appraiser. The resulting settlement was $4500. The property is a multi-unit commercial building. The public adjuster had told the policyholder that the damages would have been in the tens of thousands of dollars (and even suggested that perhaps damages could exceed a hundred thousand dollars ).

Can the policyholder appeal the appraisal? Is there any legal remedy?

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

~Rahul Varshney

 

[blue_wynd]

Sounds like a E & O claim on the appraiser's policy.

 

[AZDave]

Highly recommend - stay out of the middle of this one. Any insured that hires a public adjuster is a problem, or their is a problem with the claim, no doubt.

Most likely we don't know all the facts.

If you want to get involved and be the hero, read the policy. Without the specific policy form issued, not able to answer your question.

Dave

 

[J9anglica]

Is this true? If conflicting estimates differ only in the prices of materials and labor, an experienced panel can pick reasonably accurate figures and settle the dispute

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I've search many sites related to this.. Its great to learn it from your sites

 

[Theinsuranceguys]

I would be inclined to believe that the client would need to take action against the appraiser. It was an appraiser he hired not someone sent by the insurance company.

 

[djs]

I don't even begin to understand the issue here. How is an appraiser involved in a claim? What kind of mistake did he make that caused this type of settlement difference without someone raising a big flag to it being wrong?

Let me just say there is a reason to suspect there is a LOT more to this story then meets the eye from what is presented here.

That said, if the settlement is wrong, then yes, you can get another appraisal. You then have to convince the insurance carrier that a mistake was made and that this isn't an attempt to just get more money. Sometimes easy, usually a bit of a challenge, sometimes almost impossible.

Now, the problem is did the adjuster say the repairs would be in the 10's of thousands, or that the damage from the loss was in the 10's of thousands. People mis-hear this all the time and is frequently 2 different things. Repair costs can exceed the value of the loss because you end up having to repair stuff that isn't part of the loss.

I still don't understand how an appraisal comes into play on this unless it was a total (or near total) loss.

Dan

 

[Milkman1265]

is the appraiser and the public adjuster the same person?

it sounds like he recommended another person from your post. But anyways doesnt the public adjuster, figure out the damage and repair value for you not an appraiser?

public adjuster does the same thing the independent adjuster does but just give you their values vs the independent. Then they go battle it out and figure out which one they agree on and then the claims guy will pay out whats agreed on.

if the public adjuster and the appraisal guy is the same person, why did he say it can cost 10-100k in damage but you guys agreed on the 4500?