The wildfires that engulfed parts of Gatlinburg and Sevier County, Tenn., in late November have left behind an estimated 1,700 damaged or destroyed structures. Because Tennessee is a valued policy state, the adjusting for some of these buildings may be different than in a non-valued policy state.

 Property policies generally use one of two methods for determining the value of a loss: actual cash value or replacement cost.

 Actual cash value is usually the standard for determining the amount of insurance needed, the amount of loss to be paid, and the amount upon which any coinsurance or similar requirement will be based. In general, the principle that actual cash value means replacement cost of the property at the time of loss less depreciation, long accepted in insurance circles, is being replaced through case law and state legislation by the broad evidence rule. This rule means that the determination of the actual cash value of any property should include all relevant evidence an expert would use to set the value of the property, including replacement cost less depreciation and fair market value.