Appraiser Objectivity

October 2, 2017

When involved in an appraisal I have found it more and more common that the appraiser for the insurance company goes to the insurance company for instructions and directions on how to proceed with the appraisal. Additionally the appraiser uses documents and reports from the insurance company rather than determining the value of the loss himself. Does this violate the appraisal clause?

Illinois Subscriber

The appraisal clause in the homeowners policy requires that each party choose a competent and impartial appraiser. They are each to separately set the amount of the loss. The point of the appraisal process is to involve neutral parties to review the loss and establish a fair amount of the loss. I have trouble seeing how an appraiser is impartial if he is using documents from the carrier to determine the amount of loss; that is not impartial, nor is the appraiser separately setting the amount of the loss as per the policy requirements. We agree that this violates the nature of the appraisal clause.