Appraisal Clause results in fair value for owner!

Austin made over $2200 on his total loss settlement after all was said and done on his appraisal clause case but the process isn’t always cut and dry!

Sometimes, when you invoke the appraisal clause, the two appraisers get in a sticky situation where they don’t agree and one tries to make up unwritten rules on the idea of “that is what we have always done”. 

This case was one of those. 

The owner had been through a pretty horrific hail storm and his new vehicle was totaled in the process.  When he got his offer, he felt like it was pretty low.  We took a look and agreed that his valuation contained the typical problems they normally do and seemed to be several thousand dollars off.

The Hired Gun

The appraiser hired by the carrier was stubborn from the get-go and demanded a written appraisal.

This is where many “appraisers” go wrong in the process.  They think that because Appraisal is in the title of the clause, that an appraisal is required and that could not be further from the truth.  It is always best in these situations to point to the contract language and ask for clarification as to where it says in the contract that a written appraisal is required. 

Before you can even write an appraisal, you have to agree on the methodology and what market you’re measuring!  If you just go and write an appraisal, anything can be argued because you may not be measuring the same data.  

On this case, we were happy to see the other appraiser come around to at least discussing a number they would agree to so we could also talk about our results. 

You know what the funny thing was? 

The hired gun’s number was really close to our number!

If they would have just had a discussion up front, it would have saved WEEKS worth of tit for tat and we could have had it settled fairly for both parties and moved on with life.  

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Just remember that “because this is how we have always done it” is not a good enough argument when talking about using contract language to navigate an insurance claim.

If you feel like you are getting a low offer on your total loss from your own insurance company and you want to see if we might be able to shed some light on a solution to your problem, fill out the form below for a free claim consultation today to talk one on one with our experts!

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