BUSINESS AND MONEY
Key Takeaways
- Independent appraisals increase property insurance settlements by an average of 33.87% above initial carrier offers.
- Across closed claims analyzed, policyholders recovered an additional $182,532 through the appraisal process—an average of $16,594 per claim.
- Insurance-hired appraisal firms consistently undervalued claims across all carriers examined, with undervaluation rates ranging from 9% to 74%.
- 100% of cases that invoked the appraisal clause resulted in settlements exceeding the initial insurance company offer.
- The median settlement increase was 38%, indicating the pattern holds beyond outliers.
Motivation
When insurance companies and policyholders disagree about the value of property damage, most policies contain an “appraisal clause” that provides binding dispute resolution without litigation. Despite being a contractual right, a small minority of policyholders invoke this provision when disputing claim valuations.
Insurance carriers hire appraisal firms to assess damage and determine settlement amounts. However, anecdotal evidence suggests these firms may systematically undervalue claims due to repeat business relationships with carriers.
We seek to quantify the financial impact of independent appraisals versus insurance-hired appraisals, and to evaluate whether patterns of undervaluation exist across carriers and appraisal firms.
Results
We find that independent appraisals consistently produce higher settlements than initial insurance company offers. Across all cases examined,…
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