Appraisal is a process the policy already provides for. Invoking it does not need a lawyer, a form, or the carrier's permission. It needs a clear head about what kind of disagreement you have, a competent appraiser, and a letter sent the right way. Here is the order of operations.
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1
Confirm the disagreement is about the amount
Appraisal settles how much a covered loss costs. Check the carrier’s letters: if it has accepted the claim and paid something, or issued an estimate you disagree with, you have an amount dispute. If it has denied the claim, you have a coverage dispute and need a different path.
Read the carrier's letters, not the phone calls. Look for the words accepted, covered, payment or estimate, which signal an amount dispute, and for denied, excluded, not covered or reservation of rights, which signal a coverage dispute. A partial payment is an acceptance of coverage for what was paid.
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2
Find the appraisal clause in your policy
Open the policy jacket, not the declarations page. Look for the conditions section, and under it a paragraph headed Appraisal. Note the deadlines it sets, who chooses the umpire, and the standard it uses for appraisers.
If you cannot find the policy jacket, ask your agent or the carrier for a certified copy of the policy in force on the date of loss. You are entitled to it. Do not rely on a summary or a portal excerpt; get the printed conditions.
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3
Check your state’s rules and your suit deadline
Find the suit-limitation period in your policy and count forward from the date of loss. In most states appraisal does not pause it. Then read your state’s page on this site: a few states run on different clocks, require registered appraisers, or make appraisal consensual.
Three groups of states need particular care. Arkansas, Nebraska and South Dakota do not allow appraisal to be demanded; it must be agreed. Louisiana and Iowa require appraisers and umpires to be registered or licensed. Alaska gives ten days, not twenty, to name an appraiser, and Massachusetts runs a different procedure altogether. Every state's page is here.
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4
Choose a competent and impartial appraiser
Choose someone who can prepare a defensible line-by-line estimate and who has no stake in the outcome. Not your contractor, and not anyone paid a percentage of the claim. Confirm they are available and, where required, registered or licensed in your state.
Ask any prospective appraiser three questions: how they are paid, whether they have any relationship with the carrier or with anyone else on the claim, and how many appraisals they have completed in your state. If the answer to the first is a percentage of the award, keep looking.
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5
Send the written demand
Write to the carrier at the address in the policy. State that you and the carrier have failed to agree on the amount of loss, that you demand appraisal under the policy’s appraisal condition, and name your appraiser with their contact details. Send it by certified mail with return receipt and keep a copy.
A sample letter is below. Keep it short. The demand does not argue the claim; it invokes the clause and names your appraiser. Attach nothing except, if you like, a copy of the clause itself.
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6
The carrier names its appraiser
Under most forms the carrier has twenty days to name a competent and impartial appraiser of its own. If it does not, or refuses, your appraiser and, if needed, an attorney can ask a court to compel appraisal in most states.
Some carriers respond by asking for a proof of loss, an examination under oath, or more documents before appraisal. Those are separate conditions in the policy, and in some states a carrier can insist they be completed first. Comply with them promptly and in writing; do not let them run out the clock.
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7
The appraisers choose an umpire
The two appraisers usually have fifteen days to agree on an umpire. If they cannot, either party may ask a judge of a court of record where the property sits to appoint one. Many appraisals never need the umpire to act, but one is chosen early so the panel is complete.
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8
Inspection, estimates and negotiation
Both appraisers inspect the property, usually together, and each prepares an itemized estimate. They then work through the differences line by line. Everything they agree on is settled. Only the remaining items go to the umpire.
This is the part that decides the outcome. It is not a hearing and there is rarely testimony. It is two professionals working through a spreadsheet of the repair, item by item, with photographs, measurements and pricing. What cannot be settled is written up and sent to the umpire with each side's position.
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9
The award
The amount agreed by any two of the three is written up as an award and signed. Under most forms the carrier must pay within a set period after the award is filed, commonly sixty days, less what it has already paid and subject to the deductible and policy limits.
Read the award carefully before signing anything else. It should state the amount of loss, often broken into replacement cost and actual cash value, and it may itemize. Keep a copy with your policy. The carrier's payment, less prior payments and the deductible, follows under the policy's loss payment condition.
A sample demand letter
Adapt the bracketed parts. Send it to the claims address in your policy, by certified mail with return receipt, and by email to the adjuster if you have an address. Keep the receipt with your file.
[Date]
[Insurance company name]
[Claims department address from the policy]
Re: Policy No. [number] · Claim No. [number] · Insured: [your name] · Loss location: [address] · Date of loss: [date]
To whom it may concern:
You and I have failed to agree on the amount of loss for the claim referenced above. Under the Appraisal condition of the policy, I demand an appraisal of the loss.
I have chosen as my competent and impartial appraiser:
[Appraiser name]
[Company]
[Address]
[Telephone] · [Email]
Please provide the name and contact information of the appraiser you choose within the time the policy allows, so that the two appraisers may select an umpire.
Nothing in this demand waives any right under the policy or applicable law, and this demand does not concede any position on coverage.
Sincerely,
[Your name]
[Your address] · [Telephone] · [Email]
This letter is a template, not legal advice. If your claim has been denied, if the suit-limitation deadline is close, or if you are already in litigation, talk to an attorney before sending anything.