The appraisal clause

The appraisal clause in your homeowners policy: the amount fight's built-in referee.

Buried in your policy's conditions is a procedure almost no denial letter mentions: when you and the insurer disagree about the amount of a loss, either side can demand an appraisal — a structured, binding process with a clock. Carriers don't advertise it. Roofers, adjusters, and lawyers know it exists. Now you do too.

The clause, in the standard form's own words

"If you and we fail to agree on the amount of loss, either may demand an appraisal of the loss. In this event, each party will choose a competent and impartial appraiser within 20 days after receiving a written request from the other. The two appraisers will choose an umpire. If they cannot agree upon an umpire within 15 days, you or we may request that the choice be made by a judge of a court of record… A decision agreed to by any two will set the amount of loss."

Standard ISO HO-3 appraisal condition, as quoted by practitioner sources (checked Oct 20, 2026). Your policy's wording controls — read your conditions section for its exact version, including any state amendments.

The clock card

Step	Clock	What happens
You (or the insurer) send a written demand for appraisal	Day 0	The demand must be in writing; keep the dated copy
Each side names its appraiser	Within 20 days of the written request	Your appraiser is your cost — a contractor, a former adjuster, a public adjuster working the appraisal only
The two appraisers pick an umpire	Within 15 days	If they can't agree, a judge of a court of record picks
Decision	—	Any two of the three (your appraiser, theirs, the umpire) set the amount of loss. Umpire cost is split.

What appraisal can and cannot do

Can: set the amount of loss — scope, pricing, depreciation figures — bindingly, without court.
Cannot: decide coverage. Appraisal answers "how much," never "whether." A claim denied on coverage grounds must be appealed (or litigated) on the coverage question; appraisal is for the amount fights — the lowballed settlement, the partial scope, the depreciation number.
Cost shape: you pay your own appraiser; the umpire's fee is split. Whether that's worth it is math: the cost page runs it.
Timing: invoke it while the other clocks are protected — the demand doesn't stop your suit deadline or your depreciation deadline unless your policy says so. Calendar everything together (the kit's deadline worksheet does).

Run your own numbers. The free checker takes your state, your dates, and the figures on the insurer's estimate — and returns the dollars still held back, your real deadline, and the next document to send. Run the checker →

The working papers for this fight

The pages above are the map. The kit is the paperwork: the proof packet that releases the money, the letters that protect the clocks, and the complaint pack for when the stall continues.

Included in the $39 DepreciationDecoded Kit

The appraisal demand letter plus the clock card: written demand, each side's appraiser within 20 days, the umpire in 15, any two decide — what appraisal can fix (the amount) and what it cannot (a coverage denial)
The supplement request pack: how to document missed line items and code-required items, catch depreciation applied twice to the same line, and argue overhead and profit on multi-trade jobs — in the estimate's own line-item language
The deadline calendar worksheet: notice date, completion date, living-expense end, suit deadline — your dates entered once, every clock on one page

Get the $39 DepreciationDecoded Kit

One payment, yours to keep. We never ask you to upload your policy — you file everything yourself. See everything inside the kit →

The appraisal clause in your homeowners policy: the amount fight's built-in referee.

The clause, in the standard form's own words

The clock card

What appraisal can and cannot do

The working papers for this fight

Included in the $39 DepreciationDecoded Kit

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