If the insurance company’s estimate doesn’t match what the repairs actually cost, you have more options than most people realize. These are the questions property owners, contractors and attorneys ask us most.
You have options beyond accepting the offer or suing. Most property policies include an appraisal clause — a built-in process for settling a disagreement over the amount of a covered loss. You hire an independent appraiser, the carrier names theirs, and if the two cannot agree a neutral umpire decides. It is binding, and it is typically far faster and cheaper than litigation.
If the dispute is about the dollar amount rather than whether the damage is covered, appraisal is usually the right tool and it does not require an attorney. You invoke the appraisal clause in writing, name your appraiser, and the process runs from there. If the carrier is denying coverage outright, that is a legal question and you will want a lawyer — appraisal only resolves the amount.
It depends on the size and complexity of the loss and the role being filled. Appraisal and umpire work is typically billed hourly or as a flat fee agreed up front — never as a percentage of the settlement. Tell us about the file and we will quote it before any work begins.
Not necessarily. Accepting an undisputed partial payment does not always waive your right to pursue the remaining amount, and supplemental claims are routine when additional damage is found. Policies do carry deadlines for invoking appraisal and for suit, so the sooner you look at it the more options you have.
Nearly every property insurance policy contains an appraisal clause. When the policyholder and the carrier agree a loss is covered but disagree on the amount, either side can invoke appraisal. Each party selects an independent appraiser, the two appraisers value the loss, and if they cannot agree they submit the differences to a neutral umpire. It resolves the number without litigation.
The umpire is the neutral third party. When the two appraisers cannot reach agreement, the umpire reviews both positions, evaluates the documentation and scope, and issues a written award. An award agreed to by the umpire and either appraiser is binding on both parties, which closes the file for good.
Most appraisals resolve in weeks rather than the months or years litigation takes. A straightforward residential loss can close in three to six weeks. Large commercial and multi-building losses take longer, because the inspection work itself is longer.
Appraisal settles the amount of loss only. If the carrier denies that the damage is covered at all, or disputes liability or policy interpretation, appraisal cannot decide that — those are coverage questions for an attorney or a court.
No. A public adjuster represents the policyholder against the carrier and typically works on a percentage of the settlement. Wilderness Adjusting is an independent firm — appraiser, umpire, estimator, expert witness and independent adjuster — and we take only one role on any given claim. That independence is what makes the estimate defensible to whoever reviews it.
No — they are unrelated professions. A real estate appraiser estimates what a property is worth to buy or sell, usually for a mortgage. An insurance appraiser determines the cost to repair or replace damage after a loss, under the terms of an insurance policy. Wilderness Adjusting does the second: we value damage and repair scope on property claims, not market value.
Yes, and we do — but never on the same claim, and never in more than one role on a single file. Property owners, associations and attorneys retain us; so do carriers and IA firms. Taking work from both sides over time is normal for independents and appraisers, and it is part of why the opinion carries weight.
Xactimate® is the estimating platform nearly every insurance carrier uses to review and settle property claims. Estimates submitted in other formats often cannot be reconciled against the carrier’s own numbers, so they stall the file. Writing in Xactimate means the carrier can read the estimate line for line and respond to it directly.
Wilderness Adjusting is based in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and also handles appraisal and umpire work in New York. We are licensed in Florida, Indiana, North Carolina and Texas, and available in non-licensing states. Pennsylvania and New Jersey do not require an adjuster license. Catastrophe deployments and large commercial losses regularly involve travel.
Yes — New York appraisal and umpire assignments. Appraisal and umpire work are contractual roles created by the policy rather than adjusting, so they are available across the region.
Yes. A hundred-unit community is a hundred inspections and one claim. We assess the full property — roofs, building envelopes, common elements and unit interiors — building by building, and consolidate everything into a single documented scope the association’s board, manager and carrier can all work from.
Yes. When a property claim becomes a case, we review the claim file, analyze causation, document the damage independently, prepare written reports and opinions, and testify in deposition or at trial. We are retained by both policyholder counsel and defense counsel.
Yes — daily, catastrophe and overflow claims, plus estimate-only assignments written from your field notes and photographs to your guidelines and price list.
No obligation — we’ll tell you honestly whether appraisal is the right route for your file, even when the answer is no.