Donna started her own Hurricane Ian claim and was paid under her insurance claim deductible. Donna has a twenty-five-year history doing real estate and property management, plus Donna owns multiple properties she rents in the Fort Meyers area.

After numerous unsuccessful attempts to deal with her insurance company, Donna knew that she could not repair her rental property for the measly sum her insurance company offered.  That is when Donna interviewed and hired Florida Insurance Claim Appraisal to take her disputed property damage insurance claim to appraisal.

The first step was determining if Donna’s insurance policy had the necessary language to go to appraisal after it was determined that Donna’s insurance policy did have the required insurance policy language.

A letter was sent to her insurance company to re-open her closed insurance claim and request that the insurance company accept going to appraisal.  The letter had to have a detailed estimate and meet all the insurance policy provisions. The insurance company preferred to go to appraisal rather than Donna having to hire an attorney to sue her insurance carrier.

Donna waited for the twenty-day time frame to get a letter back from the insurance company agreeing to appraisal and naming the insurance company appraiser.

From that point forward, Florida Insurance Claim Appraisal handled the appraisal (Alternative dispute resolution). First, a telephone call and letter were sent to the insurance company’s appraisal representative to get attempt to get an agreement to be the named third-party referee.

This third person is known as the umpire in the appraisal process. If the two appraisers cannot agree on the amount of the damages. Then the umpire would be requested by the two appraisers to get involved in the negotiation.

The Appraisal process requires that when any two of the three-person panel agree to the amount of the loss. It is final. That means that if the two appraisers agree to a sum, there would be no need to involve the umpire. When the two appraisers cannot agree on the amount for the damages, the umpire gets involved in determining the amount of the dispute in the damages between the two appraisers. Then any two being the appraiser for either the insurance company or policyholder, and the umpire agrees to the amount of the damages. The appraisal is concluded.

When the umpire does get involved in the appraisal process, they bill hourly or lump sum for the time invested in the appraisal process. The umpire bill is split 50/50 between the insurance carrier and the policyholder.  It takes years of industry experience to be knowledgeable about the history and skill of the umpire. If the two appraisers cannot agree upon who is the named umpire. Then either the insurance company or policyholder may go before a local court judge to have the umpire named. The critical point to remember is that your appraiser needs to choose a fair and professional umpire should there be a dispute between the two appraisers.

Donna was happy with her outcome.

“Steve is the real deal. I am a local realtor with 25 years of experience in Fort Meyers. I have used another public adjuster in the past. Steve provided me with the best ongoing communications and service. Steve got me 300 times more than the insurance company offered. I would recommend hiring Steve for anybody who is looking for a professional public adjuster. He is extremely knowledgeable and takes the time to explain the process. What he promises, he delivers. I highly recommend him.”