Property Insurance Appraisal: Is Determining Causation Essential to Evaluating the Amount of Loss

“The appraisal procedure has been utilized in property insurance cases for decades. The issue of whether or not to allow the determination of causation in the appraisal process is a relatively recent dispute in the property insurance context.

Allowing the determination of causation in the appraisal process has significant effects on the resolution of property insurance disputes and can conserve both judicial resources and costs to the insured and insurance company.

Only twenty-eight states currently have case law addressing the issue of determining causation in a property appraisal. Of the states that have considered the matter, the states are slightly in favor of the determination of causation.

Analyzing the justifications for and against allowing the appraisal panel to determine causation will assist other courts in addressing this issue.”