Tennessee is a beautiful state. The powers that be even gave me a license to ply my trade in the Volunteer State. I was recently researching whether causation can be determined by an appraisal panel in Tennessee.
Continue Reading Causation in Appraisal—What is The Causation Rule in Tennessee Appraisals?
When the policyholder and insurance company disagree concerning the amount of a loss, the policyholder may submit a written demand for appraisal pursuant to the terms of their insurance policy.
Continue Reading Insurance Appraisals in Arizona
Colorado protects its policyholders as well as any other jurisdiction in the United States.1 Most policyholder advocates are familiar with Colorado’s statutory bad faith claims that give policyholders a fighting chance against insurance carrier’s malfeasance. Whether it is incompetence or intentional, claim results are often unreasonable and policyholders are harmed with few remedies to make them whole.
Continue Reading Colorado Insurance Companies Do Not Have a “Get Out of Jail Free Card” For Delayed and Underpayments Following Appraisal
Occasionally, an attorney representing an insured will run into a Motion to Compel Appraisal filed by the carrier’s attorney. Upon receipt of the motion, a few considerations must be made with the most important being:
Recent trends of insurers revising the appraisal provisions in insurance policies have clouded the original effect of the appraisal process as an alternative dispute resolution process in lieu of litigation. For many years the insurers reaped a benefit of an appraisal award as a bar to the insured’s breach of contract case after payment of the award pursuant to the policy’s appraisal provision.
Continue Reading Clear Waters of Texas Appraisals – Prompt Payment Claim After Appraisal
If you watched our Coronavirus Coverage discussion, you would never forget the answer to the title question of this post. Property insurance claims and analysis can be a lot of fun when you are passionate and knowledgeable about it. There are always questions that arise from unique circumstances of loss and changing policy language which may afford or may not afford coverage.
Continue Reading Tuesdays at 2 with Chip Merlin—What Does a Cat on a Toilet Have to Do with Property Insurance?
The next Tuesdays at 2 With Chip Merlin will discuss the topic of umpire selection during a property insurance claim appraisal. This appraisal topic came about from questions written to us following last week’s discussion.
Continue Reading How Do You Properly Select and Vet an Umpire For An Insurance Appraisal? Tuesday at 2 with Chip Merlin Will Discuss This Important Topic
The appraisal process is a lot different today than in 1983, when I first started as a lawyer in this property insurance claim business. I can hear most of the people reading this blog either thinking or saying, “No joke, Chip. I was not even born or out of high school in 1983.” But if you do not know where appraisal has come from, how can you tell if a trend is meaningful in what you do for a living?
Continue Reading The Changing Appraisal Landscape: Developing Trends Of Appraisal Throughout The Country—Tune in For Tuesdays at 2 With Chip Merlin, on Facebook Livestream
Have you ever asked somebody if they can see “the handwriting on the wall?”1 You do not need to be a legal eagle to anticipate the probable outcome of this blog’s title question while reading the lower Florida appellate court’s ruling2 and how it phrased the certified question to the Florida Supreme Court:
Continue Reading Can the Public Adjuster on a Contingent Fee Act As the Appraiser?
My New York colleague, Jonathan Wilkofsky, not long ago wrote a third edition to his book about appraisal, The Law and Procedure of Insurance Appraisal. If the appraisal cases in Florida and Colorado keep up at their frantic pace of publication, he is certainly going to have a fourth edition in the near future. A recent Florida case concerned the common issue of whether appraisal is appropriate to determine whether a roof can be repaired with matching shingles.1
Continue Reading Is Appraisal Appropriate to Determine If the Policyholder Is Entitled to Matching Shingles or a New Roof Replacement?