An appraisal from hell
October 18th, 2016
So, last week I was in Jacksonville handling an appraisal, representing the insured at the request of the contractor. The rebuild estimate from the carrier was $6K and the contractor estimate $26K. The carrier’s examiner acknowledged that maybe that their was light and offered $20K with no re inspection. Ok but still to low so we proceeded to appraisal. The examiner named their appraiser for both the rebuild and the water mitigation.
This was the 2nd appraisal I had with this appraiser. He was running his own firm that he had taken over from his family. I guess I will always have to work hard compared to some to bring in clients as he is a little spoiled with a ready made company handed to him (sour grapes on my part). (THE DIG HERE IS NOT APPROPRIATE FOR AN ARTICLE) FUNNY BUT NOT A GOOD FEED FOR CLIENTS TO READ!
Anyways, the first appraisal did not go well, as I was a little aggressive, as I allowed him to irritate me. That’s on me. This time around I started communicating in a professional and friendly manner and we agreed upon a good and fair umpire. When it came to dates I was unable to accommodate the date he wanted as this is a day I spend the afternoon with my kids doing after school stuff. I was blown away by how rude and antagonistic he became about that one date when I gave him the 2 days before and after of the same week and the following week. I can’t inspect on Wednesdays late mornings 2 hours from my office and that’s all there is to that.
We agreed on a date but there was so much controversy between both of us. He said let’s have the umpire there also because of the way the last appraisal went. I said if that was the way he felt ok. Again, much nastiness that was not necessary. The umpire asked for us to confirm our appointment 3 times that he was needed and I responded yes. The day before the scheduled meeting the opposing appraiser decided no he was not needed. To late, was my response because of his attitude towards me he would not be fair to the insured. I hate it when I am so right but I was 100% as his entire focus was to pick apart the mitigation estimate and not even measure the rooms or cabinets that were damaged.
So we get there and we are standing in the driveway with the insured waiting for the umpire when he starts verbally attacking me and the mitigation estimate. I asked him to please refrain from being adversarial. His answer to me was no this is how appraisal works. I was blown away and once again asked him to stop as the umpire was showing up and he would handle this. Inside, in front of the insured, he was so nasty and insisted on pushing my buttons. I once again warned him to stop as I was starting to get upset. When he would not stop my sparkling personality started to come out he folded like a cheap deck of cards and did not want to play anymore.
There was some more controversy as he did not want to appraise the rebuild and wanted to re adjust the mitigation portion only. I said he is to appraise the rebuild also. He sent me a nasty gram that I can not tell him what to appraise and what not. After the two altercations and nothing resolved, I contacted the examiner at the carrier to explained their appraiser did not want to appraise the rebuild and remind her that she was the person who told me he was their named appraiser for both estimates. The appraiser then accused me of trying to bias the panel by contacting the examiner and actually CC’d her in that email. Seriously you accuse me of trying to bias the panel and CC the carrier examiner. I am not the sharpest tool in the shed but…….
I am shocked by the new caliber of adjusters and appraisers out there. They are not so concerned with what’s right as what the carrier wants from them or their perception. I can’t tell how many times I am told I get my marching orders from the carrier, of course verbally. I can say this much as I also do appraisals for a few different carriers but have the fortune no to be dictated to how I handle those appraisals. I am completely left alone to do my job. Here let me brag a little bit, I am fortunate enough to be able to pick and choose who I work for.
I went on this opposing appraisers profile and saw that he indicated he does appraisals for complex claims and in the appraisal process “uses his expertise to adjudicate to deliver best practices”. Hey bud read below as that’s not what appraisal is about;
“Claims adjudication” is a phrase used in the insurance industry to refer to the process of paying claims submitted or denying them after comparing claims to the benefit or coverage requirements.
Peace to all
Gordon Cohen
General Building Consultants