An appraisal umpire is essentially an unbiased, competent and disinterested individual who is selected in cases where the policyholder and insurance carrier are engaged in the insurance appraisal process. An umpire is a professional who is appointed by appraisers as an impartial intervener who helps make decisions when the two appraisers reach differences. When either appraiser is in agreement with the umpire on the “amount of loss” for the damages, the decision is binding. In simplest terms, an umpire is an expert on the “amount” or “costs” for items that have suffered damage.
The Umpire ‘Clause’
The umpire clause is actually quite similar to an arbitration clause. It means that the insurance policy provides for a means of settlement or resolution of a case with the intervention of a third unbiased party. This is required when the two sides involved (the insurance company and the policyholder) are unable to agree on a fair claim amount, despite hiring independent appraisers.
Appointing An Insurance Umpire
The decision with regards to the appointment of an umpire is part of an appraisal process. It is included in most property policies, but a few insurance companies may have eliminated the clause from their policy. The cost of a lawsuit or court proceedings may actually be avoided by both parties who decide to use this process for a mutually amicable resolution of their dispute.
Most legal experts suggest that the services of an umpire possibly be utilized in every appraisal process. It is not mandatory to use their services to the fullest extent, but if hired right in the beginning, i.e. when the appraisal process is initiated, they will be ready with all details related to the insurance claim case. This makes them readily available to act in case the two appraisers are unable to settle on an agreeable amount or claim value.
Benefits To Policyholders
Many a times, the policyholders are left frustrated and with no choice but to accept the amount offered by the insurance company. It is also true that in most cases, the insurance company fails to provide a notification to the policyholders about their rights of participation in various beneficial forums such as those geared towards resolving property damage claims. So the appraisal process can actually be a very effective alternative insurance claim settlement process for the policyholder, given that it is conducted in a proper and systematic manner.
(C) Joe Brennan is President and owner/operator of Insurance Claims Group, Inc., a national independent adjusting, appraisal, and umpiring firm. We will answer your claim questions FREE as part of our FREE Insurance Advice and Insurance Claim Consulting Services.
Make the most of spring’s seasonable temperaturesandcreate a home escape strategy and practice your fire drill.
To producethe home escape proposal, createa road mapof every level of the household and draw all doors and window openings. Acknowledgea couple ofwaysfrom every room, when possible, to evacuate. Talk aboutthe plan with everyoneinside yourhouse. Wheneveroutside the house, designatea meeting place like ashrub, light pole, mailbox orfriendsproperty.
Throughout the fire drill, pushthefiresecuritykey on you alarm system. Practicegetting low, closingdoorswhile youleaverooms, and practiceexitingfrom yourresidenceswiftly. To finishyourexercise, have everyonemeet at your outdoor meeting place.
Here’s more details from The National Fire Protection Association:
“Your ability to get out depends on advance warning from smoke alarms and advance planning.
Pull together everyone in your household and make a plan. Walk through your home and inspect all possible exits and escape routes. Households with children should consider drawing a floor plan of your home, marking two ways out of each room, including windows and doors. Also, mark the location of each smoke alarm. For easy planning, download NFPA’s escape planning grid(PDF, 1.1 MB). This is a great way to get children involved in fire safety in a non-threatening way.
Install smoke alarms in every sleeping room, outside each sleeping area and on every level of the home. NFPA 72, National Fire Alarm Code® requires interconnected smoke alarms throughout the home. When one sounds, they all sound.
Everyone in the household must understand the escape plan. When you walk through your plan, check to make sure the escape routes are clear and doors and windows can be opened easily.
Choose an outside meeting place (i.e. neighbor’s house, a light post, mailbox, or stop sign) a safe distance in front of your home where everyone can meet after they’ve escaped. Make sure to mark the location of the meeting place on your escape plan.
Go outside to see if your street number is clearly visible from the road. If not, paint it on the curb or install house numbers to ensure that responding emergency personnel can find your home.
Have everyone memorize the emergency phone number of the fire department. That way any member of the household can call from a neighbor’s home or a cellular phone once safely outside.
If there are infants, older adults, or family members with mobility limitations, make sure that someone is assigned to assist them in the fire drill and in the event of an emergency. Assign a backup person too, in case the designee is not home during the emergency.
If windows or doors in your home have security bars, make sure that the bars have emergency release devices inside so that they can be opened immediately in an emergency. Emergency release devices won’t compromise your security – but they will increase your chances of safely escaping a home fire.
Tell guests or visitors to your home about your family’s fire escape plan. When staying overnight at other people’s homes, ask about their escape plan. If they don’t have a plan in place, offer to help them make one. This is especially important when children are permitted to attend “sleepovers” at friends’ homes. See NFPA’s “Sleepover fire safety for kids” fact sheet.
Be fully prepared for a real fire: when a smoke alarm sounds, get out immediately. Residents of high-rise and apartment buildings may be safer “defending in place.”
Once you’re out, stay out! Under no circumstances should you ever go back into a burning building. If someone is missing, inform the fire department dispatcher when you call. Firefighters have the skills and equipment to perform rescues.
Putting your plan to the test
Practice your home fire escape plan twice a year, making the drill as realistic as possible.
Make arrangements in your plan for anyone in your home who has a disability.
Allow children to master fire escape planning and practice before holding a fire drill at night when they are sleeping. The objective is to practice, not to frighten, so telling children there will be a drill before they go to bed can be as effective as a surprise drill.
It’s important to determine during the drill whether children and others can readily waken to the sound of the smoke alarm. If they fail to awaken, make sure that someone is assigned to wake them up as part of the drill and in a real emergency situation.
If your home has two floors, every family member (including children) must be able to escape from the second floor rooms. Escape ladders can be placed in or near windows to provide an additional escape route. Review the manufacturer’s instructions carefully so you’ll be able to use a safety ladder in an emergency. Practice setting up the ladder from a first floor window to make sure you can do it correctly and quickly. Children should only practice with a grown-up, and only from a first-story window. Store the ladder near the window, in an easily accessible location. You don’t want to have to search for it during a fire.
Always choose the escape route that is safest – the one with the least amount of smoke and heat – but be prepared to escape under toxic smoke if necessary. When you do your fire drill, everyone in the family should practice getting low and going under the smoke to your exit.
Closing doors on your way out slows the spread of fire, giving you more time to safely escape.
In some cases, smoke or fire may prevent you from exiting your home or apartment building. To prepare for an emergency like this, practice “sealing yourself in for safety” as part of your home fire escape plan. Close all doors between you and the fire. Use duct tape or towels to seal the door cracks and cover air vents to keep smoke from coming in. If possible, open your windows at the top and bottom so fresh air can get in. Call the fire department to report your exact location. Wave a flashlight or light-colored cloth at the window to let the fire department know where you are located.”
(C) Joe Brennan is President and owner/operator of Insurance Claims Group, Inc., a national independent adjusting, appraisal, and umpiring firm. We will answer your claim questions FREE as part of our FREE Insurance Advice and Insurance Claim Consulting Services.
A fire in your home is a very traumatic event. Apart from the sheer shock of the mishap, there is the damage done to your home that severely impacts you and your family members even if you have all been fortunate to escape without injuries.
One common aspect that many homeowners often overlook in the ensuing confusion is that their insurance will cover smoke damages to their home too. In effect, if a fire has erupted in your home and the resulting smoke and soot has damaged much of the interior, you will be able to make a claim with your insurer to recover a major portion of the loss you have sustained to both the building and its contents.
The kind of damage that smoke and soot can do
It is not only fire that can cause massive damage to your property. Smoke and soot can leave behind a lingering smell in your home that can cause respiratory ailments and fill air vents, insulation and other wall cavities. Staining caused by smoke/soot can be virtually impossible to get off the walls and interiors. Valuable items inside your home, such as paintings, photographs, tapestry, furniture, etc. can be irreversibly damaged by soot deposits.
Even jewelry can sustain permanent damage if it is exposed to smoke and soot. Given this, you may have sustained immense damage from the fire in your home even if much of your property has escaped being consumed by the flames.
Smoke damage coverage should be part of your home-owner’s insurance
Many homeowner’s policies include smoke damage coverage especially to cover damage that has destroyed or impacted the interiors of the property or items inside the home. Take a close look at the type of homeowner coverage you have signed up for to verify that this is indeed true in your case. If not, you may want to switch policies or add coverage for this contingency to your insurance plan before such mishaps occur.
In fact, smoke damage coverage should also cover the cost of restoring your home to its pre-fire condition. Keep in mind that cleaning up smoke and soot may require professional expertise which can cost you a pretty penny. If you have a number of valuable items in your home, such as antiques or valuable art pieces, using your insurance coverage for restoration of these assets in event of an accident is also a smart move. It’s covered… use it! That’s what you pay insurance for.
(C) Joe Brennan is President and owner/operator of Insurance Claims Group, Inc., a national independent adjusting, appraisal, and umpiring firm. We will answer your claim questions FREE as part of our FREE Insurance Advice and Insurance Claim Consulting Services.
When your possessions are lost or ruined after a fire or your home is destroyed or partially damaged, you are probably a tad emotional. That doesn’t put you in the best position to negotiate with your insurance company after filing a claim. You need someone on your side with a clear head, someone who can help you get what is rightfully yours, which you have earned from paying your insurance premiums. Insurance companies, when left to their own devices, might not always give you what you deserve. Jeff Blyskal, senior editor at Consumer Reports, says you need to be tough when you work with your insurance agent and be ready for a fight. But, why fight as the underdog when you can have an expert fight for you in an insurance dispute?
The Appraisal Clause
All homeowner’s insurance policies are different, and each state has laws that vary. However, many insurance policies have an appraisal clause, which gives you the right to file an insurance claim dispute. This clause allows you to get a second opinion on how much your home and property are worth, says Greg Hawkins, Director of Consumer Services in the Office of the Insurance Commissioner. If you think you are being short-changed to the tune of $20,000 or more, often substantially more, the service of an independent appraiser who can offer claim help will likely pay for itself many times over.
The Insurance Discrepancy
Let’s say you received bids from several contractors who all say it’ll cost about $200,000 to repair your home from fire damage. Then, your insurance company contacts you and says it will cut you a check for $80,000 to cover the repairs. That would be the time for you to start a claim dispute.
The Claim Dispute
To file a claim dispute, you need to notify your insurance company of what you intend to do in writing, ideally through certified mail. When you file, tell your insurance company that you wish to use an independent appraiser to determine the damage to your property and possessions. Understand, however, that an independent appraiser that you hire will come up with a number based on the cost to repair and replace. You should not expect a fire to become a bonanza for you, but you should expect to be made whole again.
We’re Here to Help
Your home is probably your biggest investment. You need to hire someone who is an expert in appraising property damage and understands the insurance claim dispute process. The Insurance Claims Group, Inc. is an expert in this field. We have qualified appraisers who act on your behalf when you have an insurance dispute. Call us at 919-669-9111, or visit our website at InsuranceClaimsGroup.com when you need claim help.
(C) Joe Brennan is President and owner/operator of Insurance Claims Group, Inc., a national independent adjusting, appraisal, and umpiring firm. We will answer your claim questions FREE as part of our FREE Insurance Advice and Insurance Claim Consulting Services.
Moore, Oklahoma: Helping others, providing donations, and lending a helping hand is the American Way! Ask the victims of 9/11, Hurricanes Katrina and Andrew, Joplin, MO Tornado, and of course those still in need from Super Storm Sandy, how grateful they were to receive assistance, and pure human kindness from other human beings Worldwide… Read the rest of this entry »
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(C) Joe Brennan is President and owner/operator of Insurance Claims Group, Inc., a national independent adjusting, appraisal, and umpiring firm. We will answer your claim questions FREE as part of our FREE Insurance Advice and Insurance Claim Consulting Services.
INSURANCE CLAIMS ARE DEDUCTIBLE: If you suffered a insurance loss to your property and have not been fully reimbursed by your insurance company, you can file Tax Form 4684 and deduct the loss from your taxes. And, yes, parts of your loss that is not covered by insurance is still deductible… whether you had insurance or not.
Under the law, a personal casualty loss is determined by taking the smaller of:
The cost or other basis of the property (reduced by any insurance reimbursement), or
The decline in fair market value of the property as measured immediately before and after the casualty (reduced by any insurance reimbursement) (This is the one most should use.)
The cost of repairs may, in certain cases, be used to measure the decline in fair market value, but it cannot be used by itself to determine the amount of the loss. When the cost of repairs is determined to be a fair measure of the decline in fair market value, then all you have to do is take the fair market value before the casualty and reduce it by the cost of repairs to arrive at the fair market value after the casualty.
Losses You Can Deduct: You can deduct losses of property from fire, storm, shipwreck, or other casualty, or theft (for example, larceny, embezzlement, and robbery). If your property is covered by insurance, you must file a timely insurance claim for reimbursement of your loss. Otherwise, you cannot deduct the loss as a casualty or theft loss. However, the part of the loss that is not covered by insurance is still deductible.
Related expenses: The related expenses you have due to a casualty or theft, such as expenses for the treatment of personal
injuries or for the rental of a car, are not deductible as casualty or theft losses.
Here is a link to the form. Speak with your accountant – And, if you already filed and missed this deduction, you can still amend your return. Good Luck – http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i4684.pdf
For Hurricane Sandy victims, NY State has directions on how to claim the loss on your state taxes as well (http://www.tax.ny.gov/pit/file/sandydeduction.htm). It’s not too late to file your property damage loss either – even if you have already completed your tax return. It can be amended, sometimes years after the loss took place.
(C) Joe Brennan is President and owner/operator of Insurance Claims Group, Inc., a national independent adjusting, appraisal, and umpiring firm. We will answer your claim questions FREE as part of our FREE Insurance Advice and Insurance Claim Consulting Services.
For the last few years I’ve been consulting many of my clients of the practice used by “some” insurance companies called Delay, Deny, Defend. Below is actually the “second” report Anderson Cooper has done about this topic. Although the report is about auto claims… the same holds true for home insurance claims, business claims, etc.
There is also a book titled “Delay, Deny, Defend by Feinman, Jay M. which can be purchased here. The book and videos are real eye openers… no matter which side you’re on.
The other story by Anderson Cooper was reported on the TV show “360 with Anderson Cooper”. It was reported in two parts. See them both here:
Insurance Dispute Part Two
Insurance Dispute Resolution
As stated, these stories are about auto claims, however, insurance companies use this Delay, Deny, Defend game for home insurance claims, business claims, etc.
Yes, you can dispute low-ball insurance claim estimates with your insurance carrier or adjuster. Many insureds disagree with their insurance adjuster with larger insurance claims. A clause called Appraisal is within most insurance contracts that allows you to settle your insurance dispute with your insurance company using a less costly and less time consuming process than a law suit.
(C) Joe Brennan is President and owner/operator of Insurance Claims Group, Inc., a national independent adjusting, appraisal, and umpiring firm. We will answer your claim questions FREE as part of our FREE Insurance Advice and Insurance Claim Consulting Services.
Many of my articles, posts, webpages, etc. start off with “Most people believe…”. I’ve tried to think of other ways to explain to people that things are not always as they seem – or appear as they should. Well, with insurance policies, insurance claims, and the insurance industry – many people find themselves scratching their heads with disbelief when they finally suffer damage to their property.
So, here I go again… Most people believe that when they buy insurance, they will be taken care of when, and if, a tragedy occurs. It’s really quite simple.
We purchase insurance.
We have been paying for coverage for over X-amount of years.
When we have a claim the insurance company will be eager to help us and fulfill there part of the bargain.
(C) Joe Brennan is President and owner/operator of Insurance Claims Group, Inc., a national independent adjusting, appraisal, and umpiring firm. We will answer your claim questions FREE as part of our FREE Insurance Advice and Insurance Claim Consulting Services.
Insurance Appraisal: It seems lately as more and more claims enter into appraisal, the clause is being invoke without merit. To actually qualify an insurance claim for the appraisal process there first must be a dispute over the “amount of loss”. However, only after the parties have exhausted negotiations. Read the rest of this entry »
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(C) Joe Brennan is President and owner/operator of Insurance Claims Group, Inc., a national independent adjusting, appraisal, and umpiring firm. We will answer your claim questions FREE as part of our FREE Insurance Advice and Insurance Claim Consulting Services.
An insurance dispute held up the demolition of a house destroyed by fire for over a year. Unfortunately, this type of situation can happen. In fact, some disputes can last even two to three years or longer. Even more unfortunate than the loss of the home was the loss of two family members who died in the fire.
The following story was broadcast by WRAL News on May 7, 2008 – one year to the day they covered the original story about the fire itself. This story has personal affects on me as I was the independent appraiser for the insured in this case.
WRAL News – The May 7, 2007, fire at 1884 Memorial Church Road, in Fremont, claimed the lives of Shannon Minshew and her 77-year-old, bed-ridden grandmother, Mayola Waddell. Read the rest of this entry »
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(C) Joe Brennan is President and owner/operator of Insurance Claims Group, Inc., a national independent adjusting, appraisal, and umpiring firm. We will answer your claim questions FREE as part of our FREE Insurance Advice and Insurance Claim Consulting Services.
Benefits of Umpire Services in Insurance Claims
