By SPJ Adjusting Services | Insurance Appraisals
The Texas insurance appraisal process is one of the most misunderstood and most debated parts of a property insurance policy. Across Texas, policyholders and insurance professionals repeatedly ask the same question when navigating the Texas insurance appraisal process: should appraisers determine the amount of loss before an umpire is selected?
In practice, the Houston or Texas insurance appraisal process often unfolds very differently than policy language suggests, especially in complex hail, hurricane, and commercial property claims.
Should appraisers commence the amount of loss determination prior to an umpire being selected?
While most policy forms require the appraisers to choose an umpire first, many Texas claims professionals wonder whether that sequence still makes sense in today’s world of complex hail losses, large commercial disputes, and lengthy delays in selecting an umpire.
From SPJ Adjusting’s experience of working appraisals across Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, Austin, Lubbock, and the West Texas oil corridor, the answer isn’t as simple as the policy language suggests.
Why Policies Traditionally Require Early Umpire Selection
Historically, the forms of insurance policies were drawn up so that appraisers would select an umpire before anything else was done. The reasoning was not for efficiency, but preparation. An early-selected umpire in large or technical losses can be prebriefed on the subject, monitor the process, and keep himself informed rather than being thrown a stack of documents months later.
In Texas, where hailstorms and hurricane losses can involve dozens of buildings, code-upgrade disputes, engineering reports, and competing scope opinions, engaging an umpire early can prevent misunderstandings and hasten the final resolution.
But Is Early Umpire Selection Always Practical?
Not really, especially in Texas.
In so many cases, the biggest delay in an appraisal isn’t over the valuation work itself; it’s over the fight about the umpire. Getting an umpire agreed upon-or appointed by the court-can take months. Some cases drag into a yearlong standoff.
Meanwhile, the roofs keep leaking, businesses remain underpaid, and the policyholders wait.
This has led some carriers-such as new State Farm policies-to require the appraisers to try to resolve the differences prior to selecting an umpire at all. Although the reasoning behind the change has not been publicly explained, it reflects the growing recognition that forcing early selection of an umpire may actually delay the process rather than benefit it.
Texas insurance appraisal process: Can Appraisers Resolve Issues Without an Umpire? Absolutely.
We see this often in Texas.
Two knowledgeable, fair-minded appraisers can walk a property together, review testing, challenge each other’s assumptions and resolve major disputes without ever resorting to an umpire. In hail-heavy parts of West Texas, we have seen appraisers who previously opposed each other on engineering reports end up reaching complete agreements once they sit down with a resolution-focused mindset.
That is an ideal situation-professionals doing their jobs without posturing or “gaming the system.”
A Balanced Approach Works Best
At SPJ Adjusting, our position is straightforward:
Appraisers should be allowed to commence discussions regarding scope and value, forthwith, and at the same time work toward umpire selection.
The hybrid model does two things:
- This avoids months of delay in which nothing is done.
- This keeps the process protected in case the two appraisers hit a wall; the umpire is already set in motion.
Texas policyholders benefit most when the process is active, not stalled behind procedural bottlenecks. Ultimately, appraisal isn’t broken. It just works best when in the hands of appraisers and umpires who value fairness, transparency, and efficiency-qualities SPJ Adjusting brings to every Texas claim we handle.
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