By Dr. Chris Young, Executive Director, Ampion Academy
In the world of insurance appraisal, skill matters. Experience matters. Knowing how to read a scope, verify related damage, and justify pricing matters. But none of it matters if integrity isn’t first and foremost.
Appraisal is supposed to be a fair process, with an honest path to resolution when people disagree. The moment we treat it like a game to be won, we turn a professional tool into a weapon. And when that happens, everybody loses: the insured, the carrier, the contractor, and the credibility of the appraisal process itself.
There’s one line you never want to cross in insurance appraisal: the moment your work becomes “a favor” instead of a conclusion. Because you can survive a tough file, a tough conversation, even a tough disagreement—but you won’t survive a reputation for bending. In this industry, your name is either your greatest asset… or your biggest liability.
The reality is that appraisal is not simply estimating. It’s decision-making with real consequences.
It affects whether a family is indemnified within a reasonable time frame or remains stuck in limbo. It affects whether a claim is resolved with clarity or dragged out with frustration. It either restores trust or deepens suspicion of an already fragile reputation about our industry. That’s why ethics can’t be treated as a vague idea or a personal preference. Especially in the world of appraisals, ethics is what makes the process trustworthy—or at least should.
And that leads to a question we don’t ask enough: When you open a file, what’s guiding you first—truth… or outcome?
Because the uncomfortable reality is that two people can read the same documentation, look at the same loss, and still arrive at two completely different conclusions. Sometimes that’s honest difference. Sometimes it’s bias. Sometimes it’s pressure. Sometimes it’s incentives. And sometimes it’s the slow drift that happens when the process becomes more about winning than resolving.
Over the last 10 years, appraisal has gone from a barely used clause within a policy to help resolve disputes to the “NEW WAY” to adjust a claim, as I have heard from multiple sources. With more and more arguments over stated damage versus actual damage, covered losses vs denied losses, and who’s owed versus what’s owed, it’s safe to say that if something doesn’t change, appraisals will not remain what they were intended to do: resolve a dispute fairly and reasonably.
What we must realize is that at the center of appraisal is ethics, and ethics is a simple standard of doing what’s right, regardless of who is paying your fees. When an appraiser cuts corners, plays favorites, inflates numbers, sandbags values, or “rides for the brand,” it doesn’t just affect one file. It affects the reputation of the entire process. Again, the understanding that we must adhere to ethics is the foundation that makes appraisal credible.
Ethical appraisers don’t start with a number in their head and then go hunting for support. They don’t treat the file like something to win. They follow the facts and the damage as best as the evidence allows, and they write what they can support. Even when the outcome is unpopular. Even when it costs them.
So what about you?
Do you believe ethics and integrity matter anymore in our industry, or is this merely the stuff of legends? Further, is appraisal becoming something more than it was intended? What evidence have you seen that supports your answer?
In Part 2 of this series, we will get honest about the real pressure points—and the ethical traps that don’t look unethical at first. Follow my blog for future posts.
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