Florida Appraisal Clause: How Home Insurance Appraisal Works and What It Costs
Florida's typical homeowners appraisal clause comes down to one sentence: "A decision agreed to by any two will set the amount of loss." Two appraisers and an umpire, three people, and any two of them decide what your damage is worth. Not whether it's covered. What it's worth.
That distinction is the whole game. Hurricane Isaias came ashore near Destin on October 9, and as of November 6, insurers had reported 47,048 homeowners claims to the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR). About 24,400 of them had some payment on them. Some of those owners will think the check is too small. Appraisal is built for exactly that fight: the insurer agrees the roof is covered, you agree it's covered, and you're $30,000 apart on the price.
Here is how the clause works, what it costs you, and the Florida statutes that sit around it.
Source: Florida OIR, Hurricane Isaias claims data, homeowners line, data as of November 6, 2026.
How the appraisal clause works, step by step
Florida doesn't have one statutory appraisal clause for homeowners policies. Each insurer files its own forms with OIR, so the wording in your policy is what controls. The national sample homeowners form (the ISO HO-3) has a typical appraisal clause, and it's a fair way to learn the moving parts. Open your own policy, find "Appraisal" in the Section I Conditions, and compare it line by line with this:
| Step | What the sample HO-3 clause says | Clock |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Disagreement | You and the insurer "fail to agree on the amount of loss" | None set |
| 2. Demand | Either side may demand appraisal, in writing | Starts the clock |
| 3. Pick appraisers | Each side chooses a "competent and impartial" appraiser after the other side's written request | 20 days |
| 4. Pick umpire | The two appraisers choose an umpire; if they can't agree in time, either side may ask a judge to choose | 15 days |
| 5. Separate estimates | Each appraiser separately sets the amount of loss | None set |
| 6. Agreement | If the two appraisers agree in writing, that is the amount of loss | None set |
| 7. Umpire | If not, they submit their differences to the umpire; any two of the three set the amount | None set |
| 8. Payment | Loss is payable 60 days after proof of loss and the appraisal award is filed with the insurer | 60 days |
Source: ISO HO 00 03 10 00 sample policy (posted by III), Section I Conditions E (Appraisal) and I (Loss Payment). Your Florida policy's wording may differ.
Two things in that table trip people up. First, "impartial." Your appraiser is hired and paid by you, but the sample clause still calls for a competent and impartial one. Treat your appraiser as an expert who has to defend a number, not as your advocate. Second, the umpire only gets involved where the two appraisers disagree. On a big hurricane claim, the appraisers might agree on the fence and the screen enclosure and leave only the roof for the umpire.
Florida does put one rule on the umpire into statute, which I'll get to below. Everything else in the table comes from the policy, which is why you need to read yours before you demand anything.
Amount of loss, not coverage
The clause starts with "If you and we fail to agree on the amount of loss." That's the trigger, and it's narrow. Nothing in the sample wording lets appraisers decide whether a peril is covered, whether an exclusion applies, or whether you missed a policy deadline.
My read: if your claim was denied outright ("this is flood, not wind" or "this is wear and tear"), appraisal probably isn't your first tool. Florida's DFS mediation program takes disputes over what caused the damage or the amount offered, but not every denial (for example, when both sides agree on the cause and it isn't covered, s. 627.7015(9)(b)). A lawsuit is where coverage gets decided if nothing else works. Where the line falls in a messy claim, like a partial denial where the insurer paid for some rooms and not others, is a legal question. That's one to put to a Florida attorney before you demand appraisal, not after.
Look at how the Isaias homeowners claims that closed with no payment break down. Most of them aren't price disputes at all:
Source: Florida OIR, Hurricane Isaias claims data
Show the numbers
| Reason | Claims |
|---|---|
| Damage below deductible | 5,587 |
| Administrative reasons | 3,955 |
| Other exclusions or no policy in force | 1,357 |
| No flood coverage | 218 |
| Fraud | 0 |
The biggest group, 5,587 claims, is "damage below deductible." That one can turn into an amount-of-loss argument. Say your contractor says the damage is $14,000 and your hurricane deductible is $7,500, while the insurer's adjuster wrote it at $6,800, you aren't arguing about coverage. You're arguing about price, and that's appraisal territory. The 1,357 claims closed for exclusions or no policy in force, and the 218 with no flood coverage, are coverage questions. Flood is its own policy entirely, which my Florida flood insurance page covers.
The 3,955 "administrative" closures include withdrawn and duplicate claims and claims where the insurer couldn't reach the owner. OIR lists lack of cooperation or communication among the reasons. If yours closed that way and you didn't mean to drop it, call the insurer first.
Who pays for appraisal
The sample clause is blunt: each party will "pay its own appraiser" and "bear the other expenses of the appraisal and umpire equally." I found no Florida statute that caps what an appraiser or umpire can charge, so fees are whatever you agree to. Get the fee terms in writing before you sign anything, including whether it's hourly, flat, or a percentage of the award.
Compare that with DFS mediation, where the insurer pays the full $350 fee unless you skip the conference and want it rescheduled (s. 627.7015(3) and DFS). Here's the math on appraisal with made-up numbers.
- Gain over insurer's figure
- Your appraisal cost
Source: Cost split per sample HO-3 appraisal clause; dollar amounts are hypothetical
Show the numbers
| Gain over insurer's figure | Your appraisal cost | |
|---|---|---|
| Award A ($55,000) | $17K | $5,000 |
| Award B ($41,000) | $3,000 | $5,000 |
The lesson isn't "don't do it." It's that appraisal makes sense when the gap is big enough that a partial win still clears your costs. A $4,000 disagreement on a gutter claim usually isn't that. A $30,000 disagreement on a roof can be.
Here is how the three main routes compare on what I could verify:
| DFS mediation | Appraisal | Lawsuit | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it settles | Anything both sides agree to; mediator decides nothing | Amount of loss | Coverage and amount |
| Who pays the fee | Insurer pays $350 (you pay only to reschedule after a no-show) | You pay your appraiser; umpire split (typical wording) | You pay your own lawyer; no one-way fee award since 2022-2023 |
| Binding? | No, unless you sign a settlement and don't rescind within 3 business days or you cash or deposit the check | Any two of three set the amount (typical wording) | Court judgment |
| Timing in the rules | Conference within 21 days of mediator assignment | 20 days to name appraisers, 15 to pick umpire (sample form) | 10-business-day pre-suit notice, insurer has 10 business days to respond |
| Where it comes from | s. 627.7015 | Your policy | s. 627.70152, s. 95.11 |
Sources: s. 627.7015, DFS mediation, DFS request mediation, sample HO-3 policy, s. 627.70152, ch. 2023-15.
One sequencing note. DFS calls mediation a "pre-appraisal and pre-suit" process, and it won't mediate a claim that's already in appraisal. If you want to try the option that costs you nothing first, do it before anyone demands appraisal.
The Florida statutes around appraisal
Florida law doesn't write the appraisal clause, but it fences it in from several sides.
s. 627.7015: the mediation notice and when appraisal drops away
The Legislature wrote its opinion of appraisal right into the mediation statute. Subsection (1) says the state needs an informal forum because most homeowner policies make policyholders go through "a potentially expensive and time-consuming adversarial appraisal process before litigation."
Subsection (2) requires your insurer to tell you about your right to DFS mediation when the policy is issued, at every renewal, and when you file a claim. Subsection (7) is the part that matters for appraisal: if the insurer fails to give that notice, or if the insurer itself requests mediation and either side rejects the result, you are not required to go through contractual appraisal before suing for breach of contract. If you never got the mediation notice, mention that to your attorney.
s. 627.70151: when you can knock out an umpire
Either side can disqualify a proposed umpire, but only for the four conflicts the statute lists:
| Ground | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Family | A relationship within the third degree with a party or a party's representative |
| Same claim | The umpire previously represented a party professionally on the same claim or matter involving the same property |
| Adverse matter | The umpire represented someone else on the same or a substantially related matter (the claim, same property or an adjacent one) with interests materially adverse to a party |
| Employment | The umpire was an employer or employee of a party within the preceding 5 years |
Source: Florida Statutes s. 627.70151 (2026).
"I don't like this umpire" isn't on the list. Ask any proposed umpire, in writing, whether any of the four applies before you agree.
s. 627.410(3): OIR can take appraisal away from an insurer
Since the December 2022 Special Session A, if an OIR market conduct exam finds a property insurer has a pattern of willful unfair trade practices in how it uses appraisal, OIR must re-examine that insurer's policy forms with appraisal clauses. It can withdraw approval of the forms and can order the insurer not to invoke appraisal for up to 2 years.
s. 627.70154: binding arbitration isn't appraisal
Florida law lets a property policy require mandatory binding arbitration, through an endorsement. That's a different thing from appraisal, and the statute limits it: it has to be a separate endorsement, the premium has to include an actuarially sound credit for it, you have to sign a form saying what you're giving up (including a jury trial), the insurer must go through s. 627.7015 mediation first, and the insurer must also offer you a policy without it. If you signed one, it's on your declarations page or in your endorsements. Know whether you have it.
Claim deadlines that still apply
Appraisal doesn't replace the claim-handling clock in s. 627.70131. These are the statutory deadlines on both sides, in the order you'll hit them:
| Deadline | Who | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| 7 calendar days after a claim communication | Insurer | Acknowledge it (s. 627.70131(1)(a)) |
| 7 days after proof of loss | Insurer | Begin the investigation (s. 627.70131(3)(a)) |
| 30 days after proof of loss | Insurer | Complete any physical inspection (s. 627.70131(3)(b)) |
| 7 days after an adjuster's detailed estimate | Insurer | Send you a copy (s. 627.70131(3)(e)) |
| 60 days after notice of claim | Insurer | Pay or deny, in whole or part, with a written explanation; late payment carries interest (s. 627.70131(7)(a)) |
| 1 year after date of loss (landfall for hurricanes) | You | Give notice of a new or reopened claim (s. 627.70132) |
| 18 months after date of loss | You | Give notice of a supplemental claim (s. 627.70132) |
| 10 business days before suing | You | File a notice of intent to litigate with DFS (s. 627.70152(3)) |
| 5 years after date of loss | You | File suit for breach of a property insurance contract (s. 95.11) |
Sources: s. 627.70131, s. 627.70132, s. 627.70152, s. 95.11 (Florida Statutes 2026).
For Isaias, landfall on October 9, 2026 makes the deadline for a new or reopened claim October 9, 2027, and for a supplemental claim April 9, 2028. If you find more damage later, a supplemental claim is how you report it, inside that 18-month window. My Florida hurricane claim deadline post walks through those dates.
Two wrinkles. OIR can give insurers up to 30 extra days on the 60-day pay-or-deny deadline after a declared emergency. And s. 627.70131(8)(a) pauses the insurer's deadlines during DFS mediation or "any alternative dispute resolution proceeding provided for in the insurance contract," until that proceeding ends.
Appraisal inside the pre-suit process
Appraisal can also show up after you've decided to sue. Under s. 627.70152(4), when your notice of intent to litigate is about something other than a denial (an underpayment, say), the insurer has 10 business days to respond with a settlement offer or by requiring appraisal or another form of ADR. If it requires appraisal and the appraisal isn't finished within 90 days after the 10-day notice period expires, you can file suit without sending another notice. The 5-year suit deadline is tolled while that appraisal runs, if it would otherwise expire. Sue before those periods run out and the court must dismiss the case without prejudice.
What the 2022 and 2023 reforms changed
Two laws reshaped the math on Florida home claim disputes, and in my view they're why appraisal and mediation matter more to homeowners now than they did five years ago.
| Law | Signed | What it did for claim disputes |
|---|---|---|
| SB 2-A, ch. 2022-271 (2022 Special Session A) | Dec. 16, 2022 | Deleted the right to attorney fees against insurers in suits under residential or commercial property policies (s. 627.428, and s. 626.9373 for surplus lines); created the binding arbitration rules in s. 627.70154; added OIR's power to bar an insurer from invoking appraisal (s. 627.410(3)); ended post-loss assignment of benefits for policies issued on or after Jan. 1, 2023 |
| HB 837, ch. 2023-15 | Mar. 24, 2023 | Repealed s. 627.428 and s. 626.9373 outright |
Sources: Laws of Florida ch. 2022-271, Laws of Florida ch. 2023-15, s. 627.7152.
Under the old s. 627.428, a homeowner who won a judgment against an insurer generally had the insurer pay the homeowner's attorney fees. That's gone for property policies. A homeowner who sues now pays his or her own lawyer, win or lose, unless some other fee rule applies. My read: that makes the cheaper routes (mediation at no cost to you, appraisal at a cost you can estimate up front) worth a harder look before litigation. My Florida tort reform explainer covers what else HB 837 changed, mostly for car crashes.
Assignment of benefits matters here too. Under policies issued from July 1, 2019 through 2022, a contractor holding an assignment of your benefits could pursue the claim itself, including appraisal or a lawsuit (s. 627.7152(4) and (9)). For policies issued on or after January 1, 2023, s. 627.7152(13) makes a post-loss assignment void. The claim, and the decision whether to demand appraisal, stays with you.
How to request appraisal
If you've decided the dispute is about price and the gap is worth it:
- Get the insurer's decision and estimate in writing. The insurer owes you a copy of any detailed estimate within 7 days of its creation, and a written explanation when it pays less than that estimate (s. 627.70131).
- Get your own itemized estimate. A licensed contractor's line-item number, with photos. Without one, there's nothing to appraise.
- Consider DFS mediation first. The insurer pays the $350, it's nonbinding, and DFS won't take a dispute already in appraisal. Request it through DFS or 1-877-MY-FL-CFO (1-877-693-5236). My Florida insurance mediation post has the details.
- Read your policy's appraisal condition. Note the deadlines, how the demand must be made, and how costs are split.
- Send a written demand. Say you dispute the amount of loss, name the claim number, and name your appraiser if the policy asks for it. Keep proof of delivery.
- Choose your appraiser carefully and get fees in writing. If you already have a public adjuster, Florida caps PA fees separately; see my Florida public adjuster rules post before stacking fees.
- Vet the umpire against s. 627.70151 and object in writing if one of the four grounds applies.
- Watch your own deadlines. The supplemental-claim window and the 5-year suit limit keep running.
If an insurer isn't responding or isn't following the statutory deadlines, OIR asks consumers to report claim problems, and the DFS helpline at 1-877-MY-FL-CFO helps with claim questions. At renewal, check your declarations page for a binding arbitration endorsement and your hurricane deductible. If you have questions about how your coverage is set up, my Florida home insurance page and Florida condo insurance page are good places to start.
FAQ
How does the appraisal clause work in a Florida homeowners policy?
When you and the insurer disagree on the amount of loss, either side can demand appraisal in writing. In the typical clause, each side picks an appraiser, the two appraisers pick an umpire, and any two of the three set the amount of loss. Your own policy's wording controls.
Who pays for appraisal on a Florida home insurance claim?
Under the typical clause, each side pays its own appraiser and the two sides split the umpire and other appraisal expenses equally. That is different from DFS mediation, where the insurer pays the full $350 fee unless you fail to appear and want to reschedule.
Can appraisal decide whether my damage is covered?
The typical clause applies when you and the insurer fail to agree on the amount of loss. It does not give appraisers power over coverage questions such as exclusions. If your claim was denied outright, ask a Florida attorney whether appraisal fits before you demand it.
Can I skip appraisal and sue my insurer in Florida?
Under s. 627.7015(7), you are not required to go through contractual appraisal before suing if the insurer failed to notify you of your right to DFS mediation, or if the insurer requested mediation and either side rejected the result. Otherwise your policy's terms and s. 627.70152 pre-suit rules apply, so talk to an attorney.
Can I disqualify an appraisal umpire in Florida?
Only for the four conflicts in s. 627.70151: a family relationship within the third degree, prior representation of a party in the same claim, representation of someone with materially adverse interests on a substantially related matter, or employment with a party within the last 5 years.
Your own policy wording and Florida law control how any claim is handled. Confirm your situation with a licensed agent, the Florida Department of Financial Services or Office of Insurance Regulation, or, for legal questions, an attorney.
Sources
- ISO HO 00 03 10 00 sample homeowners policy (posted by III): Appraisal, Loss Payment, Waiver conditions
- Florida Statutes s. 627.7015, alternative procedure for resolution of disputed property insurance claims (2026)
- Florida Statutes s. 627.70131, insurer's duty to acknowledge communications; investigation (2026)
- Florida Statutes s. 627.70132, notice of property insurance claims (2026)
- Florida Statutes s. 627.70151, appraisal; conflicts of interest (2026)
- Florida Statutes s. 627.70152, suits arising under a property insurance policy (2026)
- Florida Statutes s. 627.70154, mandatory binding arbitration (2026)
- Florida Statutes s. 627.410, filing and approval of forms (2026)
- Florida Statutes s. 627.7152, assignment agreements (2026)
- Florida Statutes s. 627.7142, Homeowner Claims Bill of Rights (2026)
- Florida Statutes s. 95.11, limitations of actions (2026)
- Florida Statutes s. 626.854, public adjusters (2026)
- Laws of Florida ch. 2022-271 (SB 2-A, 2022 Special Session A)
- Laws of Florida ch. 2023-15 (CS/CS/HB 837)
- Florida DFS: Mediation and Neutral Evaluation
- Florida DFS: Request Mediation and Neutral Evaluation
- Florida OIR: Hurricane Isaias claims data (as of Nov. 6, 2026)
- Florida Division of Emergency Management: Hurricane Isaias update (Oct. 11, 2026)
This article is for general educational purposes only and is not legal, tax or insurance advice. Coverage depends on the actual policy, its terms, conditions and exclusions, and state law. Maru Insurance · WA License (WAOIC) #1365574 · FL License #G363233 · NPN 22261820.