How do you invoke appraisal in Georgia?
Read the appraisal clause and every endorsement in your own policy. If the clause applies and the parties disagree about the amount assigned to appraisal, make a written demand that quotes the exact language, identifies what the carrier has admitted, separates any disputed coverage, and follows the policy’s delivery method and deadlines. Name an appraiser only as the clause requires. Appraisal determines value; it does not decide broader liability.
We are licensed public adjusters, not attorneys. This guide provides general information, not legal advice. Coverage disputes, motions to compel appraisal, suit deadlines, and litigation belong with a Georgia policyholder attorney.
What should you check before sending a demand?
- Read the full policy, declarations, and every endorsement. An endorsement may replace the appraisal clause printed elsewhere.
- Identify the property and damage the carrier actually acknowledged in writing.
- Identify any property, cause, exclusion, or benefit the carrier expressly disputed.
- Compare the estimates and list the remaining valuation questions: repair items, quantities, method, pricing, depreciation, actual cash value, and replacement cost value.
- Confirm the qualifications required of each appraiser and umpire.
- Calendar the suit limitation, proof-of-loss deadline, notice requirements, and every other policy deadline separately.
Do not describe coverage as admitted merely because the carrier inspected. A payment or estimate establishes only what the carrier’s claim documents actually acknowledge.
Sample Georgia appraisal demand letter
This is a starting structure. Replace every bracketed field, delete anything that is not accurate, and use the delivery method required by the policy.
[Date]
Via [delivery method required by policy]
[Insurance carrier name]
[Claims department or adjuster]
[Mailing address]
[Email address, if authorized]
Re: Insured: [Name]
Claim number: [Claim number]
Policy number: [Policy number]
Property: [Property address]
Date of loss: [Date of loss]
Subject: Written demand for appraisal
To whom it may concern:
Please treat this letter as my formal written demand for appraisal under the policy identified above.
The policy and all applicable endorsements provide:
[Paste the complete appraisal clause here exactly as written.]
[Use the next paragraph only to the extent the carrier’s written claim record supports it.]
In [identify the estimate, payment letter, coverage letter, or other claim document and its date], the carrier acknowledged [identify the exact property or damage]. The parties disagree about the amount assigned to appraisal by the policy. Specifically, they disagree about [identify the repair items, quantities, method of repair, unit pricing, depreciation, actual cash value, replacement cost value, or other valuation questions].
The carrier has separately disputed [identify any denied property, cause, exclusion, or benefit, or state “none identified in the carrier’s written claim documents”]. This demand does not ask the appraisal panel to decide disputed coverage or broader liability. It asks the panel to determine only the valuation questions assigned by the policy.
[Include the following section only if the policy requires or permits the demanding party to identify an appraiser now.]
I select the following person to serve as my appraiser:
[Appraiser name]
[Company]
[Mailing address]
[Telephone]
[Email]
The selected appraiser has agreed to serve and, to the best of my knowledge, satisfies the qualifications stated in the policy.
Please confirm receipt and identify the carrier’s appraiser within the deadline stated in the policy. Please state any objection to this demand or selected appraiser in writing and identify the policy language and claim facts on which the objection relies.
Nothing in this demand is intended to waive a right or extend a deadline. Please send future correspondence concerning appraisal to [policyholder or authorized representative] at [address and email].
Sincerely,
[Policyholder name]
[Mailing address]
[Telephone]
[Email]
What does Georgia law say about appraisal?
In McGowan v. Progressive Preferred Insurance Co., the Supreme Court of Georgia held that appraisal can resolve disputed value but cannot resolve broader liability. McGowan involved an automobile total-loss valuation and did not classify building extent-of-damage disputes.
In Lam v. Allstate Indemnity Co., a 4–3 majority held that the four-shingle extent dispute pleaded there was a coverage dispute outside appraisal. That majority holding is binding. It does not state that every extent-of-damage disagreement is coverage, but it cannot be avoided by relabeling a disputed coverage question as value.
Clary v. Allstate involved a different record. Coverage for the fire, water damage, and mold remediation was undisputed, and the court upheld an award pricing all repairs necessary to restore the property, including mold remediation. Clary did not authorize a panel to decide denied coverage.
Bell v. Liberty Mutual addressed award form. It held that the policy did not require component-level itemization by the umpire. It did not decide whether a panel may include damage the carrier denied or define “item” for every Georgia policy.
Does appraisal pause the deadline to sue?
Do not assume that it does. White v. State Farm enforced the one-year clause in White’s policy for his theft claim. It did not decide tolling, waiver, or estoppel.
Act 635 changes the minimum prospectively only for qualifying first-party property policies issued, delivered, issued for delivery, or renewed on or after July 1, 2027; it does not erase an earlier policy deadline today.
Peeples v. Western Fire held that allegations of a pending appraisal agreement prevented pleading-stage dismissal under the limitation clause. It did not finally decide the duration of that agreement or whether the suit ultimately was timely.
Calendar the earliest plausible deadline and have Georgia counsel address preservation before it expires.
Final checklist
- The demand quotes the actual policy and endorsements.
- Every statement about admitted or denied damage is supported by the claim file.
- The valuation questions are identified precisely.
- The letter does not ask the panel to decide coverage or broader liability.
- The selected appraiser satisfies the policy’s exact qualifications.
- The delivery method and response deadline come from the policy.
- Suit, notice, proof-of-loss, and other deadlines are tracked separately.
If the carrier has acknowledged damage but the estimates do not agree, learn how Friedman & Associates handles appraisal or ask us to review the claim file.