Common Misunderstandings About Who Can Serve as an Appraiser

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People often assume that serving as an appraiser under a property insurance policy requires a specific license, similar to a real estate appraisal license or a general contractor’s license. In most states, that assumption does not match how appraisal clauses are written. Policy language typically calls for a competent and disinterested appraiser, a standard built around qualification and impartiality rather than a single licensing credential, and the details of what counts as competent can vary meaningfully from one state to another.

Competence, in this context, usually means the person has relevant knowledge of construction, estimating, and property valuation sufficient to form an informed opinion about the cost or value of the disputed damage. That knowledge can come from a background as a contractor, an estimator, a public adjuster, an independent adjuster, an engineer, or another construction-adjacent profession. Some states have adopted specific licensing or registration requirements for public adjusters who also serve as appraisers, and a handful of states have considered or enacted rules addressing appraiser qualifications more directly, so a person or company selecting an appraiser should check current requirements in the state where the property is located.

Disinterestedness is the second half of the standard, and it is often less understood than competence. It generally means the appraiser has no direct financial stake in the outcome of the specific appraisal beyond an agreed professional fee, and no relationship with either party that would reasonably call independent judgment into question. An appraiser who also performs the repairs on the property in dispute, for example, or who has an ownership interest in one of the parties, would typically fail that standard. Disclosure of relevant relationships at the outset of an engagement is one of the more reliable ways an appraiser demonstrates disinterestedness in practice.

A related misunderstanding is that an appraiser must be a licensed attorney or must hold a specific appraisal industry designation to serve. Neither is generally required by policy language, though some appraisers do carry designations from industry associations that offer training and codes of conduct specific to insurance appraisal work. Those designations can be a useful reference point when a party is trying to evaluate a candidate’s background, but the policy’s own competent and disinterested standard remains the controlling requirement in most jurisdictions.

Finally, some people assume that a party’s own adjuster or attorney can simply act as that party’s appraiser. Depending on the state and the specific role, this can raise the same disinterestedness concerns that affect any appraiser with a direct stake in the claim’s outcome, and courts in a number of jurisdictions have examined exactly this question when an award has later been challenged. Because the answer depends on facts specific to the state, the policy, and the individual’s role, it is a question best directed to an attorney familiar with the appraisal clause at issue rather than answered in general terms. Some confusion also arises around whether an appraiser needs to be local to the property. Nothing in most appraisal clauses requires the appraiser to reside in the same state as the damaged property, and appraisers regularly travel to inspect claims in other regions, particularly when their specific experience, such as familiarity with a certain roofing material or a certain type of commercial construction, is relevant to the dispute. What matters is not geography but whether the appraiser can competently evaluate the construction methods and pricing conditions in the market where the property sits, which sometimes means bringing in local pricing data or consulting local code requirements even when the appraiser themselves is based elsewhere.

The material above is general education about how property insurance appraisal commonly works, not legal advice; specific procedures differ by state and policy.

Russ Lis works nationwide as a property insurance appraiser and umpire, based in Minnesota. Contact Appraisal Resolution.