Communication Cadence During an Appraisal

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An appraisal that stretches over several months, which is not unusual for a moderately complex claim, can feel opaque to a party who is used to more frequent updates from an insurance adjuster or a contractor. Establishing an expected communication cadence at the start of an engagement helps set realistic expectations for how often, and through what channel, updates will actually arrive.

Most appraisals move through a series of identifiable stages: initial document review, a physical inspection of the property, preparation of an estimate or valuation, an exchange of positions between the two appraisers, and, if the appraisers cannot agree on every item, submission of the disputed items to the umpire. Each stage has a different natural rhythm. During document review and inspection scheduling, communication tends to be relatively frequent, since dates and access arrangements need to be confirmed. During estimate preparation, an appraiser may go several weeks without a substantive update simply because the work involves independent measurement, pricing research, and drafting rather than back-and-forth conversation.

A reasonable practice, and one worth asking a prospective appraiser about directly, is a standing check-in interval, whether that is a brief update every two weeks or a note whenever a defined milestone is reached, such as completion of the inspection or submission of the estimate to the opposing appraiser. This does not mean daily availability; appraisers manage multiple active files and cannot reasonably promise same-day responses on every claim, but a predictable interval reduces the anxiety that comes from long stretches of silence.

Written communication, rather than verbal-only updates, also tends to serve everyone better over the life of an appraisal. Email or a shared document that records key dates, decisions, and open items creates a record that both the party and the appraiser can refer back to, and it reduces the chance that a verbal understanding gets remembered differently by two people months later. Some appraisers provide a brief written summary after each inspection or major milestone; others prefer a scheduled call. Neither approach is inherently better, but the party hiring the appraiser should know which to expect.

It is also useful to establish early who else, if anyone, should be copied on communications, such as an attorney, a public adjuster, or a spouse or business partner with decision-making authority. Confusion about who is authorized to give instructions to the appraiser can slow a claim down considerably, particularly when the person the appraiser has been corresponding with turns out not to have final authority over decisions like accepting a proposed umpire or agreeing to a settlement before an award is issued. Setting expectations about cadence at the outset, rather than after frustration has already built up, tends to make the middle stretch of an appraisal, which is often the quietest and least eventful part of the process, easier for a party to sit through without assuming that silence means something has gone wrong. Communication with the opposing appraiser, and eventually with the umpire, follows its own separate rhythm that a party typically does not observe directly. Appraisers generally correspond with each other by email or written exchange, comparing scope items and pricing, and it is common practice for that correspondence to be shared with or summarized for the retaining party periodically rather than in real time as each message is sent. A party who understands this in advance is less likely to interpret a period of appraiser-to-appraiser negotiation, which can take weeks, as a stall in the process rather than what it usually is, which is the substantive work of narrowing disagreement before anything reaches the umpire.

This is general educational material on the appraisal process rather than legal advice, and the specifics can vary with each state and policy.

Russ Lis is an independent property insurance appraiser and umpire in Minnesota who serves clients nationwide. Contact Appraisal Resolution.