Insurance appraisal in Colorado
We found no Colorado statute that writes an appraisal clause into property policies, so your policy sets the steps and the deadlines. What the state does add is a Supreme Court ruling on who may serve and a Division of Insurance bulletin on disclosure and contact with the umpire. Appraisal settles the dollar value of the loss, not whether the carrier owes you more than that.
At a glance
- Name an appraiser
- Set by your policy. Many standard forms, including the Colorado FAIR Plan's, give each side 20 days after a written request.
- Choose an umpire
- The two appraisers choose the umpire. Many forms give them 15 days.
- If they cannot agree
- Under the common form, either side asks a judge of a court of record to pick the umpire. In Dakota Station the court appointed the umpire.
- Does appraisal pause the deadline to sue?
- No pause that we found. Colorado's general limit for a contract claim is three years, and an insurer may not issue or renew a homeowner's policy with a shorter suit period (C.R.S. 10-4-110.8(12)). Commercial policies are not covered by that rule, so check yours.
- Who may serve
- No appraiser license that we found. The test is the policy's wording. Under Dakota Station, an "impartial" appraiser must be unbiased and disinterested and may not advocate for either side. More below
Deadlines in Colorado
The clock
- Day 0Written demandEither party, in writing
- By day 20Appraisers named20 days for each side
- By day 35Umpire chosen15 days, or a court appoints
- On siteInspectionBoth estimates, line by line
- The awardAward signedAny two of three
- After the awardPaymentOften 60 days after proof of loss and the filed award (check your policy)
Appraisal starts when one side makes a written demand. In the Colorado FAIR Plan's published dwelling policy, each side then chooses a competent and impartial appraiser within 20 days after getting the written request. The appraisers have 15 days to agree on an umpire, and after that either side can ask a judge of a court of record to choose one. Other carriers' forms use similar wording, but the numbers are in your policy, so read the Appraisal condition before you count days.
Send the demand in a way that proves delivery and keep a copy. The appraisers set the amount of loss separately. If they agree, that is the amount. If not, they take only their differences to the umpire, and a decision agreed to by any two sets the amount of loss. After the amount is agreed, Division Bulletin B-5.26 expects the insurer to follow the clean claim payment standards in Colorado Regulation 5-1-14.
What the panel decides
Value and amount of loss
The usual Colorado clause asks the panel to state the value of the property and the amount of loss. That is a money question. In Andres Trucking Co. v. United Fire & Cas. Co., 2018 COA 144, the court of appeals held that an appraisal set the value but did not decide the insurer's liability for breach of contract or for unreasonable delay under C.R.S. 10-3-1115 and 10-3-1116. Coverage, policy meaning and bad faith stay with the courts.
How far a panel may go on cause of damage and scope of repair is less settled. We did not find a Colorado appellate decision that answers it. A 2026 bill would have made causation and scope part of a mandatory appraisal, but it did not pass (see below). The wording of your clause, and what is actually in dispute, will matter.
Who may serve
Colorado does not license party-appointed appraisers, as far as we found. The standard comes from the policy. In Owners Ins. Co. v. Dakota Station II Condo. Ass'n, 2019 CO 65, the Colorado Supreme Court read the word "impartial" by its plain meaning: unbiased, disinterested, unswayed by personal interest, and not an advocate for either side. The court allowed an appraiser to explain her methods and to criticize the other side's, as long as she is not simply trying to get top dollar for a client. On the fee question, a five percent contingent cap did not make that appraiser partial as a matter of law on those facts, but the court said it was wary of the incentives such agreements create.
The Division of Insurance goes further in Bulletin B-5.26. It says an appraiser should not be a party to the policy, have a financial interest in the outcome, be a current employee of the insurer or policyholder, or be a family member or close personal contact of the insured. It asks appraisers to disclose any contingency arrangement, asks umpires to disclose any relationship with the parties, their representatives or witnesses, and bars private contact with the umpire. The bulletin is Division guidance, not a statute.
The award
Under the common form, the amount agreed by any two of the three is the amount of loss. Colorado courts have refused to honor awards when the process was unfair. In Dakota Station the insurer asked to vacate under the Colorado Uniform Arbitration Act, and the Supreme Court sent the case back for a ruling on whether the insured's appraiser met the policy's impartiality standard. In Auto-Owners Ins. Co. v. Summit Park Townhome Ass'n, 886 F.3d 852 (10th Cir. 2018), the Tenth Circuit upheld the vacatur of an award because the insured's appraiser was biased and the policy required two impartial appraisers' signatures. An older case, Providence Washington Ins. Co. v. Gulinson (Colo. 1923), voided an award reached by one appraiser and the umpire without notice to the other appraiser. We did not find a Colorado decision that sets one general rule for when an award can be vacated.
Points particular to Colorado
A 2026 bill, HB26-1247, would have required binding appraisal in homeowner's policies issued or renewed from January 1, 2027, covering amount of loss, causation and scope of repair. The House Business Affairs and Labor Committee voted 9 to 4 on March 25, 2026 to postpone it indefinitely, and the legislature's site lists it as lost. Nothing changed in the law.
A 2023 law, HB23-1174, is sometimes mentioned in appraisal talk, but it is not an appraisal law. It deals with how insurers estimate rebuilding cost and what they must disclose, and it raised the required minimums for law and ordinance coverage (from 10 to 20 percent of the dwelling limit) and extended replacement cost coverage (from 20 to at least 50 percent).
Colorado law gives homeowners a clear suit deadline. A suit on the policy is a contract claim with a three-year limit under C.R.S. 13-80-101(1)(a). Since 2014, insurers cannot issue or renew a homeowner's policy that requires suit sooner than the statute allows (C.R.S. 10-4-110.8(12)). Appraisal does not pause that clock, so note the date before you demand it.
Colorado's statutory claims remedy, C.R.S. 10-3-1115 and 10-3-1116, covers unreasonable delay or denial of a covered benefit. An appraisal award does not decide that claim, as Andres Trucking held.
The Colorado FAIR Plan's published dwelling policy is one Colorado form that spells out the process: 20 days to name appraisers, 15 days for the umpire, a judge of a court of record to break a tie, a decision by any two to set the amount, and loss payable 60 days after proof of loss and the filing of an appraisal award. Your own carrier's form may differ.
Common losses in Colorado
Each one links back to how we look at that kind of loss.
Questions
Does my Colorado homeowners policy have an appraisal clause?
Most property policies do, but Colorado does not write the clause into law, so the wording is whatever your policy says. Look in the Conditions or Loss Settlement section under the heading Appraisal.
How long do we have to name an appraiser in Colorado?
Your policy sets the time. Many standard forms, including the Colorado FAIR Plan's, say 20 days after you receive the other side's written request. Read your own clause and count from the date the request was received.
Who picks the umpire if the appraisers cannot agree?
Under the common form, either side can ask a judge of a court of record to choose the umpire once the appraisers have failed to agree for 15 days. The exact period and court are in your policy.
Can the appraisers decide whether my loss is covered?
No. They set the value and amount of loss. In Andres Trucking, the court held that appraisal did not decide the insurer's liability for breach of contract or unreasonable delay. Whether they may sort out cause of damage, such as hail versus age, depends on your policy wording, and we found no Colorado appellate ruling that settles it.
Does demanding appraisal pause the deadline to sue in Colorado?
We found nothing that says it does. A suit on the policy has a three-year limit, and Colorado bars insurers from issuing or renewing homeowner's policies with a shorter one. Commercial policies can be different, so check yours before you start.
Does my appraiser need a license or have to be neutral?
There is no appraiser license that we found. The policy usually says the appraiser must be competent and impartial. The Colorado Supreme Court has said that means unbiased and not an advocate for either side, and the Division of Insurance asks appraisers to disclose any contingent fee.
Before you decide anything
Has a claim in Colorado stalled on the number?
Tell us what happened and where. We'll read the policy and tell you plainly whether appraisal fits.
When you write to us
- We read the policy, the estimates on both sides and the letters that came with them.
- We tell you plainly whether appraisal fits the disagreement, and if it doesn't, who can help.
- If it fits, we confirm next steps in writing before anything starts.
Reviewed against the sources listed, October 2026. General information, not legal advice.