Insurance appraisal in Missouri
Missouri's standard fire policy regulation sets the appraisal steps. Either side demands appraisal in writing, each names an appraiser within 20 days, and a judge picks the umpire if the appraisers cannot agree within 15 days. Missouri courts keep the panel to the amount of loss, so how the disagreement is framed matters.
At a glance
- Name an appraiser
- 20 days from the written demand (20 CSR 500-1.100).
- Choose an umpire
- 15 days for the two appraisers to agree. After that, either side can ask a court to choose.
- If they cannot agree
- A judge of a court of record in the county where the property sits (or the city, if the city is not within a county), on request.
- Does appraisal pause the deadline to sue?
- The appraisal rule does not pause anything. Missouri voids policy terms that shorten the time to sue (RSMo 431.030), and the ten-year written-contract period (RSMo 516.110) is the one courts have applied to suits on policies. Confirm the deadline that applies to your claim before you rely on it.
- Who may serve
- We found no appraiser license in Missouri. The regulation requires a competent and disinterested appraiser. More below
Deadlines in Missouri
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 awardPaymentPer policy and state rules
Either side starts appraisal with a written demand when you and the insurer cannot agree on the actual cash value or the amount of loss. Each side then has 20 days from the demand to pick a competent and disinterested appraiser and tell the other side who it is. The two appraisers have 15 days to agree on an umpire. If they do not, either side can ask a judge to choose one.
Once the panel is set, the appraisers value the loss item by item and settle what they can. They send only their differences to the umpire, who has 30 days from receiving them to issue the award. Each side pays its own appraiser, and the umpire and other appraisal costs are split equally. Send the demand in a way you can prove, such as certified mail, and keep a copy with the policy.
What the panel decides
Amount of loss, not coverage
The regulation has the appraisers state actual cash value and the loss to each item. It does not give them power over whether the policy covers a loss. In Brewer v. State Farm (Mo. App. W.D. 2022), homeowners asked a court to appoint an umpire while the parties disagreed about which repairs the policy covered. The appeals court treated that as a coverage question for the court, not an amount-of-loss question, and vacated the order appointing an umpire.
In practice, an appraisal request is on firmer ground in Missouri when the insurer admits the damage is covered and the fight is about price. If the real dispute is whether a repair is covered at all, expect the insurer to say appraisal is premature. Missouri's arbitration statute also leaves insurance contracts out (RSMo 435.350), so appraisal here runs on the policy and the regulation, not the arbitration act.
Who may serve
The regulation says each appraiser, and the umpire, must be competent and disinterested. Missouri has no appraiser license that we found. In Allstate Indemnity v. Gaworski (Mo. App. E.D. 2018), the court said a direct financial stake in the outcome is the kind of interest that disqualifies an appraiser, and it refused to disqualify one who had only done earlier work for a repair company. An appraiser paid a share of the claim, or tied to the contractor who will do the work, invites that challenge.
The award
The regulation says a written, itemized award signed by any two of the three, once filed with the insurer, sets the actual cash value and the amount of loss. The umpire's own deadline is 30 days from receiving the appraisers' differences. The regulation does not list grounds for setting an award aside, and we did not confirm a Missouri appellate test for doing so. If you expect to challenge an award, or to defend one, get a Missouri attorney's view on the grounds.
Points particular to Missouri
The regulation adopts the 1943 New York standard fire policy for Missouri and replaces its appraisal paragraph with Missouri wording. The Department of Insurance can approve other forms that are at least as favorable to the insured, and the rule allows equivalent language. The mandated wording has to appear in forms filed for use in Missouri after July 1, 1999. Read your own policy's Appraisal condition, because the numbers there control.
The regulation was last amended effective September 30, 2023. We saw no change to the appraisal paragraph in the text we reviewed.
RSMo 379.140 is Missouri's valued policy law. When a covered peril totally destroys real property, the insurer owes the amount the property was insured for, less the deductible. It excludes partial losses, detached structures, and several other situations. It is a payment rule for total losses, not an appraisal statute.
We checked Missouri's claims-practice rules (20 CSR 100-1.030 and 100-1.050) and found no set number of days to pay after an appraisal award. After an award, ask the insurer in writing for the date it will pay.
Common losses in Missouri
Each one links back to how we look at that kind of loss.
Questions
Does my Missouri homeowners policy have an appraisal clause?
Almost certainly. Missouri's standard fire policy regulation (20 CSR 500-1.100) sets the appraisal wording for fire policies, and homeowners forms carry an Appraisal condition built on it. Look in the conditions section of your policy for the heading Appraisal.
How long do we have to name an appraiser in Missouri?
Under the regulation, 20 days from the written demand. If your policy uses its own wording, read it, because the number there controls.
Who chooses the umpire if the appraisers cannot agree?
After 15 days without agreement, either side can ask a judge of a court of record in the county where the property is located (or the city, if it is not within a county) to choose the umpire.
Can the appraisers decide whether my loss is covered?
No. They decide amount of loss. Coverage, how the policy reads, and bad faith stay with the court. After Brewer v. State Farm (2022), a dispute over which repairs are covered is treated as a coverage question, so how the disagreement is described matters.
Does demanding appraisal pause the deadline to sue in Missouri?
Nothing in the appraisal rule pauses it. Missouri law voids policy terms that cut the time to sue short (RSMo 431.030), and courts have applied the ten-year written-contract period to policy suits. We still suggest you note whatever deadline your policy and the insurer's letters state before you demand appraisal.
Do appraisers need a license in Missouri?
We found no appraiser license. The regulation requires each appraiser and the umpire to be competent and disinterested, and Missouri courts look hard at an appraiser with a direct financial stake in the result.
Before you decide anything
Has a claim in Missouri 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.