Insurance appraisal in Nebraska
Nebraska is different. In 1989 the state Supreme Court held that a standard appraisal clause, which lets either side force the process, cannot be enforced. Since then the Department of Insurance has told insurers to offer appraisal only when both sides agree to it after the dispute starts, so in Nebraska appraisal is something you agree on, not something you can demand.
At a glance
- Name an appraiser
- By agreement. Nobody can make the other side name an appraiser by a set date.
- Choose an umpire
- By agreement of the parties and their appraisers.
- If they cannot agree
- Your written appraisal agreement should say who picks. The clause in Rawlings let either side ask a judge to name the umpire, and the Supreme Court held that clause unenforceable. We found no Nebraska authority on whether a post-dispute agreement can hand that choice to a judge.
- Does appraisal pause the deadline to sue?
- Appraisal does not pause the deadline to sue. For policies issued in Nebraska, the time to sue cannot be cut below the general contract period of five years (Neb. Rev. Stat. 44-357, 25-205). Put any pause you want in the appraisal agreement in writing.
- Who may serve
- The Department of Insurance's list of license types (November 2025) has no appraiser or umpire license. Nebraska does license public adjusters, who are paid to help an insured negotiate a property claim (Neb. Rev. Stat. 44-9203, 44-9204). We found nothing saying whether a paid party appraiser needs that license, so ask the Department if it matters to your choice. More below
Deadlines in Nebraska
The clock
- Day 0Written demandBoth sides must agree to appraise
- By agreementAppraisers namedOnly if both sides agree
- By agreementUmpire chosenBy agreement, or a court appoints
- On siteInspectionBoth estimates, line by line
- The awardAward signedAny two of three
- After the awardPaymentPer policy and state rules
There is no statutory clock. Appraisal begins when the insurer and the policyholder both say yes after a disagreement exists, and the deadlines are whatever the two of you write down. A request is the right word here, not a demand. Some carriers will say yes, but none is required to. In Rawlings the insurer argued that homeowners who turned down its appraisal demand had lost their case. The Supreme Court rejected that and sent the tornado claim back for trial on the amount of loss.
Get the agreement in writing before the appraisers start. Cover who the appraisers and umpire are, how many days each step gets, what the panel will decide, whether the result is binding, how costs are split, and when the insurer will pay. Without those terms, the process can stall with nothing to enforce.
What the panel decides
Amount of loss, as the agreement says
The panel decides what the two sides agree to give it. Normally that is the amount of loss. In Rawlings the Supreme Court said the amount of a loss is as much a court question as whether the loss is covered. Coverage questions, how the policy reads, and bad faith belong to the court. Spell the scope out in the agreement, including whether the panel may sort out causation for items where the cause is disputed, because Nebraska law gives you no default to fall back on.
Who may serve
Nebraska sets no appraiser qualifications that we found. Pick people both sides accept and say so in the agreement. A contractor who will do the repairs, a person paid a share of the claim, or anyone working for one side is likely to draw an objection from the other. Two Nebraska rules point the same way. A licensed public adjuster may not solicit or sign an agreement to repair the same property he or she is adjusting (Neb. Rev. Stat. 44-9204(3)), and a residential contractor may not promise to rebate any part of your deductible (Neb. Rev. Stat. 44-8604).
The award
The award binds only to the extent your agreement says it does. In Rawlings the Supreme Court held that a promise, made in the policy before any dispute, to let appraisers fix the amount of loss takes the question away from the courts and is void. The court's own earlier cases describe arbitration as fine when all parties want it once a dispute exists. Today's Nebraska arbitration act says a written agreement to arbitrate an existing dispute is valid and cannot be revoked at will, and it leaves insurance-policy clauses about future disputes out of the rule that makes those enforceable (Neb. Rev. Stat. 25-2602.01(a), (f)(4)). That fits the after-the-dispute agreement the Department describes. We found no Nebraska decision applying it to a property appraisal, so write the binding effect into the agreement.
Points particular to Nebraska
Neb. Rev. Stat. 44-501 requires fire and lightning policies to follow the 1943 New York standard fire policy as nearly as practicable, with variations the Director of Insurance can approve. The standard form has an appraisal paragraph that either side can invoke. The statute itself says nothing about appraisal, and we found no amendment since 2007.
Nebraska Department of Insurance Guidance Document IGD-C11 (October 20, 2022, replacing bulletin CB-139 of July 9, 2018) says appraisal language that conforms exactly to the standard fire policy would be void under Rawlings. It says fire and lightning policies should allow appraisal only if both parties agree after a dispute arises. The document calls itself advisory, but binding on the agency until amended. As of October 2026 the Department's guidance list still shows it as current.
Rawlings v. Amco was a homeowners tornado claim. The policy clause was the familiar one: either side could demand appraisal, each side named an appraiser within 20 days, and a judge could pick the umpire after 15 days. The court held it void and said the Department's approval of the policy wording did not change that.
Neb. Rev. Stat. 44-501.02 is Nebraska's valued policy law for real property. If a building insured against fire, tornado, windstorm, lightning or explosion is wholly destroyed without criminal fault of the insured, the amount written in the policy is taken as the property's value and the amount of loss. It does not apply to partial losses.
Nebraska regulates contractors who are paid from insurance proceeds. Under the Insured Homeowners Protection Act, a post-loss assignment of claim rights to a residential contractor must reach the insurer within five business days and carry a required notice (Neb. Rev. Stat. 44-8605). A bill in the 2026 session, LB1137, would have banned those assignments. It was indefinitely postponed on April 17, 2026, so the existing rules still apply.
A policy issued outside Nebraska may be treated differently. In Rose v. American Family (Neb. Oct. 6, 2023), an underinsured-motorist case on an Iowa policy, the Supreme Court affirmed a ruling that the policy's two-year suit clause barred the claim. Nebraska's own statute against short suit clauses covers policies issued in Nebraska (Neb. Rev. Stat. 44-357). If your policy was issued elsewhere, read its suit clause closely.
Common losses in Nebraska
Each one links back to how we look at that kind of loss.
Questions
Does my Nebraska homeowners policy have an appraisal clause?
It may, but not in the usual form. Nebraska courts will not enforce a clause that lets either side force appraisal. The Department of Insurance has told insurers to offer appraisal only when both sides agree after a dispute arises. Look for an Appraisal condition and read whether it says appraisal needs mutual consent.
Can I make my insurer go to appraisal in Nebraska?
No. Under Rawlings v. Amco (1989) and the Department's guidance, appraisal needs both sides to agree once the disagreement exists. You can ask, and many carriers say yes, but you cannot compel it.
How long do we have to name an appraiser, and who chooses the umpire?
There is no statutory number. Both come from the agreement you and the insurer sign. Put the days, the appraisers' names, and the way the umpire is chosen in writing before work starts. The policy clause the Supreme Court struck down in Rawlings used 20 and 15 days, but those numbers have no force in Nebraska unless your agreement adopts them.
Can the appraisers decide whether my loss is covered?
No. Appraisal is for the amount of loss. Coverage, policy wording and bad faith stay with the court. Say in the agreement exactly what the panel will decide.
Does agreeing to appraisal pause the deadline to sue in Nebraska?
Not by itself. For a policy issued in Nebraska the time to sue cannot be set below the general five-year contract period, but nothing we found pauses it for appraisal. If you want a pause, put it in the written agreement.
Is an appraisal award binding in Nebraska?
Only as far as your agreement makes it so. Nebraska's arbitration act makes a written agreement to arbitrate an existing dispute enforceable, but we found no Nebraska decision applying that to a property appraisal. State the binding effect in the agreement.
Before you decide anything
Has a claim in Nebraska 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.