In late October 2004 Allstate provided Kacha's attorney, Peter Lawrence, and Dawson with a draft form appraisal award. The form included several pages of damaged items Kacha claimed were covered under the policy, such as kitchen cabinets and flooring, garage cabinets and flooring, and carpet and interior walls. For each item, the form provided: "Damage, if any, to the [e.g., kitchen cabinets] attributable to the fire of October 26, 2003." The form included a line for the entry of a dollar amount for each item.

The appraisal was held at Kacha's home, on November 15 and 16, 2004, and January 4, 2005. Allstate presented an appraisal brief that stated, "[T]his is not your standard appraisal where value of the loss is the only issue; there are still many issues regarding the existence and scope of damage that have not been resolved between the parties. This is due in large part to the insureds' prematurely demanding appraisal without coming to an agreement upon a scope of loss or even providing Allstate with the specifics of their claim." The brief asserted that damage to numerous items was not caused by smoke or heat from the Cedar Fire.

On November 15, Allstate provided the panel members with its draft appraisal award form. The parties had not yet agreed to the form, however, and Judge Joseph instructed them to do so before the conclusion of the hearing.

On November 16, the parties stipulated in writing that the appraisal panel "should utilize replacement cost value less depreciation to determine the actual cash value of the loss." The parties also stipulated to the amount of loss for certain items, including interior light fixtures and cleaning of windows, HVAC ducts and "[o]zone." The same date, Kacha increased the value of his loss to $858,393.87, and that prompted Judge Joseph to schedule the third hearing day.

Claims Recovery

Professional Insurance Evaluations maximizes your insurance policy claims by knowing exactly what is covered in your policy, determining the extent of the damage, and aiding you in any disputed claims resolution process.

Fire Insurance Claims

Professional insurance Evaluations can help with your claims resulting from fire damage. In the event of a fire, often times the damage is severe and the claims large, we can help recover your losses for known and unknown hidden damages to real and personal property.

Business Interruption Claims

Business interruption insurance protects policy holders from losses due to the interruption of business operations. Time element losses of business income, extra expenses, loss of rents or additional living expense are measured and valued.

Expert Witness

An insurance expert witness provides support in a legal case by having knowledge about insurance, claims handling, and insurance policy coverage analysis that can be relied upon in litigation of disputed claims.

Catastrophe Expert

Professional Insurance Evaluations is an expert in insurance policy claims resulting from catastrophe property damage. General adjuster, Kevin Dawson worked on insurance claims resulting from Hurricane Katrina, the San Diego Cedar Fire, and California wild fires and many other catastrophes during his long career serving policy holders and insurance companies.

Water, Smoke, Storm, Vandalism, Vehicle, Explosion Damage Claims

Professional Insurance Evaluations can help recover insurance policy holder claims resulting from water, smoke, storm, vandalism, vehicle, and explosion damage to property and time element losses.