{"id":906017,"date":"2026-08-18T16:33:49","date_gmt":"2026-08-18T22:33:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/?p=906017"},"modified":"2026-08-18T16:33:51","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T22:33:51","slug":"binding-appraisal-ohio-supreme-court-reinforces-finality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/binding-appraisal-ohio-supreme-court-reinforces-finality\/","title":{"rendered":"Ohio Supreme Court Reinforces Finality of Binding Appraisal Awards"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Spencer Sukel | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fmglaw.com\/insurance\/ohio-supreme-court-reinforces-finality-of-binding-appraisal-awards\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Freeman Mathis &amp; Gary<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>May a policyholder set aside a binding appraisal award by alleging additional real property damage was discovered after the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/compelling-appraisal-not-final-appealable-order\/\">appraisal<\/a> process was completed? As of July 23, 2026, the Supreme Court of Ohio says\u00a0<em>no<\/em>, absent corruption or gross mistake\u2014not a mere error of judgment\u2014a policyholder may not. And when pleading mistake, a policyholder must do so with that degree of particularity as required by fraud under Civ.R. 9(B);\u00a0<em>i.e.\u00a0<\/em>plead the who, what, when, where, and how.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In February 2019, an Ohio-based real property owner (\u201cInsured\u201d) sustained alleged windstorm damage and submitted a claim under its insurance policy issued by an Indiana-based insurer (\u201cCarrier\u201d). After the parties disagreed about the value of the loss, Insured invoked the policy\u2019s appraisal clause. Each side selected an appraiser, whom both agreed the value was $313,371.98. Carrier then paid Insured for that amount. Several months later, Insured alleged it discovered \u201cadditional hidden damages\u201d and sought more than $206,000 in additional proceeds. When Carrier refused to pay, Insured sued for breach of contract, bad faith, and declaratory judgment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After answering, Carrier moved for judgment on the pleadings. The trial court granted Carrier\u2019s motion, noting the generally binding nature of appraisal awards and absence of indicia of fraud or mistake. Insured appealed and Ohio\u2019s Tenth Appellate District reversed, concluding that\u2014although appraisal awards are generally binding\u2014Insured had pled mistake with sufficient particularity. Carrier then appealed the Tenth District, and the Supreme Court of Ohio reversed, reinstating the trial court\u2019s dismissal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Court\u2019s analysis rests on one clear principal:&nbsp; Binding appraisal awards are meant to be just that\u2014<em>binding<\/em>. Therefore, Ohio courts may not set aside an appraisal award unless a third party\u2019s error was patent and egregious, such as in the case of corruption or gross mistake\u2014but&nbsp;<em>not&nbsp;<\/em>a mere error of judgment. In turn, policyholders\u2019 complaints challenging appraisal awards, such as Insured\u2019s, will not survive early dismissal attempts absent claims of fraud or mistake. And as to the latter, the Court held that complaints alleging mistake must meet the same heightened standard as fraud;&nbsp;<em>i.e.&nbsp;<\/em>plead the who, what, when, where, and how. But Insured just pled the appraisal award was incomplete. As a result, Insured\u2019s complaint failed to state a claim, requiring dismissal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For insurers, the Court\u2019s holding is significant primarily for two reasons.&nbsp;<em>First<\/em>, the Court confirmed that appraisal is a mechanism that insurers can confidently rely on to achieve finality in valuation disputes. Indeed, Courts may not disturb an award absent the aforementioned extraordinary circumstances, which a policyholder\u2019s allegations of \u201cadditional discovered damage\u201d do not automatically satisfy.&nbsp;<em>Second<\/em>, and relatedly, a policyholder seeking to set aside an award may only do so if they meet Civ.R. 9(B)\u2019s heightened pleading standard. Practically, this means insurers may more ably seek early dismissal under Civ.R. 12(B)(6) or (C) where policyholders attempt to avoid appraisal awards through threadbare allegations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Insurer(s) Involved in the Case:<\/strong>&nbsp;Brotherhood Mutual Insurance Company<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Case:<\/strong>&nbsp;<em>One Church v. Bhd. Mut. Ins. Co.<\/em>, Slip Opinion No. 2026-Ohio-2764.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>When one of your cases is in need of a construction expert, estimates, insurance appraisal or umpire services in defect or insurance disputes &#8211; please call Advise &amp; Consult, Inc. at 801.641.8304, or email <a href=\"mailto:experts@adviseandconsult.net\">experts@adviseandconsult.net<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Spencer Sukel | Freeman Mathis &amp; Gary May a policyholder set aside a binding appraisal award by alleging additional real property damage was discovered after the appraisal process was completed? As of July 23, 2026, the Supreme Court of Ohio says\u00a0no, absent corruption or gross mistake\u2014not a mere error of judgment\u2014a policyholder may not. And&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/binding-appraisal-ohio-supreme-court-reinforces-finality\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Ohio Supreme Court Reinforces Finality of Binding Appraisal Awards<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[10721,10235],"tags":[9895,22,131,9120],"class_list":["post-906017","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-insurance","category-insurance-appraisal","tag-advise-consult","tag-insurance","tag-insurance-appraisal","tag-ohio","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Ohio Supreme Court Reinforces Finality of Binding Appraisal Awards - Advise &amp; 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