Colorado Insurance Umpires & Appraisers

This directory lists 46 independent insurance umpires and appraisers across 5 Colorado metro areas — Denver, Colorado Springs, Fort Collins, Aurora, Boulder and beyond. Nobody here is ranked, promoted, or placed by payment. Below the search box is a plain-language explanation of how the appraisal clause actually works in Colorado: when a claim reaches the point of needing an umpire, what an umpire can and cannot decide, the impartiality standards the Colorado Division of Insurance and the Colorado Supreme Court have articulated, what the process costs, and the questions worth asking before you engage anyone.

Browse by Metro Area

• Colorado Springs Metro (1)
• Denver Metro (42)
• Fort Collins Metro (1)
• Vail Metro (1)
• denver Metro (1)

The Front Range carries most of Colorado's appraisal volume — start with the Denver metro directory if your loss is in or around the city.

What an Umpire Decides — and What an Umpire Cannot

Appraisal is a valuation mechanism written into your policy, not a substitute for the claim itself. It presupposes that the insurer has accepted that a covered loss occurred and that the remaining fight is about how much that loss is worth. If your insurer has denied the claim outright, appraisal is generally the wrong tool and you are looking at a coverage dispute instead.

An umpire decides the amount of loss. In practice that means the contested pieces of the amount: what work the repair actually requires (scope), how many squares, sheets, and linear feet it takes (quantities), which method is appropriate (repair versus replacement, cleaning versus tear-out), and what those items should cost in this market (unit pricing, including labor burden and overhead and profit where the estimates diverge).

An umpire does not represent you. This is the single most common misunderstanding, and it matters enough to say plainly: the umpire is the neutral third party, appointed to break a deadlock between two party-appointed appraisers. Your appraiser is the one you engage on your side. The umpire is not your advocate, is not the insurer's advocate, and should be neither. An umpire also does not interpret the policy, decide whether coverage exists, negotiate a settlement, or rule on whether the insurer handled your claim badly. Those questions live with the parties, with the Division of Insurance, or with a court.

One Colorado wrinkle is worth knowing before you assume the “amount, not coverage” line is clean. In BonBeck Parker, LLC v. Travelers Indemnity Co. of America (10th Cir. 2021), applying Colorado law, the court held that a policy's amount-of-loss appraisal clause unambiguously encompassed causation disputes — the insurer had conceded hail caused some damage but argued the rest was wear and tear, and refused appraisal unless the appraisers were barred from deciding causation. The court held the insurer breached the appraisal provision. So in Colorado, deciding what caused the damage can fall inside the panel's job even though interpreting the policy does not. If you want the boundary explained at length, see the Colorado appraiser vs. public adjuster guide.

When a Colorado Claim Actually Needs an Umpire

You do not need an umpire because you and your insurer disagree. You need an umpire because the two appraisers have worked the file, exchanged positions, and genuinely cannot close the gap. Invoking too early tends to produce procedural fights over an incomplete record; waiting too long lets both sides harden. The realistic trigger is: estimates have been exchanged, the appraisers have talked directly, and a defined set of items is still open. Colorado disputes tend to stall on a recognizable short list:

• Roof scope on a Front Range hail claim — repair a slope versus replace the roof, and how many test squares establish the pattern of damage.
• Matching — whether adjacent undamaged slopes, elevations, or interior surfaces have to be replaced to achieve a reasonably uniform appearance, and how far that obligation extends.
• Code-driven upgrades — ice-and-water shield, decking, ventilation, or fastening requirements triggered by a Colorado jurisdiction's adopted code, and whether those costs belong in the amount of loss.
• Wildfire smoke and heat damage — the cleaning-versus-replacement question on contents, framing, ductwork, and finishes in structures that did not burn.
• Hidden and secondary damage — water that traveled, substrate that was only visible after tear-off, or structural findings that surfaced in an engineering report after the original estimate.
• Unit pricing and O&P — line-item price gaps, labor burden, and whether general contractor overhead and profit apply to the job as scoped.
• HOA and multi-building losses — shared roofs and common elements that force cost allocation across buildings, plus repair sequencing and access constraints.
• Competing engineering conclusions — two reports that disagree on causation or on the repair the structure requires.

Hail is the dominant driver on the Front Range, and Colorado also generates a steady volume of wind, wind-driven rain, freeze, and post-wildfire disputes in the foothills and mountain communities. For loss-type background see the Colorado hail damage claim appraisal guide, the national hail damage claim guide, and the wind damage claim guide.

How the Appraisal Clause Works in Colorado

Appraisal in Colorado is a creature of your insurance contract. There is no Colorado statute that sets up the process, defines who may serve, or tells the panel how to behave — the clause in your policy does that work. The Colorado Supreme Court quoted a representative clause in Owners Insurance Co. v. Dakota Station II Condominium Association, 2019 CO 65, and it is a useful map of the whole mechanism:

“If [the insurer] and [the insured] disagree on the value of the property or the amount of loss, either may make a written demand for an appraisal of loss. In this event, each party will select a competent and impartial appraiser. The two appraisers will select an umpire. If they cannot agree, either may request that selection be made by a judge of a court having jurisdiction. The appraisers will state separately the value of the property and amount of loss. If they fail to agree, they will submit their differences to the umpire. A decision agreed to by any two will be binding.”

Reading that clause as a sequence:

1. Coverage is accepted. The insurer agrees a covered loss occurred and the remaining disagreement is about value or amount.
2. Either party demands appraisal in writing. Not just the policyholder — insurers invoke it too. Send the demand so you can prove delivery.
3. Each side names a competent and impartial appraiser. You pay yours; the insurer pays its own.
4. The two appraisers select the umpire. They may communicate directly with each other and often settle the file at this stage without ever reaching the umpire.
5. If they cannot agree on an umpire, a court appoints one. Either party may ask a judge of a court having jurisdiction. In Dakota Station itself the appraisers deadlocked on the umpire and the court made the appointment.
6. The appraisers state their values separately and submit differences. The umpire reviews the competing positions and the supporting record.
7. Any two of the three sign, and the award binds. Unanimity is not required. In Dakota Station the umpire adopted the insurer appraiser's figures in four of six cost categories and the policyholder appraiser's in the other two; the insurer's appraiser refused to sign, the other two signed, and the award — nearly $3 million in replacement cost — stood.

Treat the award as difficult to undo. Before invoking, it is worth a sober look at whether the disputed gap is large enough to justify your appraiser's fee plus your share of the umpire's — on a small claim the process can cost more than it recovers. The step-by-step walkthrough lives in the Colorado appraisal clause guide and the Colorado insurance appraisal process guide.

Impartiality Standards That Apply in Colorado

This is the part of the Colorado picture that is hardest to find anywhere else, and it comes from two places — the policy contract as the Colorado Supreme Court reads it, and guidance from the Colorado Division of Insurance.

The contract standard: Dakota Station

Because most Colorado policies require a “competent and impartial appraiser,” the meaning of that phrase is the operative standard. In Dakota Station (2019 CO 65) the Colorado Supreme Court held that the policy requires appraisers to be unbiased, disinterested, and unswayed by personal interest; that they must not favor one side more than another; and that this means no advocacy on behalf of either party. That is a strict reading, and it applies to the appraiser you hire as much as to the insurer's.

Two qualifications keep this honest. First, the court grounded the duty in the contract, not in Colorado law generally — it said expressly that it had not established a general duty of impartiality applicable to appraisers. Second, on the facts before it, the court declined to hold that a fee agreement capping the appraiser's fee at a percentage of the award rendered her partial as a matter of law, where the cap was never initialed, the award never reached it, and the parties did not believe it was in effect. So a contingency arrangement is a serious question to ask about, not an automatic disqualification under Colorado law.

The Division's guidance: Bulletin B-5.26

The Colorado Division of Insurance (within DORA) issued Bulletin No. B-5.26, “Requirements Related to Disputed Claims Subject to Appraisal”. Its own history section records issuance on March 9, 2011 and re-issues on December 1, 2014 and October 26, 2015. The 2015 re-issue broadened it: the earlier version addressed insurers only, while the current one applies to property and casualty insurers providing property coverage, to the insured, and to the insured's representatives, including licensed public adjusters.

What it says about appraisers: an appraiser is considered fair and competent if he or she is not a party to the insurance contract, has no financial interest in the outcome of the appraisal, is not a current employee of the insurer or policyholder, and is not a family member or someone with whom the insured has a personal relationship that could reasonably suggest bias. An appraiser may not have a direct material interest in the amounts determined by the process, must disclose known facts affecting that interest — expressly including any contingency arrangement related to payment of the appraiser — and has a continuing obligation to disclose facts learned after accepting the appointment.

What it says about umpires: the umpire may not have an existing direct or material relationship with any party to the appraisal and must remain neutral, and must disclose known facts a reasonable person would consider likely to affect impartiality — including a financial or personal interest in the outcome, and a current or previous relationship with any of the parties, their counsel or representatives (including licensed public adjusters), a witness, or another appraiser. That duty also continues after appointment.

What it says about ex parte contact: the insurer and its adjusters, the insured and their representatives (including licensed public adjusters and attorneys), and the appraisers must not have ex parte communications with the umpire during the appraisal process, and the umpire is not to communicate with those parties without both sides participating. Each side may communicate directly with its own appraiser; neither should communicate with the other side's appraiser without consent and participation. The two appraisers, though, are expressly free to talk to each other to try to reach an agreed amount.

Read the bulletin for what it is. The Division states in B-5.26 itself that bulletins are its interpretations of existing insurance law or general statements of Division policy, and that bulletins “establish neither binding norms nor finally determine issues or rights.” B-5.26 is guidance, not a regulation with the force of law. That is not a small caveat: there is no appraiser or umpire impartiality provision anywhere in Colorado's Property and Casualty insurance regulations at 3 CCR 702-5, and repeated legislative attempts to codify appraiser and umpire conduct in Colorado have failed in committee rather than becoming law. Colorado's impartiality standard is therefore contractual — your policy's words, read the way the Supreme Court read them — plus non-binding Division guidance.

There is also a still-good procedural rule with a long pedigree. In Providence Washington Insurance Co. v. Gulinson (Colo. 1923), an award was held invalid where one appraiser met with the umpire and agreed on the amount of loss without notice to the second appraiser. Dakota Station expressly preserved that holding, confining it to notice issues. An umpire in Colorado may not cut the second appraiser out of the process. For more on how Colorado law frames the appraisal process generally, see the Colorado insurance appraisal law guide.

What the Award Settles — and What It Leaves Open

An appraisal award fixes an amount. It is not a general release, and Colorado law keeps several things outside it.

In Andres Trucking Co. v. United Fire & Casualty Co., 2018 COA 144, the Colorado Court of Appeals treated the appraisal as having determined the value of the insured property while leaving the insurer's liability for breach of contract, and its exposure under Colorado's statutory unreasonable delay or denial provisions, for the district court — affirming the order approving the appraisal value but reversing and remanding for reinstatement of the insured's complaint.

Those statutory provisions are worth knowing about. C.R.S. 10-3-1115 and 10-3-1116 let a first-party claimant whose claim for payment of benefits has been unreasonably delayed or denied bring an action in district court to recover reasonable attorney fees and court costs and two times the covered benefit, in addition to the covered benefit itself. Exemplary damages are not available under that cause of action, and a court that finds the action frivolous shall award costs and fees to the defendant. In Rooftop Restoration, Inc. v. American Family Mutual Insurance Co., 2018 CO 44, the Colorado Supreme Court held that the one-year limitation period for actions on penal statutes does not apply to a claim under 10-3-1116(1). Separately, the general limitations period for suing on a contract in Colorado — including an insurance policy — is three years under C.R.S. 13-80-101(1)(a).

None of that is legal advice, and whether any of it applies to your claim is a question for a Colorado attorney. It is here because policyholders routinely assume that signing an award ends everything, and in Colorado that assumption has been tested and rejected.

Appraisal and Colorado's 60-Day Prompt-Payment Clock

Colorado Insurance Regulation 5-1-14 (3 CCR 702-5), “Penalties for Failure to Promptly Address Property and Casualty First Party Claims,” requires insurers to make a decision on claims or pay benefits due under the policy within sixty days after receipt of a valid and complete claim, unless there is a reasonable dispute between the parties and the insured has complied with the policy terms. For claims over $100 the regulation provides eight percent annual interest on benefits due, plus a civil penalty of up to $100 per day payable to the Division.

The non-obvious part is how appraisal interacts with that clock, and it cuts both ways. The regulation expressly counts “negotiations or appraisals ... in process to determine the value of a claim” as a reasonable dispute, and it treats a claim as not yet valid and complete until “negotiations or appraisals to determine the value of the claim have been completed.” Invoking appraisal suspends the sixty-day obligation; completing it restarts the clock. Bulletin B-5.26 points at the same regulation from the other side, noting that once a value is agreed through the appraisers or the umpire, the insurer must comply with these clean-claim standards.

What an Umpire Reviews — and What to Have Ready

An umpire works from the record the two appraisers build. The more organized that record is, the faster and cheaper the process runs. Expect the umpire to work through categories like these:

• Scope of loss — which components were damaged, and which are in dispute.
• Repair method — repair versus replace, clean versus tear out, and the basis for choosing.
• Quantities — squares, linear feet, sheets, fixture counts, and the measurements behind them.
• Unit pricing — line-item costs, labor burden, and overhead and profit, benchmarked to the local market.
• Building systems — roofing and envelope, mechanical, electrical and plumbing, fire protection, and interior finishes.
• Engineering conclusions — where two reports disagree on causation or required repair.
• Sequencing and access — how the work has to be staged, particularly on multi-building and occupied properties.

Documentation that carries weight, and that is worth assembling before your appraiser asks: dated photographs and video (including drone imagery of roofs), the carrier's estimate and your contractor's estimate in line-item form, roof and envelope inspection reports, engineering reports, plans and as-builts, moisture mapping and drying logs, thermal imaging, smoke or environmental testing results, a personal property inventory, invoices and receipts for completed and emergency work, and any correspondence establishing what the insurer said and when.

What Appraisal Costs in Colorado

You pay your own appraiser. The umpire's fee is normally shared between you and the insurer under the standard clause, though the exact allocation depends on your policy language.

Across the appraisal market, umpires commonly charge a flat fee of roughly $500 to $3,000 for a residential dispute, an hourly rate of roughly $200 to $500, or a daily rate; hybrid schedules (a flat amount covering an initial block of hours, hourly beyond it) are common too. Commercial losses, claims requiring an independent inspection, and disputes with hundreds of contested line items regularly run $5,000 or more. Because the umpire fee is split, a policyholder's out-of-pocket share on a typical residential dispute is roughly $250 to $1,500 — usually the smallest line in the process, since your own appraiser generally costs more than your share of the umpire. The full breakdown, including what pushes a fee up or down, is in the umpire cost FAQ.

One structural point outranks the dollar figure: nothing about an umpire's fee should move with the size of the award. A percentage or contingent fee gives the neutral a financial stake in the number, which is incompatible with the role. Bulletin B-5.26 asks appraisers to disclose any contingency arrangement related to their payment, and the Colorado Supreme Court's reading of “impartial” in Dakota Station — unbiased, disinterested, unswayed by personal interest — points the same way. Get a flat, hourly, or daily schedule in writing before work begins.

How We Compiled These Figures

The fee ranges above were compiled in August 2026 from fee schedules published by appraisal and umpire practices across multiple states, together with fee terms recorded in public court filings. They describe what the market commonly charges — they are not PropertyUmpire's rates, and PropertyUmpire does not set, collect, or take any share of any professional's fee. Individual umpires set their own rates and any specific engagement may fall outside these ranges. Always confirm the actual fee schedule in writing with the professional before work begins.

Questions to Ask Before You Engage Someone in Colorado

PropertyUmpire does not rate, rank, or recommend anyone, and it will not tell you who is “best.” What it can do is tell you what to ask. These questions map directly onto the standards above:

1. Will you put your disclosure in writing? Ask for the B-5.26-style statement: financial or personal interest in the outcome, and any current or previous relationship with either party, their counsel or representatives, a public adjuster on the file, a witness, or the other appraiser.
2. What happens if a conflict surfaces mid-process? The disclosure duty the bulletin describes is continuing. A candidate who treats disclosure as a one-time form at intake has not internalized the standard.
3. How is your fee structured? Flat, hourly, or daily — and confirm explicitly that no part of it varies with the size of the award.
4. What is your experience with this loss type and this building? Front Range hail on an asphalt roof, wildfire smoke in an unburned structure, a commercial MEP loss, and an HOA multi-building claim are genuinely different problems.
5. What credentials do you hold, and can I verify them? Colorado licenses public adjusters under C.R.S. 10-2-417, so a PA license can be checked. Certifications such as IAUA designations are issued by the certifying body and can be confirmed with it. There is no Colorado license or public roster for the appraiser or umpire role itself, so verification is credential-by-credential.
6. Are you available on the timeline this claim needs? Scheduling is a common and avoidable source of delay.
7. Can you provide references from prior engagements? Ask, and follow up on the answers.

A fuller vetting checklist is in how to choose an insurance appraiser in Colorado.

Where Licensing Actually Stands in Colorado

Colorado does license public adjusters. Under C.R.S. 10-2-417, a person may not act as or hold themselves out to be a public adjuster without a license. Licensees must maintain a surety bond of at least $20,000 in favor of the state, recoverable by the commissioner for persons damaged by the adjuster's erroneous acts, failure to act, or conviction of fraud or unfair practices. The statute also sets conduct rules that are useful to know: in the event of a catastrophic disaster no public adjuster may charge or accept compensation in excess of ten percent of any insurance settlement or proceeds; no public adjuster may require, demand, or accept any fee, retainer, compensation, deposit, or other thing of value before a claim is settled; contracts must be in writing setting out all terms, with a 72-hour right to rescind; and a public adjuster must not participate directly or indirectly in the reconstruction, repair, or restoration of the damaged property that is the subject of the claim, or hold a financial interest in any aspect of the claim beyond the agreed fee.

What Colorado does not have is a license, registry, or roster for the appraiser or umpire role. Those appointments come from the policy contract and, when the appraisers deadlock, from a court. Colorado also publishes no bulk license file for this profession, which is why the listings in this directory are compiled and re-verified record by record rather than pulled from a state feed — and why the pages here describe professionals by the credentials their own records support rather than asserting licensure across the board. Some Colorado professionals listed here hold a state public-adjuster license; others are certification-anchored. Check each profile.

Frequently Asked Questions

Sources

Legal and regulatory statements on this page trace to primary Colorado sources: Colorado Division of Insurance Bulletin No. B-5.26, “Requirements Related to Disputed Claims Subject to Appraisal” (issued March 9, 2011; re-issued December 1, 2014 and October 26, 2015); Colorado Insurance Regulation 5-1-14, 3 CCR 702-5 (effective September 1, 2012); C.R.S. 10-2-417, 10-3-1115, 10-3-1116, and 13-80-101(1)(a); Owners Insurance Co. v. Dakota Station II Condominium Association, 2019 CO 65; Providence Washington Insurance Co. v. Gulinson, 215 P. 154 (Colo. 1923); Rooftop Restoration, Inc. v. American Family Mutual Insurance Co., 2018 CO 44; Andres Trucking Co. v. United Fire & Casualty Co., 2018 COA 144; and BonBeck Parker, LLC v. Travelers Indemnity Co. of America, No. 20-1192 (10th Cir. 2021). Bulletins are Division guidance and not binding law; regulations and statutes are current as of the compilation date but may be amended. This page is general information about how the appraisal process works in Colorado, not legal advice about your claim.

Resources for Policyholders

• Colorado Appraisal Clause Guide — the clause, step by step
• Colorado Insurance Appraisal Process — what happens from demand to award
• Colorado Insurance Appraisal Law — the legal backdrop in one place
• How to Choose an Insurance Appraiser — the full vetting checklist
• Appraiser vs. Public Adjuster — which professional you actually need
• Colorado Hail Damage Claim Appraisal — disputing an underpaid Front Range hail claim
• How Much Does an Insurance Umpire Cost? — sourced fee ranges and who pays
• Guides and resources hub — everything else