djd09
Elite Member
- Joined
- May 20, 2009
- Professional Status
- Licensed Appraiser
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- Ohio
March 16, 2026
The Supreme Court of Texas does not often weigh in on what the meaning of impartial and nonbiased in the property insurance appraisal context. Therefore, insurance lawyers are often required to look “outside the box” to see how a court may analyze impartiality when considering whether an appraiser or umpire should be disqualified or an appraisal award should be vacated. Recently, in Burke, et al. v. Houston PT BAC Office Limited Partnership (Bank of America), No. 24-0135, 2025 WL 3683861, at *1-4 (Tex. Dec. 19, 2025), the Texas Supreme Court provided an opinion assessing impartiality of appraisers in a real estate dispute. While this case does not address insurance appraisal, the analysis will likely be applied in the future.
The parties in Burke agreed that Texas’ arbitration law and its impartiality principles should apply to the analysis. The Court noted that the opinion did not decide whether arbitration principles should apply but instead took the parties at their word and analyzed impartiality in that context. While the Court made that caveat, it is likely courts would apply those standards in the insurance appraisal context.
The Burke decision addresses the duty of neutrality and disclosure in appraisal processes, holding that undisclosed, substantive pre-appointment communications between a party and a proposed “neutral” appraiser can demonstrate partiality warranting vacatur of the appraisal determination under Texas arbitration principles.
Although this case arose in a commercial lease valuation dispute, the Court explicitly relied on impartiality principles from arbitration law at the parties’ behest and reaffirmed that appraisers—like arbitrators—owe duties of impartiality. The ruling has immediate implications for first-party property insurance appraisals in Texas, where appraisals are not arbitrations but remain subject to court intervention where bias or prejudice infects the process.
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Texas Supreme Court Clarifies Neutral-Appraiser Impartiality: Lessons for First-Party Property Insurance Appraisals
The Supreme Court of Texas does not often weigh in on what the meaning of impartial and nonbiased in the property insurance appraisal context. Therefore, insurance lawyers are often required to look “outside the box” to see how a court may analyze impartiality when considering whether an appraiser or umpire should be disqualified or an appraisal award should be vacated. Recently, in Burke, et al. v. Houston PT BAC Office Limited Partnership (Bank of America), No. 24-0135, 2025 WL 3683861, at *1-4 (Tex. Dec. 19, 2025), the Texas Supreme Court provided an opinion assessing impartiality of appraisers in a real estate dispute. While this case does not address insurance appraisal, the analysis will likely be applied in the future.
The parties in Burke agreed that Texas’ arbitration law and its impartiality principles should apply to the analysis. The Court noted that the opinion did not decide whether arbitration principles should apply but instead took the parties at their word and analyzed impartiality in that context. While the Court made that caveat, it is likely courts would apply those standards in the insurance appraisal context.
The Burke decision addresses the duty of neutrality and disclosure in appraisal processes, holding that undisclosed, substantive pre-appointment communications between a party and a proposed “neutral” appraiser can demonstrate partiality warranting vacatur of the appraisal determination under Texas arbitration principles.
Although this case arose in a commercial lease valuation dispute, the Court explicitly relied on impartiality principles from arbitration law at the parties’ behest and reaffirmed that appraisers—like arbitrators—owe duties of impartiality. The ruling has immediate implications for first-party property insurance appraisals in Texas, where appraisals are not arbitrations but remain subject to court intervention where bias or prejudice infects the process.
Texas Supreme Court Clarifies Neutral-Appraiser Impartiality: Lessons for First-Party Property Insurance Appraisals | JD Supra
The Supreme Court of Texas does not often weigh in on what the meaning of impartial and nonbiased in the property insurance appraisal context....
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