The carrier’s number isn’t “the number.”
You filed a claim. The carrier accepted it — and then wrote a check that doesn’t come close to what it actually costs to repair the damage. This is different from a denial. Nobody told you no. They told you a number, and the implicit message is: this is what we’re paying, and good luck arguing with us.
That’s not how the contract works. Your policy obligates the carrier to pay the reasonable cost to repair or replace covered damage. When the carrier’s estimate is materially below that cost, it’s a breach of contract on scope — not a take-it-or-leave-it. Arizona law gives you tools: the right to demand appraisal, the right to a supplement when more damage is found, and the right to recover depreciation that’s been held back. We use them.
Five signs the carrier’s number is short
- The estimate is more than 20% below a licensed contractor’s written estimate for the same scope.
- The estimate was “Xactimate’d” — line items dropped or zeroed out, unit prices below market, no waste allowance, no overhead and profit even on a complex job.
- You submitted a supplement for damage found during repair, and the carrier denied it, ignored it, or paid a fraction without a real explanation.
- You’re on a replacement-cost (RCV) policy and the carrier treats recoverable depreciation as discretionary, making you fight to release the holdback.
- The adjuster went silent after you pushed back. The file is “with management” indefinitely.
When underpayment or delay becomes bad faith
Arizona is one of the stronger states in the country for policyholders, because it treats first-party insurance bad faith as a tort, not just a contract breach. Under Zilisch v. State Farm (2000), an insurer must investigate and evaluate a claim reasonably and promptly pay what it owes — and it “cannot lowball claims or delay claims hoping the insured will settle for less.” A claim being “fairly debatable” is relevant, but it does not automatically excuse unreasonable claim handling.
That matters for your recovery. A straight contract claim recovers the benefits the carrier should have paid. A bad-faith claim can recover more — consequential damages the delay caused, and in cases of especially egregious conduct, punitive damages. And on the contract claim, A.R.S. § 12-341.01 lets the court award your attorney’s fees. Together, those change the leverage: the carrier is no longer just risking the number it already owes.
What happens when you call us
- We compare the carrier’s estimate to your contractor’s, read your policy declarations, and identify the specific line items, depreciation, and supplements in dispute. Free.
- Within 48 hours we call you with a straight read: how much money is actually on the table, and what it would cost to go get it.
- If we take the case, you sign a contingency-fee agreement. No fee unless we recover.
- We pick the cheapest path to the right number — sometimes a demand letter and a corrected payment, sometimes appraisal, sometimes litigation with the bad-faith claim attached.
If your claim was denied outright rather than underpaid, start with our denied-claim page.
