The 2026 Appraisal Map: Texas, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma and Colorado

State by state

Texas: the broadest right to compel

The Supreme Court of Texas decided In re ACE American Insurance Co. on May 8, 2026 ¹. A water line serving the fire suppression system at a Dallas food distribution warehouse ruptured beneath the slab. The insurers paid about $1.2 million for mold remediation; the insured claimed the full $10 million mold sublimit. The trial court refused to compel appraisal, and the Supreme Court conditionally granted mandamus directing it to do so ¹.

The opinion contains three holdings of practical importance:

1. Coverage questions do not block appraisal at the outset. “[P]otential coverage disputes do not defeat a contractual right to appraisal” ¹.
2. A disagreement is enough. The Court held that “an impasse is not the same as a disagreement about the amount of loss, which is all that is required” ¹.
3. Alleged bad faith is not an exception. The Court recognized two limited exceptions, illegality and waiver, and held that an insurer’s alleged bad faith in handling a claim is not a third. It also held that the appraisal provision “contains no exception for disputes that involve complex technical issues” ¹.

Separately, SB 458 (2025) added Chapter 1813, Appraisal of Disputed Losses, to the Texas Insurance Code. It requires an appraisal provision in personal automobile and residential property policies and excludes commercial policies and policies issued by the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association. It directs the Commissioner of Insurance to adopt rules, including a deadline for completing an appraisal ². Confirm the current rule text with the Texas Department of Insurance before relying on any deadline. Fee exposure after an award is covered in the six state penalty and fee comparison.

Missouri: coverage first, then amount

Missouri takes a narrower view. In Brewer v. State Farm Fire & Casualty Co., the Western District reversed a judgment appointing an umpire because the dispute turned on significant questions about which repairs the policy covered ³. Appraisal resolves the amount of a covered loss, not liability or coverage, and letting appraisers decide coverage would conflict with Missouri’s statutory bar on arbitration of insurance contracts, Mo. Rev. Stat. § 435.350 ³.

In the Kansas City metropolitan area, a single storm can produce claims governed by both Missouri and Kansas law. Counsel should confirm which state’s law governs the policy before demanding or resisting appraisal.

Kansas: the assignment ban

Kansas changed who may stand in the insured’s shoes. SB 55 prohibits soliciting or accepting an assignment of post-loss benefits under a residential property policy, makes such an assignment void, and treats it as an unfair practice. Assignments to a federally insured financial institution, a mortgagee or a subsequent purchaser are excepted, and the Senate committee removed commercial property from the bill ⁴. Contractors on residential losses in Kansas must therefore deal with the homeowner rather than take an assignment of the claim.

Oklahoma: reform stalled

The Oklahoma Insurance Department’s 2026 legislative package included a Homeowner Claims Bill of Rights, a mediation program and shorter claim deadlines ⁶. HB 2933 carried much of it, but the bill did not become law before the 2026 session ended ⁵.

Colorado: binding appraisal postponed

Colorado HB26-1247 would have required homeowner’s policies issued or renewed on or after January 1, 2027, to include a binding appraisal process that either party could invoke. Appraisal would have determined the amount of loss, causation and the necessary scope of repair, but not coverage. Each appraiser would have had to be fair and competent, and the process would have had to finish within four months after the umpire’s selection. The House Business Affairs and Labor Committee postponed the bill indefinitely on March 25, 2026 ⁷.

Causation: the question most hail appraisals turn on

In contested hail and wind appraisals, the central question is often how much of the damage the storm caused. Courts differ on how far appraisers may go in answering it.

• Texas has held since State Farm Lloyds v. Johnson that appraisal necessarily includes some causation element, because setting the amount of loss requires separating covered damage from everything else ¹.
• The Seventh Circuit, applying Indiana law to hail damaged roofs, held in July 2025 that appraisers may determine the cause of loss as part of determining the amount of loss ⁸.
• Illinois: the Second District reached a similar result in 2025 ⁹.
• Missouri takes the narrowest view in this region. When causation becomes a dispute over what the policy covers, it goes to the court ³.

On authority: the Texas and Missouri decisions are state law and bind courts in those states. The Seventh Circuit decision is a federal court applying Indiana law; it is persuasive, not binding, elsewhere, and it does not bind federal courts in the Eighth or Tenth Circuits, which include Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Colorado. The Illinois decision binds Illinois courts.

The appraisal demand and the instructions to the panel also matter. An award that itemizes what the panel included and excluded, and why, gives a reviewing court a record to evaluate. A single unexplained figure is more open to challenge.

What this means on a file

1. Check venue before demanding or resisting appraisal. The same facts can produce opposite results in Texas and Missouri.
2. Frame the dispute deliberately. In Texas, a dispute that is partly about amount will likely go to appraisal. In Missouri, a documented coverage question can keep it in court.
3. Itemize causation. Ask the panel to show what it included, what it excluded and why.
4. Watch the calendar. Texas rules under Chapter 1813, and any Oklahoma claims bill filed in a future session, can change the timing of a demand.
5. Consider the record. A credible award depends on scope, pricing and causation findings that withstand review.

Common questions

Can an insurer avoid appraisal in Texas by raising coverage or bad faith?

Generally no. In In re ACE American Insurance Co. (Tex. May 8, 2026), the Supreme Court of Texas held that potential coverage disputes do not defeat a contractual right to appraisal and recognized only illegality and waiver as exceptions.

Will a Missouri court compel appraisal when coverage is disputed?

Not when the dispute turns on significant questions about what the policy covers. In Brewer v. State Farm Fire & Casualty Co. (Mo. Ct. App. 2022), the court held that appraisal resolves the amount of a covered loss, not coverage.

Can appraisers decide causation?

It depends on the jurisdiction. Texas treats some causation element as part of setting the amount of loss. The Seventh Circuit, applying Indiana law, and an Illinois appellate court have allowed appraisers to consider causation. Missouri sends causation disputes that become coverage disputes to the courts.

Working with Okla Risk Advisors

Okla Risk Advisors is available to counsel representing policyholders or insurers, and to adjusting firms and public adjusters, in Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Texas and Colorado:

• Appraiser and umpire services on residential and commercial losses
• Umpire rules by state, 2026
• Expert witness consulting and testimony on claim handling, scope, pricing and causation
• Independent claim file and estimate review before a demand or response

To discuss a file or a question, email chrischambers@oklariskadvisors.com or use the contact page. The firm accepts engagements from either side of a dispute.

About the author

Chris Chambers is an Executive General Adjuster and the founder of Okla Risk Advisors. He has more than 25 years of catastrophe property and casualty experience and has deployed to many of the large-scale U.S. disasters since 2004. He holds an MLS in Indigenous Peoples Law from the University of Oklahoma, is a member of the Oklahoma Indian Bar Association, and is an enrolled citizen of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. He holds NFIP certification at all four levels and FEMA IS-318.b certification.

This article is general information, not legal advice. Authorities are current as of October 21, 2026.

Sources

1. In re ACE Am. Ins. Co., No. 25-0461 (Tex. May 8, 2026) (citing State Farm Lloyds v. Johnson, 290 S.W.3d 886 (Tex. 2009)). State supreme court
2. Tex. S.B. 458, 89th Leg., R.S. (2025) (adding Tex. Ins. Code ch. 1813), bill analysis. State statute
3. Brewer v. State Farm Fire & Cas. Co., No. WD84331 (Mo. Ct. App. Mar. 8, 2022); Mo. Rev. Stat. § 435.350. Discussed in Knight Nicastro, Missouri Court Clarifies Role of Appraisal Provisions. State appellate court; state statute
4. Kan. S.B. 55 (2026), bill history and supplemental note. State statute
5. Okla. H.B. 2933, 60th Leg., 2d Sess. (2026), bill history. State bill, not enacted
6. Okla. Ins. Dep’t, 2026 legislative package (Dec. 10, 2025). State agency release
7. Colo. H.B. 26-1247 (2026), bill history. State bill, not enacted
8. Mesco Mfg., LLC v. Motorists Mut. Ins. Co., No. 24-1307 (7th Cir. July 25, 2025), opinion. Federal court applying state law
9. Zhao v. State Farm Fire & Cas. Co., 2025 IL App (2d) 240723, summary. State appellate court