An assessment run by a technician appointed and paid by the policyholder, to set a contradictory valuation against the insurer's adjuster.
A second loss assessment restores equality of arms in a claim: the policyholder in turn appoints a technician, who revisits causation, the scope of the damage and the costing, and argues point by point against the insurer's adjuster. The two then work contradictorily, exchange findings and look for agreement, which is reached in the great majority of cases because the gap turns less on facts than on method, the depreciation applied, the scope of reinstatement or the value adopted. Its cost is the main practical obstacle, and it explains why second assessments stay rare on household claims and are nearly systematic on industrial ones. Many policies carry a claimant's expert fees clause, which meets part of the cost up to a percentage of the indemnity. The problem solved is structural: the insurer's adjuster is competent and bound by professional ethics, but is appointed by only one of the two parties to the contract.
After storm Alex of October 2 and 3, 2020, which devastated the Roya and Vesubie valleys and produced about 210 million euros of insured damage on the industry federation's figures, the gap between initial valuations and the real cost of rebuilding in mountain terrain led many claimants to appoint their own expert, the scope of reinstatement being more contested than the cause.
expert d'assuré, expert de partie