Ask an Instructor: Effective Date in Cases of Damage
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Tuesday, June 26, 2018 in Ask an Instructor
ISA members are invited to send in their questions on all things appraising and education to ISA's instructors. One of ISA's instructors will share answers on the ISA Now Blog. Please send questions to directorofeducation@isa-appraisers.org.
Question: I'm assisting with a damage claim for my client who suffered the loss when there was a leak in a storage unit. I know the effective date of my appraisal should be the date that the damage occurred, but what if I don’t know the exact date? The damage occurred sometime between when the items were placed in storage on February 3 and when the damage was discovered a few weeks later on February 24. What is the effective date of my appraisal?
Answer: This is a great question that comes up frequently. Since you don't have an exact date of the loss, you would use the date that the damage was discovered as the effective date of your appraisal. In this case, February 24. The only exception may be an instance where the client instructs you to use another date as per their agreement with the storage unit and/or insurance company. Then you would state that the effective date is the date specified by the client.
- Meredith Meuwly, ISA CAPP
Director of Education