Insurance Adjusters - Splitting Baby Settlements vs Claim Adjustment

WTF is "Splitting the Baby"... and how is that considered claim adjustment? Let's have an uncomfortable conversation. A homeowner's estimate is $185,000. The insurance company's estimate is $60,000. Months later—after inspections, engineering reports, requests for information, mediation, appraisal, attorney involvement, and countless hours invested by everyone—the claim settles for $120,000. Everyone congratulates themselves for "reaching a compromise." My question is simple. Was $120,000 ever the correct amount of the loss? Or was it simply the number everyone finally accepted because continuing the fight had become more expensive than ending it? Some will say that's just how litigation and settlement work. They're right. Settlement often involves compromise. Claim adjustment shouldn't. The purpose of claim adjustment is to determine what is owed under the insurance contract based on the evidence. The purpose of settlement is to resolve a dispute. Those are not the same job. Yet somewhere along the way, those two concepts have become blurred. When did we stop asking, "What's the right answer?" ...and start asking, "What's a number everyone can live with?" Building codes don't compromise. Engineering doesn't compromise. Moisture doesn't compromise. Physics doesn't compromise. So why do we sometimes expect indemnity to? This week's NAPAICC Insider explores one of the most common—and least discussed—practices in the property insurance industry. Whether you're a carrier adjuster, independent adjuster, public adjuster, appraiser, attorney, contractor, engineer, or policyholder, I'd like to hear your perspective. Is "splitting the baby" a practical reality of dispute resolution... or evidence that we've confused settlement with proper claim adjustment? Let's have the conversation. #Insurance #PropertyInsurance #InsuranceClaims #ClaimsHandling #ClaimAdjustment #PublicAdjuster #InsuranceAdjuster #Appraisal #Mediation #InsuranceLaw #Construction #BuildingCodes #Engineering #RiskManagement #Leadership #InsuranceIndustry #Policyholders #NAPAICC #NAPAICCInsider #EvidenceNotExhaustion