
Read & Score an Engineer Report
Introduction

Frequently, an insurance company will hire an outside engineering firm to evaluate a damaged property to determine causation of loss. During the claims process, the interests of the insurance company and the policyholder can be considered "adverse" and there is a possibility of bias on the part of insurance company employees or vendors toward the insurer that hires and pays them.
Tips Recommended by Insurance Claim Experts:
If your insurer assigns an engineer (or other expert) to your claim:
- Request in writing for your insurance company to provide you with the specific language of the expert's assignment: exactly what is the expert assigned to do in your home and for what purpose.
- Notify your insurer in writing that they are to provide you with a copy of the expert's report.
- Contact the assigned engineering firm immediately and give them written notification (and CC
the insurer) that:
- An appointment is required to inspect your property.
- You request a copy of the assigned engineer's CV/Bio listing all qualifications, education and license numbers.
- Your Contractor, Public Adjuster. or Attorney will be present to monitor the inspection.
- The entire inspection will be video recorded.
A WORD ON PEER REVIEW

THE AEREP ANALYSIS TOOL
It can also assist you by confirming the damages and proceeding with assisting your customer. It may tell you that you must do further investigation or that your client needs to retain their own engineer.
The program is part of a simple decision tree in a claims process. Answering the questions in the program generates an analysis of the completeness and objectivity of the engineer report.
Initially review is by the insured, the contractor, and his or her manufacturer representative or specialist. If help is needed, it may also be reviewed by an experienced public adjuster, a trusted consulting engineer, or perhaps by an experienced first party claims plaintiff attorney. Ultimately, if conditions are met, it may involve reporting to the engineer's licensing board disciplinary committee or the APA Special Investigations Unit (SIU) for investigation and possible referral to criminal prosecutors.
Disagreement does not necessarily mean ethics violation or fraud. While you may not like the engineer's findings, that does not mean that he or she did anything wrong. AEREP is merely a tool to indicate areas that should be further investigated to uncover possible issues. As part of that process you may wish to get a second opinion from your own engineer, or retain a professional advocate.
Just reviewing the engineer report does not require understanding the policy. When someone is added who can also review the applicable insurance policy, the review becomes part of the overall claim handling procedure. That means knowing an experienced public adjuster or first party claims attorney. If you don't know a trustworthy engineer, they can recommend one to you.
Breaking Down The Engineer Report
We recommend you find trustworthy associates in your industry to be able to more fully assist Policyholders.- A. Report
Introduction, background, assignment, building location, and weather data.
- B. Inspection
Who, what, when, and photos
- C. Investigation
Damages and causes
- D. Focus
Reveals bias, out-come-oriented approach, or whether proper codes are mentioned and whether the policy is quoted by the Engineer.
- E. Conclusion
Causation and recommended repairs
- F. Summary Score
Totals the positives and negatives for a relative picture of how the Engineer did his or her job. With continued use, the score reveals whether the engineer overcame bias and did their job professionally. It is informative for comparison purposes.
AEREP is an interactive online program. You must register for use and upload the engineer report. All information is 100% secure and confidential. You will be emailed an anonymous report number and have a dashboard to manage the reports you have analyzed. The program itself is a series of questions that guide you through the engineer report, focusing on potential problem areas.
You may choose from two modes; "Preliminary Diagnosis" and "Full Diagnosis". Answer each relevant yes/no question and leave blank the ones that are not relevant or you don't know the answer to; Do not answer them. Each question has a pop-up explanation that you can access by clicking on the information icon. As you answer the questions, you will be alerted to possible action and with whom that action should focus.
You must answer the questions accurately. The more accurate your answers are, the more useful the AEREP tool will be.
Whether you answer Y or N does not mean it is a positive or negative result. Some Y answers are negative outcomes and some N answers are positive. Again, it is recommended to leave the answer field blank if you do not know the answer to a given question.
Be sure to answer questions honestly and professionally, Do not allow possible frustrations to cloud your integrity or adversely skew the AEREP results. As all information is confidential, do not circulate your reports outside of the team of professionals assisting on the claim, or the APA reporting/investigative team.
Once your analysis is submitted, you will receive a confidential email with an anonymous report number. This output summary will contain a listing of all red flags produced in your answers, an explanation of why each is an issue, and a possible course of action to pursue.
Professionals can use AEREP to analyze past reports already in your files. You may be amazed by the results. Please use the feedback survey to alert us to possible ways to improve the program and further benefit policyholders.
A WORD ON BIAS
Bias exists on all sides and can influence not only the results of a report prepared by an engineer for the
insurance company, but also the results of this analysis of that report.
While you may feel you have a vested
interest in the results, it is important that you put your own bias aside when inputting your answers to the
checklist. Answer all questions in a fair and honest manner. When all sides strive to overcome bias, it serves to
benefit individual policyholders and leads to more efficient insurance markets for everyone.
The score total is relative for comparison with other reports. It will aid further professional, civil, or legal consideration. It will also build a database of engineer reports that have been reviewed by someone who saw the loss site. This will be invaluable in assisting consumers during the insurance claims process.
Our thanks to American Policyholder Association’s Doug Quinn and Heather Shapter for their unceasing efforts to help all of us and our clients. APA Board Advisors and APA Professional Members make it possible.
Don Wood, PA, ACA, ASPE
(800) 803-9776
Board Advisor: American Policyholder Association
Board Advisor: American Adjuster Association
ABOUT THE APA
The American Policyholder Association is a non-profit 501c4 watchdog organization that promotes integrity, honesty and best practices in the property loss adjustment sector of the insurance industry.
The APA is primarily focused on protecting consumers from insurer fraud and professional licensing violations which
occur during the claims process and also can be rampant after Natural Disasters.
The APA is comprised of property owner policyholders, non-profit organizations, and advocates whose mission it is to
provide aid to property owners seeking benefits at the time of loss. The APA has been active in individual claims and
natural disasters all over the country. We work in conjunction with Attorneys General, Prosecutors, and Licensing
Disciplinary Boards in our Consumer Protection mission.
JOIN THE APA FOR FREE
APASSOCIATION.ORG/JOIN
"A Consumer's Guide to the American Policyholder
Association", "Tips to Avoid Insurer Fraud After Natural
Disasters", "The APA Carrier Contact Protocol Guide",
"A Consumer's Guide to Self-Advocating in an
Insurance Dispute" and "The APA Engineer Research
and Complaint Portal" available at
apassociation.org/resources

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CONFIDENTIAL: This comparative analysis form is provided for your use by the APA. All information provided will be kept secure and confidential. You may use it in its original form, but do not alter, copy, or republish without written permission from author Don Wood. Complete the form and upload the Engineer Report to the APA portal.
Read & Score an Engineer Report
CONFIDENTIAL: This comparative analysis form is provided for your use by the APA. All information provided will be kept secure and confidential. You may use it in its original form, but do not alter, copy, or republish without written permission from author Don Wood. Complete the form and upload the Engineer Report to the APA portal.
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