Cash a binding appraisal check, Ohio's top court says, and you cannot pry it back open over damage you find later.
The Supreme Court of Ohio ruled on July 23, 2026, that a church could not make its insurer pay more after both sides had already settled a storm claim through binding appraisal.
It began with a February 2019 windstorm that damaged several buildings owned by One Church, insured under a property policy with Brotherhood Mutual Insurance Company. When the two could not agree on the size of the loss, One Church triggered the appraisal clause in its policy.
The clause was straightforward. If the parties disagreed on the amount, either could demand appraisal. Each side picked its own independent appraiser, and if the appraisers agreed on a figure, that figure bound everyone.
The appraisers inspected the property and agreed on a loss of $313,271.98. In August 2020, Brotherhood paid $312,371.98 - the award minus a $900 deductible - and One Church cashed the check.
In February 2021, One Church sued, saying "additional hidden damages were discovered" and that Brotherhood owed another $206,663.09. Brotherhood refused.
A trial court backed the insurer, finding no "evidence of fraud, misfeasance, or mistake" to justify reopening the appraisal. An appeals court reversed. The Supreme Court has now reversed again and reinstated the dismissal.
For claims teams, the reasoning is the story. A binding appraisal is binding, the court held, and a judge will intervene only where an error undermines the whole deal, "such as corruption in the [third party] or gross mistake" - not a mere difference of judgment.
One Church said it had pleaded "mistake," which can unwind an appraisal. It hadn't, the court found. The complaint never used the word, and never said who found the extra damage, how, where, or why it stayed hidden. A manifest mistake, the court noted, is one the "appraiser would have corrected...had it been called to his attention." Spotting more damage later did not qualify.
The takeaway is tight: a paid and accepted appraisal award settles the amount of the loss, and a vague claim of newly found damage will not reopen it.
One justice dissented, arguing the appraisal covered only damage "known and discoverable" when it was done.
