The offer is low. Here's how much you're actually owed.
Adjusters open low. Koala benchmarks your claim against comparable settlements and quantifies the exact gap between their offer and fair value.
Free while in beta · Koala is not a law firm
What you're up against
A first offer is a starting point, not a verdict, but without comparable settlements it's hard to know how far below fair value it sits, let alone prove it in writing.
Backup that does the work.
Establishes fair value
Koala finds comparable settlements and the valuation standards that apply to your claim and jurisdiction.
Measures the gap
It calculates the exact dollar gap between the offer and fair value, with a lowball-risk read.
Backs it with a demand
You get a demand letter that cites the comparables and asks for a revised settlement, reviewed by you first.
Underpaid claims questions
The things worth knowing before you answer your insurer.
Is a first offer meant to be negotiated?
Generally, yes. It is an opening position based on the adjuster's estimate, their depreciation schedule, and their reading of your policy. Each of those is a judgement, and a judgement can be answered with evidence.
How would I even know the offer is low?
By comparing it against what comparable losses actually settle for, and by checking what the estimate left out. Omitted line items are where most of the gap hides: sales tax and fees on a totalled car, matching materials and code upgrades on a roof, recoverable depreciation on almost anything.
What if we simply can't agree on the number?
Most property policies contain an appraisal clause: each side appoints an appraiser, the two pick a neutral umpire, and any two of the three can set the amount. No lawsuit is required. It resolves disputes about how much, not about whether the loss is covered, and you have to invoke it in writing.
Does accepting a payment mean I've accepted the offer?
Not always, but it can, depending on what you sign and what the cheque says. Read the release language before you deposit anything, and be especially careful of documents described as a full and final settlement.
Don't recognise a word in your letter? Look it up in the glossary to find every term, and where it costs you money.
Before you reply to them, read this.
Everything below is free and requires no account. A claim answered from a position of knowing how the process works is a different claim.
- Read it
Reference
The glossary
Actual cash value, proof of loss, the appraisal clause: what each term means and where it bites.
- Read it
Guides
Playbooks for a live claim
Documenting damage before you file, and checking a total-loss valuation line by line.
- Read it
How it works
What Koala actually does
The six stages, what you approve, and what leaves your hands, all before you hand it anything.
See what you're actually owed.
Upload your documents and Koala gets to work. You approve everything before it's sent to your insurer.