19. Appointment of loss adjusters
- The insurer shall visit the place where the loss occurred, as soon as possible, through the person it designates to begin the operations to verify the causes of the loss, how it occurred, the declarations contained in the policy and the damages sustained by the insured objects.
- Should the parties reach an agreement on the cost and method of the indemnity, the terms of Article 23 - payment of indemnities shall apply.
- If the parties fail to reach an agreement within a period of forty days as from the date the accident was reported, each party shall appoint a loss adjuster, who shall record their acceptance to the post in writing.
- Once the loss adjusters have been appointed and have accepted their posts, which may not be renounced, they shall initiate their tasks.
- Should the loss adjusters reach an agreement, this will be reflected in a joint document in which they will record the causes of the loss, the valuation of the damages, any other circumstances that might influence the calculation of the indemnity and the proposal for the indemnity.
- If either of the parties has not appointed a loss adjuster, it shall be obligated to do so within eight days following the date on which it is requested to do so by the party that has appointed its own, and, should it fail to do so in this final period, it shall be understood that it accepts the opinion issued by the other party's loss adjuster and shall be bound by it.
- When no agreement is reached by the loss adjusters, both parties shall appoint a third adjuster by common accord and, in case of disagreement, the appointment shall be made by the judge at the Court of First Instance for the locality where the property is located. In this case, the legal adjuster's report shall be issued within the period indicated by the parties or, in its absence, in the period of thirty days following acceptance of his or her appointment as the third loss adjuster.
- The opinion of the loss adjusters, whether unanimous or majority, shall be communicated to the parties immediately and by a means beyond all doubts, and it will be binding for them, unless either of the parties legally contests it within a period of thirty days, in the case of the insurer, or one hundred eighty days, in the case of the insured, both periods to begin as of the date of said notification. If the corresponding legal action is not taken in said periods, the loss adjusters' report shall be unassailable.
- Each party shall bear the fees of its own loss adjuster. Those of the third loss adjuster and any additional expenses, including the debris removal expenses arising from the expert appraisal, shall be borne equally by the insured and the insurer at fifty percent each. However, should either of the parties have made the appraisal necessary by insisting on a manifestly disproportionate valuation of the damage, said party shall be solely liable for those expenses.