Sign a DOA You Received From the Opposing Appraiser
When the opposing appraiser emails you a Demand of Appraisal to countersign, here is the workaround until in-app countersign ships.
You'll learn
- How to handle a DOA that was sent to you by email
- How to sign it with your own e-sig provider and upload it back
- Where to store both the received and signed versions
- What status to move the appraisal to once signed
Here is the scenario. The opposing carrier appraiser drafted a Demand of Appraisal, signed it, and emailed the PDF to you. Now you need to countersign it and send it back so the appraisal can move forward. You did not originate the document, so the usual SignWell flow inside AwardLettr does not quite fit.
Without a clean workflow, what tends to happen is messy. You download the PDF, sign it in whatever tool is open, email it back, and move on. There is no archived copy on the appraisal, no version trail showing what you received versus what you returned, and no audit log if anyone questions the document months later. When a TPA asks "which version did you actually sign?" you are digging through your Sent folder.
This article is mostly for insured-side appraisers, since you are the ones doing more receiving than originating. A one-click in-app countersign flow is on the roadmap. Until that ships, the workaround below keeps both the received and signed copies on the appraisal so your record is clean.
A lot of insured-side appraisers do not originate DOAs. The carrier appraiser emails one over, and your job is to countersign it. AwardLettr today is built around originating signature requests through SignWell, so for now there is no single "Sign this PDF I received" button. This article walks you through the workaround that works today and tells you what is coming.
Heads up: in-app countersign is on the roadmap
The workaround in five steps
Create the appraisal (or open the existing one)
On the Appraisals page, click New Appraisal. Enter the insured name, claim number, carrier, and property address.
Set the representing party to Insured
On the Details tab, confirm Representing Party is set to Insured Appraiser. This is the most important step. Get this wrong and your name lands in the carrier appraiser slot on every document.
Upload the received DOA into the Documents tab
Open the Documents tab and drop the PDF into the Demand & Invocation folder. Keep the original file name so you can tell at a glance which version is the unsigned one.
Sign it with your own e-sig provider
Download the PDF, sign it in SignWell, DocuSign, Adobe Acrobat, or whatever you already use. The carrier appraiser already routed the document outside AwardLettr, so finishing it outside AwardLettr is consistent.
Upload the signed PDF back into AwardLettr
Add the signed version to the Demand & Invocation folder as a separate file. A naming convention like "DOA - Smith - SIGNED.pdf" alongside "DOA - Smith - RECEIVED.pdf" keeps it obvious which is which.
Move the status forward
Update the appraisal status to reflect where the case actually is. Most often that is Ready to Schedule (if you still need an inspection) or AWARD_AGREED_UPON if the DOA is what locks in the agreed numbers.
Why the two-file approach matters
Keeping both the received and the signed PDFs preserves the chain of custody. If anyone ever asks what you were sent versus what you returned, you have it. If you only keep the signed file, you lose the ability to prove the document was identical to what arrived in your inbox.
Current workaround vs. the planned in-app flow
Today (external sign + re-upload)
- Download the received PDF from email
- Upload it to the Documents tab
- Sign it in SignWell, DocuSign, or Adobe
- Re-upload the signed PDF as a separate file
- Manually update the appraisal status
Coming soon (in-app countersign)
- Click "Countersign received document" from the appraisal
- Drop the PDF or pick from Documents
- Sign in-browser through your SignWell integration
- Signed copy is auto-filed in Documents
- Status update is suggested and one-click
Keep the original email too
Common mistakes to avoid
- Leaving representing party on Carrier when you are actually on the insured side
- Overwriting the received PDF with the signed one (you lose the original)
- Uploading the signed copy into a random folder instead of Demand & Invocation
- Forgetting to advance the status, which leaves your dashboard and reminders out of sync
Common pitfalls
- •Forgetting to set the representing party to Insured first. If you leave it on Carrier, the party fields auto-fill with your info in the wrong slots.
- •Discarding the original received PDF after you sign it. Always keep both the received version and the signed version in Documents so you have a clean record of what was sent and what you agreed to.
- •Replacing the received file instead of adding the signed one as a new document. Side-by-side beats overwrite.
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