Appraiser & Umpire Research

You get assigned a case and the opposing appraiser is a name you have never heard before. Or the other side proposes an umpire and you have no idea if the person is legit, licensed, or experienced in the type of loss at issue. The instinct is to open a few browser tabs, search Google, hunt around for a LinkedIn profile, check the TDI roster, see if they show up in IAUA or WIND. Twenty minutes later you have a partial picture.

Research enrichment does all of that lookup work in one click and saves the result to your directory record. Next time the same name comes up, the data is already there. For Texas umpires, the system also verifies their TDI license is active, which is the kind of credential check you definitely want before agreeing to an umpire.

Useful for any appraiser who works with people they do not already know well. Especially valuable for umpire vetting in Texas and for opposing-appraiser due diligence on high-stakes files.

AwardLettr can automatically look up publicly available information on opposing appraisers and umpires. This helps you verify credentials, find contact details, and understand who you are working with, without leaving the app.

Research Sources

Source	What It Provides
TDI (Texas Dept. of Insurance)	Active umpire license verification from the official Texas umpire roster
IAUA (Independent Appraisers/Umpires Association)	Membership status, contact info, and professional details
WIND Network	Windstorm Insurance Network certified appraiser and umpire directory

All Sources Are Free

Research lookups use publicly available directories at no extra cost. No additional API keys or subscriptions are required.

How to Research an Appraiser or Umpire

Open an appraisal

Navigate to any appraisal detail page.

Find the appraiser or umpire section

On the Details tab, locate the opposing appraiser or umpire info.

Click "Research"

The Research button appears next to the appraiser or umpire name.

Review results

AwardLettr searches all applicable directories in parallel and displays the combined results with a confidence indicator.

Apply data

Click "Apply" to save the enriched information to your directory record.

LinkedIn Search Shortcut

Next to the Research button, there is a "Find LinkedIn" button. Clicking it opens a Google search in a new tab with a pre-filled query for the person's LinkedIn profile (format: "Name" site:linkedin.com/in). This makes it easy to find their professional profile in seconds.

TDI Verification for Texas Umpires

For umpires, AwardLettr also checks the Texas Department of Insurance umpire roster. If the umpire is found on the TDI list, their record is marked as TDI verified with their license number. This is only applicable to umpires operating in Texas.

Confidence Scoring

When data is found across multiple sources, AwardLettr merges the results and assigns a confidence score from 0 to 1. Higher scores mean more sources agreed on the data. TDI results carry the highest weight for umpires since they come from an official government source.

Data Caching

Enrichment results are cached for 30 days. If you research the same person on multiple cases within that window, AwardLettr returns the cached data instantly rather than re-querying the directories. After 30 days, the next research request fetches fresh data.

Reuse Across Cases

Once you have researched an appraiser or umpire and saved their enriched record to your directory, that data is available on any future appraisal involving the same person — no re-lookup needed.