Later in December, the engineering firm delivered its estimate. It was higher than Church Mutual’s last figure but still well below the church’s numbers. Lighthouse Tabernacle objected and challenged the engineer’s qualifications and findings. In March 2020, the church invoked the policy’s appraisal process to resolve the valuation dispute, and Church Mutual named its appraiser. At the end of that month, Church Mutual made a final payment of about $20,000, representing the difference between the engineer’s estimate and what had already been paid. Altogether, the insurer had paid nearly $1.7 million on the claim. By then, nearly two years after the fire, the church still had not begun to repair or replace the building.
