Need advice regarding appraisal clause from hail damage

I'm in over my head and need help. I can't tell what the right thing is to do in my situation and I'm overwhelmed. We have 3 issues, gutter damage, roof damage, and water damage from a hail storm in March 2024.

We have gutters in the front of the house that would drain into the ground, with pop ups dispersing the water away from the house. In the storm, one of those gutters was damaged, and redirected water into a front corner of our home. The rush of hail and rain flooded the area, which then seeped down, and in through some crack in the foundation and flooded our basement. We had about 1/8th to 1/4 inch of water in half of the basement.

After we cleaned up, we called our insurance company. The agent told us to call ServPro to manage clean up. ServPro came out and said they were there on the claim number and went to work. There was no discussion of charges, or potential charges. The only thing I was asked to sign was a form saying that when they left, the equipment they were leaving (fans and humidifiers) was in my possession and my responsibility.

The adjustor came a week later and after only looking at the drain and being at the house for under 3 minutes said, "You aren't going to like this, but this isn't covered." His argument is that it was ground water, regardless of if the storm damaged the gutter causing the water to pool up.

We also had the roof inspected for damage.

The final outcome was total damage to our house that was covered was $5200 and our deductible is $5400. That was very suspicious.

We asked for a reinspection. That took nearly a month and half to get scheduled. When the new adjuster came, we didn't find out until after the inspector was on the roof that it was the same inspector as the first inspection. I asked how that was legal or right, as he is not incentivized to say he was wrong, and actually he is incentivized to keep his original estimate.

We had a roofing contractor out, and both they and the inspector completely disagreed on the damage to the roof. The roofing company said there was between 3-8 hits per 10' square from the hail and the inspector said it was 3 maximum.

The adjustor left saying his estimate was $4600 in damages.

ServPro says we owe them $7000 for the clean up, as the insurance isn't covering the water damage.

We've been given a bid of $56K to repair our roof and a separate bid of $11,500 to fix the basement and gutters.

I should note that literally dozens of other homes in our neighborhood have had their roofs repaired or replaced in this 2 month period of fighting, and all 3 of our neighbors (both sides and behind us) have had theirs replaced fully. I have a hard time believing my house, which has no tree coverage over the roof, was unscathed and yet all my neighbors, some of whom have tree cover over their house, all had their roofs replaced.

The roofing company referred me to a local appraiser, who said I should invoke the appraisal clause. He said he would come to the house and look at the situation first before we hire him and proceed with that.

He says we should not hire an attorney until after the appraisal clause is invoked, as if we do, the attorney fees would be covered by the insurance company.

I've done some online research and it seems mixed regarding should a homeowner invoke the appraisal clause or not. It seems to be a high cost to us (This appraiser is $1500 plus $250 for every 10K over 50K we are awarded) and a high risk that our appraiser and the insurance company's appraiser won't agree, which I've read can be 6 to 12+ months to resolve.

The appraiser told me on the phone that our water damage should be covered as it is "consequential water" not "ground water". I can't find anything in our policy using "consequential water" but he said not to share that term with our insurance agent, or they'd know we are in the process of hiring an appraiser. I tried to search online for this, and can't find anything specific about "consequential water" being covered or even talked about, yet he was adamant it was normal and covered.

I feel very out of my element and potentially being taken for a ride by everyone I talk to. I've had my insurance company for 31 years (Farmers) and never had a claim, and I'm very frustrated with this entire experience. I travel a lot for my work too (3 times in the last 4 weeks alone) and it makes meeting people at my home difficult, lengthening everything.

I really need some advice and guidance.