A contractual clause whereby the parties to an insurance contract appoint one or more experts to give a technical assessment the extent of the consequences of an insured event, binding themselves to treat that assessment as mutually binding but without waiving recourse to the ordinary courts, creates a so-called ‘pure’ contractual appraisal (perizia contrattuale pura), which does not constitute an arbitration agreement — whether in the form of arbitration or contractual arbitration (arbitrato irrituale) — and is therefore not subject to the requirement of specific written approval under art. 1341 cod. civ. and art. 808 cod. . civ. (Cass. civ., Sez. Un., no. 11959/2026).
A stipulation whereby the parties appoint a third party, chosen for his particular technical expertise, by way of a joint mandate to resolve a dispute of a technical or legal nature, expressly and unequivocally waiving recourse to judicial proceedings and to State jurisdiction, constitutes an arbitration agreement for arbitration or contractual arbitration (arbitrato irrituale); the distinguishing criterion between contractual appraisal and arbitration lies in the waiver of recourse to the ordinary courts, absent which the clause cannot be characterised as an arbitration agreement (Cass. civ., Sez. Un., no. 11959/2026).
The technical assessment rendered by experts within the framework of a ‘pure’ contractual appraisal may only be challenged by way of the standard contractual remedies of avoidance and termination for non-performance; procedural or substantive errors committed by the experts, including violations of the principles of collegiality and fair hearing, are relevant grounds for challenge only to the extent that they amount to causes of invalidity of the appraisal agreement or to causes of its termination.