The Insurance Company Says My Car is a Total Loss. What Now?

A look at “total loss” designations after a car accident, and your insurance claim options.

If you ‘re making a fomite price claim after a car accident, and the insurance company says your car is a “ entire loss, ” what does that base, and what happens adjacent ? here ‘s what to know at the beginning :

• The “total loss” designation is centered on your vehicle’s value at the time of your traffic accident, and the extent of necessary repairs.
• Fault for the car accident and the insurance coverage picture will typically determine who pays for a “total loss” vehicle.
• If you disagree with the insurance company’s valuation of your vehicle, you have options.
• Gap insurance can help if you still owe money on a totaled vehicle.

What Is a “Total Loss” Vehicle?

A “ entire loss ” declaration after a cable car accident means a car policy ship’s company has determined that the cost of repairing your fomite would be above a certain share of the vehicle ‘s actual cash value ( ACV ). normally the doorway is somewhere between 70 percentage and 80 percentage of ACV or market value. In some states, the definition of a “ total passing ” vehicle is set by legislative act .

What Is Actual Cash Value?

Your fomite ‘s actual cash value is its market value at the time of the accident—not what you paid for it. many consumers are surprised at how a lot ( and how quickly ) a vehicle ‘s value can go down ( depreciate ). A post fresh fomite begins depreciating the moment its driven off the bunch.

typically, a vehicle ‘s actual cash measure is determined by the sale price of the lapp fomite ( like model year, make, condition, options, etc. ) in the lapp geographic area. Online ads and Kelley Blue Book are two ways of figuring out a vehicle ‘s ACV. Learn more about actual cash value .

Whose Insurer Will Pay for Vehicle Damage?

The answer to this question depends on who was at defect for the car accident, and the details of the policy coverage picture. Let ‘s front at unlike kinds of coverage that might apply .

Standard Liability Insurance

Some shape of liability vehicle/property damage car insurance is a prerequisite in every state, and it ‘s applicability to a given car accident scenario is based on the blame principle of negligence. If you have liability vehicle/property policy and you ‘re found at defect for a car accident, this coverage will pay to get the other driver ‘s car fixed or replaced, improving to policy limits. ( note : these rules will apply to fomite price caused by a car accident flush in a no-fault car indemnity express. That ‘s because no-fault cable car policy applies alone to car accident injuries and relate losses, not to vehicle/property damage. )
Liability indemnity does not apply to your own vehicle. If the early driver was at fault for your accident, you can file a third base party vehicle price claim with their policy ship’s company. If you ‘re at fault for the accident, your own indebtedness vehicle/property damage policy wo n’t help get your own cable car fixed or replaced .

Collision Coverage

collision coverage is supplementary policy coverage that covers any and all damage that your vehicle sustains in an accident, regardless of fault. Collision coverage can be pretty expensive if your car is worth a lot of money, since it pays for vehicle damage careless of who caused the implicit in accident. The key here is that with this kind of coverage, you can make a claim against your own insurance company ‘s collision coverage if you get into an accident that is your fault .

Comprehensive Coverage

If your vehicle is damaged in a non-accident scenario ( by a fallen tree, or in a fire, for example ) and you have comprehensive insurance coverage, it would likely kick in to get your car repaired or replaced. But remember, you ca n’t use comprehensive coverage for vehicle price resulting from a standard dealings accident .

Who Pays: The Bottom Line

The bottom line is that the other driver ‘s insurance company will alone pay for your vehicle price if the other driver was negligent. If you were negligent, the only way any insurance company will pay for your fomite wrong is if you have collision coverage .

How Will I Be Paid for a Total Loss Vehicle?

You ‘re entitled to payment of your vehicle ‘s actual cash value ( ACV ) at the time of the accident, but keep in mind that an policy company will only pay up to the limits of the applicable policy .
For example, if the other driver was at defect and caused $ 25,000 of damage to your car, but he/she merely has $ 10,000 of property price coverage, his/her insurance company will only pay $ 10,000 toward your rectify costs. Insurance-wise, the only way for you to get the remaining $ 15,000 of haunt costs would be from your own collision coverage ( or underinsured motorist property damage coverage ) if you have it .
Whether it ‘s a full or partial payment, you ‘ll receive a check from the policy company indicating a “ property damage settlement ” or “ vehicle damage settlement ” along with the claim act and other relevant details. Learn more about final examination settlement of vehicle damage claims.

note that if you have collision coverage, it might make sense to file a property/vehicle damage claim with your own car insurance ship’s company after an accident, flush if you need to pay a deductible. If the other driver is ultimately deemed at fault for the crash, your indemnity company will likely try to recover the deductible from the other driver ‘s insurance company. In any casing, you ‘ll about surely get money from your own policy company a distribute faster than you would if you wait for the other driver ‘s insurance company to accept liability and pay you a honest liquidation after you ‘ve filed a third gear party vehicle damage claim .

What If I Still Owe Money on a Total Loss Vehicle?

If the insurance company says that your car is a sum loss, it will merely pay you the fairly market rate of your cable car as of the day of the accident. unfortunately, an insurance company is lone necessitate to pay damages up to the fair market respect of the destroy property, evening if you owe more than the car ‘s respect on your car lend. Let ‘s look at an case of how this happens .
Let ‘s say that, on the day that the car was totaled, you owed $ 14,500 on your car loan, but that the current fair grocery store value ( i.e., the Blue Book respect ) of your car was only $ 12,000. The insurance company is merely going to pay you $ 12,000 toward the value of the car, leaving you with $ 2,500 to pay on your cable car loan, even though you no long have a car. Learn more about what happens when you inactive owe money on a totaled car .

What Is Gap Insurance?

Gap cable car indemnity coverage can help with the scenario we fair described above, where you calm owe money on a car that ‘s been designated a “ sum loss ” by the policy caller .
When you ‘re financing a vehicle, you do n’t own it, the bank does. But thanks to cable car lend pastime rates, the rapid depreciation we discussed above concerning sword new cars occurs faster than the tempo of most repayment plans. This creates a “ col ” between what you hush owe on the vehicle and the vehicle ‘s actual cash value. That ‘s where gap policy comes in, providing coverage that will pay off the difference between the remaining loanword measure and the potential policy colonization to cover vehicle damage .
Gap coverage may be required by the lender who is financing your fomite purchase, and it ‘s normally available from most car insurance companies as an extra coverage option .

What If I Disagree with the Insurer’s Vehicle Valuation?

If you disagree with the insurance company ‘s valuation of your damages, your merely very options are to :

• accept it
• try to negotiate further with the insurer about the figures, or
• file a lawsuit.

Regardless of whether you want to negotiate or sue, you will need to have some footing for disagreeing with the insurance company ‘s figures. That means hard testify that the car is worth more than what the insurance company says it ‘s deserving. You will typically need two types of evidence : evidence as to exactly what type of form the car was in right before the accident, and evidence as to the cable car ‘s actual value .
The best way to prove the car ‘s actual condition is reasonably current photograph of the car. If you by and large have argue to think that your car is worth more than its Blue Book value because you have done some serious upgrades and oeuvre on it, or kept it in pristine condition, you should get into the habit of photographing your car regularly .
The best room to prove a car ‘s actual respect is through the opinion of a restricted appraiser. If you disagree with the insurance company ‘s evaluation of your cable car, you ‘ll need a restricted appraiser to come up with an public opinion as to your car ‘s value. Simply going on-line and trying to use an on-line car value calculator wo n’t be good adequate. You are going to need an actual inspection and reputation from a dependent adept.

Can I Keep a “Total Loss” Vehicle?

Yes, you can normally keep your totaled car, but the indemnity company will probably figure out the cable car ‘s “ salvage ” or “ debris ” value—what selling it to a salvage cubic yard might bring, in other words—and subtract that amount from what it pays you for the fomite ‘s actual cash value. so, your property/vehicle damage colony check will be a few hundred dollars less ( normally no more than $ 1,000 ), but you ‘ll get to keep your cable car .
bill that when you decide to keep a totaled vehicle, there ‘s normally a special kind of deed that needs to be obtained by the department of state ‘s motor vehicles department, so you or your policy company will probably need to do some extra legwork .

Do I Need a Lawyer?

You can probably handle a vehicle damage claim yourself after a car accident, if you ‘re comfortable doing what it takes to ensure a fair resultant role. But if you ‘ve besides suffered car accident injuries, or there ‘s a significant sum of money ( or vehicle fairness ) on the note, you might want to discuss your situation with an experienced lawyer. Learn more about how an lawyer can help with your car accident claim .