What Sort of Circumstances Would Cause An Insurance Company To View A Damaged Vehicle As A Total Loss?
After a claimant has reported an accident, the designated insurance adjuster looks at the amount of damage on the claimant’s vehicle. During that inspection, the adjuster hopes to obtain the answer to this question: Can this vehicle be repaired?
What factors might force the adjuster to deal with the emergence of a “no” answer?
• The cost of repairing the damaged set-of-wheels would exceed the price that would represent the same vehicle’s value.
• The same repairs would not allow restoration of the repaired item to the vehicle’s original condition.
• Once completed, the necessary repairs would not allow a restored vehicle to be driven safely.
• The existence of any one of those factors could force the adjuster to declare that the examined vehicle should get viewed as a total loss.
What action might a car owner consider, upon learning that a damaged vehicle has been declared a total loss?
At that point, the car’s owner might elect to pursue a total loss claim. That would create a demand for a certain amount of money from the insurance company. The amount of money demanded would equal the vehicle’s cash value minus the pre-accident depreciation.
What elements in a vehicle’s history would become responsible for any pre-accident depreciation?
• The mileage, as shown on the odometer
• Any previous damage
What would the owner of a totaled car want to know about how the insurance company had calculated the same car’s cash value?
That owner would want to know if the insurance company had studied the sale price of vehicles like that one that had been totaled. In addition, the same owner would have reason to ask if the insurance company had studied the price of vehicles in the area where the car owner lived.
If the accident had totaled a relatively new car, would the car’s owner have reason to expect payment of an amount of money that was close to the car’s cash value?
No, even though there had not been much depreciation, the insurance company would still expect payment of the deductible. The personal injury lawyer in Moorpark, knows that the size of that deductible, which had been stated in the insurance policy, would be subtracted from the payment that was meant for the owner of the insured car.
What would happen after the insurance company had paid the owner of the totaled car?
The insurance company would get the totaled car, along with a salvage title. If the insurer chose to pay for restoration of that salvaged automobile, then it would have the right to sell it. Still, the new owner would receive the salvage title, and, thus, would be aware of the automobile’s history. Consequently, the insurance company would need to sell its salvaged auto at a reasonable price.