Car Insurance, Totaled Vehicles and You

So you been in a bad one and hopefully walked away whole, but your vehicle is no longer road-worthy. But is it “Totaled”? How does the automobile insurance company decide if the remains are a totaled vehicle?

It’s this simple; if the cost of repairing the vehicle exceeds its value, the insurance company will declare your car totaled. Under normal circumstances you will then receive a cash settlement.

The downside of this arrangement is that even minor damages might be enough to total an old or cheap car, yet major damages might not total a more expensive model of vehicle.

So how much money can you expect to receive for your totaled vehicle? That depends on the policy, but generally the insurance company has an obligation to make sure you’re left in roughly the same financial state you were in previous to the accident. Basically you can expect a check for the cash value of the vehicle (minus any deductible on your auto insurance policy).

Posted in: Auto Insurance Quote