Totaling a vehicle - Overview of the initial process
Insurance companies follow a standard process when totaling a vehicle. Usually, once you file a claim, the insurance adjuster looks at your vehicle statistics. They will look at your car’s mileage, make, year, and model. From there, they will try to asses the damage from what you tell them. For example, if the vehicle cannot be driven, then the insurance company knows that the possibility that the insurance company will end up totaling a vehicle is high.
Also, if the roof is buckled, the engine has ceased, or the windshield is broken, then the insurance company knows that the possibility that the vehicle is a total loss is very high. At this point, the insurance adjuster has two options. They can either have you take the car to a body shop (if you can actually drive the car) or you can have it tow to the closest repair facility. Remember, your insurance policy most likely has a clause that requires you to tow the vehicle once and only to the closest repair facility.
In most vehicle accidents, your vehicle will already be at some kind of bodyshop or mechanical shop. If that is the case, the adjuster will request that the bodyshop write an estimate and see if they believe the insurance will be looking at totaling a vehicle right there and then. However, insurance companies look at repair estimates very carefully. The bodyshop has a vested interest in NOT totaling a vehicle. They have an interest in actually fixing the vehicle. If they don’t fix the car, then they make no money.
Because of this reason, the insurance company almost always sends out an insurance adjuster to personally inspect your car. At this point, the insurance company will no longer be looking for the basic information of your car. They will be looking at more subtle things, like the condition, scratches, and just about anything they can use to document what the vehicle of your car is.
The decision of declaring a total loss is made before the adjuster comes to see the car. By this time, the insurance adjuster has probably already requested a CCC evaluation. A CCC evaluation is a third party assessment of what your vehicle is worth (CCC is the name of the company). This pre evaluation period gives the adjuster an idea of the value of the car. Therefore, when the adjuster is inspecting the car, the decision of totaling your car is already made. The adjuster will not tell you at this point. They will look at the car first. Then, they will send this information again to CCC and have them give them a final assessment of the vehicle of the car.
It is here when the adjuster will tell you that they will be totaling a vehicle and that you will be out of a rental car in three days (some states like Texas, require you to be out of the rental the same day they tell you the car is a total loss!).
It is here when the negotiation begins. Learn more about what insurance companies do when totaling a vehicle.
