How to negotiate insurance total loss

If you’ve been in an accident and your car has been declared a total loss by your insurer, you need to seek a fair pay-out to ensure you receive the value you deserve. Your insurance company will aim to pay the least possible for the damages, so it’s important to understand how the value of your car is determined and how you can negotiate your claim.

I’ve Received Total Loss, What Now? 

When your car is declared as a total loss by your insurer, you have a few options. You don’t have to take the first offer you receive, and you can negotiate with your insurer until you’re happy with what they offer. 

Firstly, you will be given a PAV (pre accident value), and your insurer will then deal with your damaged vehicle. You will also be given a salvage deduction and an amount payable, which is the PAV minus the salvage deduction. This amount is the buyback figure if you choose to keep your car. 

You may also be offered a CIL (cash in lieu payment), without your car being categorised. This is usually only offered by insurers when the repair cost is lower than the value of the vehicle. This payment is the estimated repair cost, so if you choose this option your vehicle will not be written off or given a category marker. 

How to value your write off

Once you have informed your insurer of your accident, they will send an assessor to view your vehicle. They will work out the PAV of your vehicle, assess the cost of the repairs needed, and make a decision as to whether the car should be declared a total loss or not. In general, if the repair cost is more than an average of 75% of the PAV, the car will be written off as a total loss.  

It’s also important to carry out your own research at this stage to determine what you believe the value of your vehicle should be. Here at Scrap Car Comparison, we have a Total Loss Calculator which will provide you with the value of your car and find you the best price from our trusted network of scrap and salvage buyers. 

Negotiating Tactics

Don’t be afraid to negotiate with your insurer. After all, they will start as low as reasonably possible when providing you with an offer, so have your research to back you up. 

Knowing the true value of your car is crucial at this stage, so we recommend using our Total Loss Calculator to provide you with the information you need to assess whether they’re offering you a good deal. You could also have your car looked over by a mechanic, who can tell you exactly what damage the car has sustained and how much the repairs would cost. 

If the figure your insurer offers you does not match the estimates you have received, you don’t have to accept. You should have a minimum settlement in mind and negotiate from there. 

Negotiation Tip

Always ask your insurer to justify their offer and ask what criteria they have used to value your vehicle. You should also ask for a copy of the engineer’s report, detailing how they have valued your vehicle. 

Not Happy With The Insurance Value? 

If you’re not happy with the value you are being offered by your insurance company and would like to use a network of trusted scrap or salvage buyers instead, it couldn’t be easier. Once you have used our simple calculator by entering your registration and postcode, you will have instant access to quotes from a number of reliable buyers. 

We are committed to finding you the very best price for your damaged car and monitor pricing levels across the country to ensure we are getting you the most for your vehicle. All of our buyers are vetted and checked for quality of service. We’ve even met them all personally to vouch for their experience. 

Once you have found a deal you are happy with, we sort everything else for you. We’ll even collect the damaged vehicle for free, on a time and day that works for you. 

If you would like to find out the value of your damaged car today, use our Total Loss Calculator or get in touch to speak to an expert member of our team.

Find out how to calculate Salvage Deduction or if you have any questions visit or main Car Insurance Buy Back page or visit our FAQ page.

I was in a car accident and the car was a total loss. It's really unfortunate, but I'm hoping that the settlement will help me get a fresh start. I've never been in an accident before, though, and I don't know how to get my settlement. How do I negotiate the settlement with my car insurance company?

Eric Schad

“I’m so sorry to hear about your loss! Fortunately, you can make the problem a bit easier to swallow by getting the highest payout for your totaled vehicle. Here’s what you should do:

• Get all the information about the car, including options and features; you can often find this on the sticker or invoice from the dealer
• Use comparisons of recently sold cars to use as a basis for your counter offer
• Make sure that the insurance company is paying sales tax
• Ask for a statement that shows where the money is going (lender, taxes, and to you)

Once you get an offer from your car insurance company, you can use all of this information to negotiate a better settlement.

After an accident, your car insurance rate will unfortunately go up. However, you can minimize the amount you pay for insurance by shopping around for different providers. The easiest way to do this is with the Jerry app—we’ll get you personalized quotes from top-of-the-line insurers instantly so that all you need to do is pick the plan that works best for you. We’ll even help you switch providers so that you can keep all your focus on recovering from the accident!

Best of luck, and hope your recovery goes smoothly!”

After getting into a damaging car accident, there will come a time when you will need to seek compensation from an insurance company. The process of receiving a fair payout can be tricky, however.

After all, insurance companies lose money when they are forced to pay out for an accident. A claims adjuster for a company wants to pay you the smallest amount reasonably possible for your damages.

Before you accept their offer, know that you can negotiate an offer you think you deserve.

Determine the value of your car

Knowing the true value of your car is vital when negotiating with an insurance company. After you get into an accident, the car will be sent to a claims adjuster who will determine how much it will take to repair it.

>> OTHER RESOURCES: How an accident affects your car insurance rates

Depending on the type of claim it is, first-party benefits or third-party benefits, you will either deal with your own company in the case of the former or another driver’s company in the case of the latter.

With the adjuster having an incentive to not pay the full amount in either case, knowing the true value of your car will tell you if you are getting a good deal or not. We recommend you collect estimates from several sources.

Luckily, there are several sources who can help:

• The most obvious is your own trusted mechanic. In fact, you can bring it to as many mechanics or garages as you want until you get a figure you feel reflects your car’s damage.
• You can also get the value of your car from websites such as Kelly Blue Book or Edmunds.

You do not need to accept whatever figure the adjuster comes back with if it does not match the estimates you have received.

Negotiating with the car insurance company

If the initial offer is below the estimates, you will need to enter negotiations with the insurance company. Does that mean a lawsuit? Not necessarily. It is in both sides’ interest to avoid the cost of continued litigation.

This means you can negotiate with the insurance company before any formal court proceedings. They do not want to bring the matter to court any more than you do.

If the insurer's first offer is inadequate, it is completely in the driver’s power to decline it and ask for a better offer without suing.

Get the adjuster to justify their offer. After considering their argument, you can form a counter-argument. An adjuster can bring up a few things, however, that you should prepare for.

When you enter negotiations with the insurance company and/or claims adjuster you should have a desired settlement in mind, as well as a minimum settlement you will accept. Your high and low numbers should reflect the estimates you have from the Internet and your mechanic. As negotiations press on, you will want to keep a level head and objectively weigh the strengths and weaknesses of their justification for their offer.

"Betterment" and the value of your car

One thing an adjuster can argue against is "betterment". If your car is fairly old, it may need new parts to repair it, making the car more valuable than before the accident. Most insurance companies will either charge you for the excess value or reduce their payment in proportion to the increase.

Betterment will be hard to argue because essentially you are asking for the insurance company to pay more than what your car is worth. To counter their betterment charge, you will need to prove that the parts will not in fact increase the value of your car. Testimony from your mechanic or an expert witness could help in this case.

The state you live in affects how fault (and value) is determined

Another issue that can diminish your claim is the state where you crashed your car. Payouts from third-party claims like bodily injury or property damage liability depend on who was at-fault in an accident, which in turn is dependent on the state where you had the accident.

In Washington D.C., Maryland and North Carolina, for instance, the law calls for Pure Contributory fault determination. In these states, a driver needs to be 0% at-fault to receive any compensation, which is a very high standard.

Other states, like Georgia, are a bit more lenient and only require you to be less than 50% at-fault for an accident to receive compensation. Car insurance in California pays out proportionally, meaning you receive compensation based on the percentage of your fault in the accident, even if it was 11% or 89%.

In negotiations, the insurance company may want to prove you were more at-fault than you are claiming to reduce their payout. To counter them, it is important to go into negotiations with as much information as possible. Police reports, photos and witness testimony can be solid pieces of evidence to help prove your innocence in an accident.

More tips for getting a higher value for your car

• Consider emphasizing the emotional points of your argument. Images of the car damage, or examples of how it has been affecting you from getting to work, are good pieces of evidence.
• With all of your counter-arguments organized, review whether you should push for a settlement above your minimum amount.
• If you feel you do not have the time, or ability to adequately negotiate with the claims adjuster, hiring an attorney may be best. This may not be cost-effective for a small claim, but if the payout you are seeking is greater than the fees associated with a lawyer, then it may be worth it to pursue.
• If the case seems tricky in terms of proving who was at fault, an attorney may also be highly beneficial.

After agreeing to a settlement

After negotiations are over, you’ll need to confirm the offer in writing.

It does not have to be extensive, just detailed enough to outline the amount of the settlement and what it is repairing.