If you happen to total your car in a bad car accident or wreck, don’t worry. What’s most important is that you are safe and not injured. When driving in cities such as Denver, Colorado, you’re bound to see a few accidents take place on the side of the road. If you happen to be involved in one of these instances, make sure that you have a good Denver car accident lawyer and document the situation thoroughly. Once you’ve taken care of your own personal safety, you can move on to worrying about the vehicle. Below we will cover the protocol for what happens if your car is totaled in an accident.
What Does it Mean for Your Car to Be “Totaled”?
First things first, let’s cover what “totaling” your car really means. The meaning of a totaled vehicle is when the cost of repairing your car is greater than what your car is worth as a whole. This is determined using an estimate process for needed repairs and parts to restore the vehicle to its original condition before the accident.
An insurance appraiser or adjuster, adjustment center, or body shop will help you through this estimate process and provide your insurance company with the paperwork that allows them to determine whether they will pay for the repairs to the vehicle or count your car as a total loss. A claims adjuster will be assigned to help in this process, and they will be looking at the cash value of your car, the salvage value of your car, and the cost it would take to repair your car.
What Are Possible Signs of a Total Loss?
You may have heard that if your airbags deploy in an accident, your car is a total loss. Not necessarily. An accident that causes your airbags to deploy, is more likely to cause a total loss for your car. There are, however, situations when airbags deploy to keep you safe, and your car can still be repaired.
You may find that the potential for a totaled car increases when your vehicle won’t start, the frame is seriously damaged or bent, wheels/tires are bent and come off the car, the car flips in the impact of the accident, fluids are pouring out from the car, a fire breaks out upon impact, or the vehicle is a high mileage car.
Total Loss and Your Insurance Coverage
The type of insurance coverage you carry on your car will be important when you are in an auto accident where your vehicle is totaled. You will likely need to know if you carry collision and comprehensive coverage. You are not legally required to carry collision insurance coverage, but in situations like when you have a totaled vehicle on your hands, it’s certainly helpful. Collision insurance coverage can vary in amount, but generally, it covers a wide swath of auto calamities: everything from collisions with other vehicles to auto damage caused by poor road conditions, severe weather, or auto damage caused by hitting objects.
When selecting your insurance plan, you choose how much you want to set your deductible or out-of-pocket premium at. Then your auto insurance company will be responsible for paying the rest in these situations. Comprehensive car insurance coverage, on the other hand, is specifically for covering damage that you are not at fault for, such as auto theft, hail damage, falling objects, flooding, and more. This type of coverage is also not required nor mandated by any kind of state authority, so it’s entirely up to you whether or not you get it, but it without question is extremely helpful in these situations.
A Totaled Car And Fault – Mine, Another Driver, or No-Fault?
So you’ve figured out that your car is, in fact, totaled. Next comes the process of pointing fingers, so to speak. You have to figure out whose fault the totaled vehicle is: whether that’s yours, another driver’s, or, in some cases, it might be considered a “no-fault” car accident. If the car accident was your fault, your car insurance company will, in most cases, pay you for the value of the car after subtracting your deductible, which is whatever you will have to pay out of pocket before your insurance company covers the rest.
If the car accident was the fault of someone else, then the at-fault driver’s insurance company will be responsible for paying you for paying for your totaled vehicle. In “no-fault” situations where a car is totaled due to something other than human error, such as a falling tree or extreme weather, your car insurance will likely pay you for the value of your car minus the cost of your deductible, depending on your specific insurance coverage plan. The best course of action is to speak with your insurance provider as soon as possible following the accident so that you can determine what will be done in your specific case.
What if I still have a loan on my totaled vehicle?
If there is still a loan on your vehicle, your insurance company, or the insurance company that belongs to the at-fault driver, will cut a check for the lender for whatever you still owe them to pay off, and then the rest of the money that the car is worth will go to you.
So you’ve received your cash settlement for your totaled vehicle. Now what?
Once you’ve received the settlement from your (or the at-fault driver’s) insurance company, it’s time to begin the process of deciding what you want to do next. This part is entirely up to you and largely is going to depend on your particular financial situation, whether you have another vehicle available to you, and whether or not your totaled vehicle is still safe to operate and drive.
Remember, a car that is deemed as “totaled” does not necessarily mean that it isn’t operational or safe to drive; it simply means that the total cost of repairing the vehicle would be greater than the vehicle’s worth or what it would sell for. Thus, if your totaled car is still in good enough shape to drive, you might consider going ahead and buying back your totaled vehicle from your insurance company, which can be done in certain cases if you get in contact with your insurance company, and sell it to a place that pays cash for junk cars.
It’s just important to note that you should first see how much it’s going to cost you to do that. Otherwise, you can take the money from your cash settlement and use it to put towards purchasing a shiny new vehicle or a “new” used one. It will be new to you, at least. And if the car accident was, in fact, your fault, well, maybe try your best not to wreck this new one. Another thing to keep in mind after this experience is to consider perhaps what kind of insurance coverage you have and whether or not you need to upgrade, just in case you ever do find yourself in this kind of unfortunate predicament again.