Factors that Lead to your Car Being Totaled
Most people believe they are good drivers enough not to be in accidents. But there are now more accidents happening. This has resulted in there being more claims to process. The costs of repairing these cars has also gone up. In some states, you are most likely to end up with a totaled car, since they have set a certain percentage at which the repair cost should not exceed otherwise. The value they consider is not the original car price, but the prevalent one at the time of the accident. This explains why there are totaled cars that are still properly functional.
You, therefore, need to know how to tell if yours is totaled. You can start by looking at the age of the car. There are now new cars coming into the masses, but most are still the old ones. They are also not to be assumed to be cheaper to fix.
You should find out how much your automobile is indeed worth. Forget the value you got it for. An insurer shall start by comparing it with the same models in the market. If it was damaged before, that will lower its value. You however, increase its value through any previous upgrades.
The cost of repair shall be the next indicator. Should it be more than the current car value, you have yourself a totaled car. The cars being produced nowadays come with plenty of options, such as sensors, which add to the value of each basic component. IF that part gets spoilt, the overall damage shall be way too high.
You have the option of retaining your car even after they say it is totaled. They shall pay the salvage amount, but leave the car titled as salvaged. This shall minimize further the car’s value.
It is also important to determine who was at fault in the accident. This is something the insurance companies will wish to do since they have to foot the bills and the causer’s cover is to be used. The sources of proof are usually the police report, and the driver’s statements. When it comes to such cases, the insurance company rarely bothers with doing any investigations itself. They shall use photos to come up with a figure. You shall have a hard time finding fault with the only person. The amount to be disbursed will in such a case be a percentage of the claim amount. This percentage considers the same percentage of fault for every party.
You thus need to take care of your car. It needs to keep the highest value. There are plenty of sites on which you can read more info. There are also blogs on which you can read more about how to prevent your car being totaled.