When you report a car accident to your insurance company, the company sends anadjusterto assess the damage. The adjuster’s first order of business is deciding whether to classify the vehicle as totaled. An insurance company may consider the car to be totaled even if it can be fixed. Genera...
When we say a car is “totaled” or it has a “total loss”, it means the car is so severely damaged that it’s beyond repair or the mending cost exceeds the car’s original worth. That’s why most of the time, the prior owner would sell a totaled car to a junkyard instead of ...
An auto insurance claim is any request for payment in accordance with your insurance policy. For example, if you get into a car accident and need to ask your insurance company for money to pay for repairs, this is called “making a claim.” If you are lucky enough to have a good, eas...
Liability-only car insurance provides coverage for injury and damage you may cause, while full coverage adds coverage for damage to your vehicle. Each state has different requirements for the types and amounts of coverage that a driver is required to have in order to legally drive in that stat...
Elizabeth Rivelli is a freelance writer with more than three years of experience covering personal finance and insurance. She has extensive knowledge of various insurance lines, including car insurance and property insurance. Her byline has appeared in dozens of online finance publications, like The ...
Applying for an Auto Insurance Policy What Is the Make of a Car? The make of a car is the brand that manufactures it. This includes companies like Ford, Honda, and Chevrolet. Many manufacturers around the world build cars. In the U.S., you can buy vehicles made by domestic, Japanese,...
If your car is totaled, your car insurance company will reimburse you based on the current value of the car after this depreciation—not the price you paid for it, the cost of a new one, or the amount you still owe on your loan or lease agreement. That's where gap insurance comes in...
Gap insurance, or guaranteed asset protection, is an optional coverage that pays the difference between what your vehicle is worth and how much you owe on your car at the time it’s stolen or totaled. This coverage supplements a comprehensive or collision car insurance payout, which can only...
Increase in totaled vehicles: When a car’s repair cost exceeds theactual cash value (ACV)of the vehicle, insurance carriers declare the car totaled. Drivers will receive aclaim payoutfor the ACV minus theirdeductible. Additional tariffs could cause vehicles to be deemed total losses at a highe...
So, the very first thing you have to figure out when thinking about your next car purchase is to know if you really need a car or you just want one. What do I mean by this? If your car is running fine and fits your needs, you most likely only want one, you don’t need one....