Transcription
Hi. You may be watching this because you’ve been involved in a recent car accident, and there’s been a lot of damage to your vehicle. You’re wondering whether or not your vehicle may be totaled.
How do you know whether your vehicle is totaled or not?
Would you like to know what the term, totaled, really means under Kentucky law?
Hi, I’m Brad Harville, Kentucky automobile accident, and no-fault attorney, practicing law here in the state of Kentucky for over 30 years.
The definition of whether a car is totaled under Kentucky law, by statute, is whether the cost of the repairs to the vehicle as a result of the accident exceeds 75% of the book value of that vehicle under the most recent edition of the NADAguides.
The most important point about that is, obviously, newer cars have a much higher book value than older cars, so it takes a lot more damage for a newer car to be totaled than it does for an older car. If you’ve got a car 10, 15 years old, the book value may be only 2 or $3,000, and the cost to repair is maybe $2500, that car is totaled. It doesn’t take a lot of damage to an older car for it to be totaled.
Of course, none of this means a whole lot unless there is insurance on the vehicle to cover the loss of the vehicle. If you don’t have collision insurance, then the only way for you to recover for the total loss of your vehicle is if there was another party at fault that has liability insurance, and you can make a claim against them.
Last thing you need to know – if there is coverage for the vehicle set under your own coverage or the liability coverage of another driver, the insurance company may offer to either let you keep the salvage value of the vehicle and deduct that from the total loss payment, or they will keep the salvage and pay the loss in whole.
If you have any questions about whether your vehicle may have been totaled after an accident, or if you’ve been injured after an accident, please give us a call, we’re here to help. We’ll also be glad to send you a complimentary copy of my book, 20 Questions About Kentucky No-Fault Law.
That’s today’s Personal Injury Minute. I’m Brad Harville, and I hope you have a great day.
RATE THIS POST
Loading...