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Open the companion tool →Why the valuation report matters more than a headline number
A total-loss offer may depend on the vehicle's trim, mileage, condition, options, local comparables, and policy terms. A report can contain a wrong model or omitted feature even when its total looks precise.
Valuation and appraisal procedures differ by policy and state. Compare the report with your own dated evidence and ask the insurer for its method; do not treat an online estimate as a binding value.
The protocol
- Save the insurer's written offer, valuation report, claim number, and the response date printed on the notice.
- Check year, make, model, trim, mileage, options, condition notes, and the listed comparable vehicles against your records.
- Collect a small set of dated local listings for the same or similar vehicle and note differences instead of treating asking prices as sale prices.
- Ask the adjuster in writing which inputs or comparable vehicles can be corrected and whether your policy has an appraisal or review process.
- If the explanation does not resolve the issue, use the state insurance department's published consumer route and keep the claim correspondence together.
What the tool does
Build a total-loss valuation review record. It runs locally in this browser and sends nothing.
Limit first: This is a record-preparation aid, not insurance or legal advice. It cannot calculate a binding settlement, determine a vehicle's legal value, or promise a payment.
Open the companion tool →Cost and free path
Cost: Free: one complete local run in this browser, with no account or upload; the tool does not transmit what you enter. Optional $4 one-time convenience unlock for unlimited runs of this tool on this browser; never a subscription. The protective answer and every free-path step remain free.
Rule status (state route): State route, checked 2026-10-10: total-loss valuation, appraisal clauses, and claim procedures depend on the policy and state. NAIC directs consumers to state insurance departments; this record states no nationwide settlement formula.
Automated decision this documents: an insurer's automated or third-party vehicle valuation used in a total-loss offer, if one was used
Free path, in order (no cost):
- The insurer's claim representative and written valuation-correction or appraisal process
- Your state insurance department's consumer-services route (NAIC state directory)
- A state or local consumer-protection office for a complaint-routing question
What this cannot do: It cannot calculate a binding settlement, determine a vehicle's legal value, or promise a payment.
Sources checked 2026-10-10 · first-party source pages fetched and reviewed; no separate raw HTTP-status probe.
One human next step
Ask the insurer for the complete valuation report and its correction or appraisal process. For state-specific help, contact your state insurance department through the NAIC directory; use the deadline and instructions in your actual claim notice.
Research log and safety checks
AI-assist path: not used for a legal, eligibility, authenticity, or payment verdict. This local builder organizes first-party records and routes the reader to a source they can inspect; no free model call would make its arithmetic or status claims more reliable. §6.9: no meaningful AI inference is needed. §6.11: the reader has a specific free action this week. §6.12: status route and date are in metadata. §6.13: the action does not require buying a service.
§0.5 protection result: category is insurance-and-medical-costs; crisis-adjacent: no; fear/urgency/scarcity toolkit used: no. The protective function is free and the paid feature is convenience only.