RE: Salvage Value

[Larry Mittell <lmittel@ibm.net>]

I'm not so sure there's an ironclad obligation on the insurer's part to do
as you say.  My insurer, the Auto Club of So. Calif., made a "total" payout
to me for my 87 5kcstq without putting a blot on its title escutcheon.  I
repaired it with used parts from listers for a little less than they paid
me.  The adjuster called it a "technical total."  I'd guess that the title
would have to pass through the insurer's hands and back to you for the
situation you describe.

Anyway, the salient points are that the ratio of dollars damage to market
value met the Auto Club's definition of a "total," the title remained in my
hands at all times and was not modified, and the Club paid me enough money
to cover the cost of repair.  Now, having said that, what they paid me was
a couple of thousand less than the market value.  Perhaps that's the
distinction; i.e., they paid me less than the total value of the car.  So
perhaps we're both right.  At any event, I'm happy and I have a clean title.

Cheers,
Larry Mittell

At 11:12 AM 2/10/99 -0800, Steve Buchholz wrote:
--snip--
>... well, here again it may ... I am pretty sure that in California if an
>insurance company makes a "total" payout, even if the owner retains the car,
>they are obligated to report this fact to the DMV, which then attaches the
>"salvage" stigma to the title.  
--snip--