My car/motorcycle is a “total loss”. What does that mean and what happens now?

After an accident your car/motorcycle is damaged. You want it fixed. You called the insurance company and they did an estimate. You find out that the insurance company has determined it to be a “total loss”. That phrase means that the insurance company has inspected the motorcycle/car, prepared a repair estimate, and now the cost to repair the motorcycle/car is more than it’s worth if you were to sell it. So, the insurance company decided that it is not worth it to fix the motorcycle/car. What happens then? A couple things can happen.

First, the insurance company can send you a check for the value of your car/motorcycle. And, for that check, you give the motorcycle/car over to the insurance company. Or, a second option is that you keep your car/motorcycle, still get a check, but for less money because you decided to keep the car/motorcycle. There are other options, but these two are the most common. (acampano@campanolaw.com; tel: 661-945-5300)