Total loss threshold by state

Pick a state. See its rule in plain English, a worked example, and the official wording behind it.

The basics, in plain English

New to this? These are the questions people ask first. Each answer says whose words it rests on, and the words are one tap away. Read the full guide.

In plain English

What does “total loss” mean?

Maryland’s insurance regulator defines it for its own state: a total loss means the cost to repair the vehicle is 75 percent or greater than the vehicle’s fair market value immediately before the loss.

The regulator’s words

“A total loss means that the cost to repair the vehicle is 75 percent or greater than the fair market value of the vehicle immediately prior to the loss.”

Who decides that a car is a total loss?

In the regulator pages we read, the insurance company does. Maryland’s regulator writes of vehicles “determined by the insurance company to be a total loss”, and says the insurer is permitted to add costs such as a rental vehicle and potential hidden damage to the repair cost when it works out Maryland’s 75 percent figure.

The regulator’s words

“Vehicles that are determined by the insurance company to be a total loss must be labeled as "salvage vehicles."”

“Your insurance company is permitted to add additional costs such as the cost of a rental vehicle and potential hidden damage to the cost to repair your vehicle when calculating the 75 percent value.”

Can an insurer total a car below the state’s percentage?

It has happened, on the record. In a New York Insurance Department opinion, a car took damage of $16,800, which was 60% of its cash value, and the insurer chose to consider it a total loss. The opinion notes that the department’s salvage branding rule applies where repair cost exceeds 75% of actual cash value, so that rule did not apply to this car.

The regulator’s words

“The vehicle received damage in a collision totaling $16,800 (60% of the vehicle's cash value). The insurer chose to consider the vehicle a total loss.”

“concerns salvage vehicle branding and applies to losses where the cost to repair the damaged vehicle exceeds 75% of the vehicle's actual cash value.”

Can the owner keep the car?

Maryland’s regulator describes an owner deciding to keep the salvage vehicle: the settlement offer is then reduced by the vehicle’s salvage value. California’s insurance department says that when the owner retains the salvage, deductions from the settlement for salvage must be fair, measurable, and discernible.

The regulator’s words

“If you decide to keep the "salvage vehicle," your settlement offer will be reduced by the vehicle's salvage value.”

“If you retain the salvage, deductions from the settlement for salvage must be fair, measurable, and discernible.”

The whole country at a glance

Each square is a state, coloured by what its text says. Tap one for the full picture. Prefer rows and columns? The same thing as a table.

49 states are covered. Hawaii is left out because we could not read an official source; its page says so. Each colour comes from that state’s own official wording.

Why the same wreck comes out differently next door

Three things change from state to state: the number, the word in front of it, and what it is measured against. Oklahoma says exceeds sixty percent (60%) of its fair market value. Texas’s manual says exceeds the pre damaged actual cash value of the vehicle (over 100%). Nebraska says meets or exceeds seventy-five percent of the retail value, so landing exactly on the number counts; Maryland says exceeds 75% of the fair market value, so it does not. And Virginia brings a third number into it: would exceed its actual cash value less its current salvage value.

Every state, grouped by kind of rule

After a salvage title

Getting the car back on the road has rules of its own. We found an inspection sentence for 45 of 49 states and a fee sentence for 37. Ohio, for one: A fee of fifty dollars shall be assessed by the state highway patrol for each inspection made pursuant to this division (Ohio Revised Code 4505.11, read November 12, 2026)

Rebuilt title inspections, fees and forms by state

What this can and cannot tell you

• It shows the sentence a state publishes, where it is published, and the day we read it.
• Where that sentence describes a sum, it does the sum on your numbers.
• It cannot say what an insurer decides. Insurers may total a vehicle below a statutory threshold, and the value and the estimate are set by the insurer and the policy.
• It does not check whether a sentence covers a given vehicle or owner. The sentences say in their own words which vehicles and owners they cover.

Reference only, not legal or insurance advice. Confirm with the agency. Full statement