Delaware total loss claims

What a Delaware settlement has to include

Our research did not find a Delaware statute or regulation that settles whether sales tax and title or registration fees must be added to a total loss payment. Ask the adjuster in writing how they were treated, and check your policy.

How the insurer has to value your vehicle

The Insurance Department's bulletin, which applies to first-party and third-party claims, says the settlement must be based on the fair market value at the time of loss of an automobile of like make, model, condition and equipment. If value is disputed, it should come from the average of three quotations from reputable used car dealer managers in the area of the claimant's residence (local, not national, market data), and a claimant may accept the undisputed part of the payment without giving up the right to keep negotiating.

Authority: Delaware Department of Insurance, Auto Bulletin No. 1 (reissued Jan. 25, 2018), citing 18 Del. C. § 2304(16)

The appraisal clause in Delaware

Our research did not find a Delaware statute or regulation on auto policy appraisal clauses, so the wording of your own policy controls: whether it has one, the deadlines, and who pays.

Keeping a totaled vehicle: Delaware title rules

After a total loss settlement the insurer must send the title to the Division of Motor Vehicles within 30 days, and the Division issues a salvage certificate. If the owner keeps the vehicle as owner-retained salvage, the insurer must either do the same or require the owner to get a salvage certificate before it pays the settlement.

Authority: 21 Del. C. § 2512(a), (b)

If you and the insurer cannot agree

• Dispute the valuation in writing with evidence. How to challenge comparables and condition deductions.
• If your policy has an appraisal clause, you can invoke it. The appraisal clause, step by step.
• File a complaint with the Delaware Department of Insurance.
• Small claims court: Delaware small claims court, for claims up to $25,000.