North Carolina total loss claims

What a North Carolina settlement has to include

Applicable sales tax and vehicle registration fees must be included in the actual cash value settlement of a total loss, except where the claimant keeps the salvage vehicle.

Authority: 11 NCAC 04 .0418(f)

How the insurer has to value your vehicle

If the insurer and claimant cannot agree, the offer must be based on published regional average values of substantially similar vehicles (same make, model and year) and the retail cost of two or more such vehicles in the local market area, defined as within 100 miles of where the car is garaged, or two dealer quotes if none can be found. Deductions must be itemized with amounts, the supporting documentation must be shared with the claimant, and on request the payment must come with a written statement of the estimates, evaluations and deductions used and their sources.

Authority: 11 NCAC 04 .0418(b), (d), (h), (i)

The appraisal clause in North Carolina

By statute, motor vehicle liability policies must offer an appraisal process when liability is not disputed and the claimant and insurer differ on the vehicle's loss in fair market value by more than $2,000 or 25% of its pre-accident retail value, whichever is less: each side picks and pays its own appraiser, an umpire decides if they disagree, and the result binds both sides unless one rejects it within 15 days. For claims on your own policy, the Department of Insurance says the policy's appraisal provision applies, a decision by any two of the three is binding, and the appraisal and umpire costs are shared equally.

Authority: N.C. Gen. Stat. § 20-279.21(d1); NCDOI, After an Accident

Keeping a totaled vehicle: North Carolina title rules

When a vehicle becomes a salvage vehicle and the owner makes an insurance claim, the insurer must ask whether the owner wants to keep it. If not, the owner assigns the title to the insurer, which sends it to the DMV within 10 days. If the owner keeps it, the owner completes an owner-retained salvage form, the insurer sends it to the DMV within 10 days, and the DMV marks its records to show a salvage vehicle.

Authority: N.C. Gen. Stat. § 20-109.1(a)-(c)

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 North Carolina Department of Insurance.
• Small claims court: North Carolina small claims court, for claims up to $10,000.

Official guide: NC Department of Insurance: After an Accident