Total Loss Payout Calculator
The car's value, the coverage and the loan
Your result will appear here
Fill in the fields on the left and this updates as you type.
Know what this estimate is based on
- Jurisdiction
- General mathematical model
- Scope and limitations
- Educational estimate only. Confirm the assumptions, current rules, fees, and rounding that apply to your situation before making a decision.
- Source links checked
- Jul 30, 2026
Built and regression-tested by Smart Tools Lab. It has not been individually reviewed by a licensed financial, tax, or legal professional.
How to use
- 01
Enter the actual cash value the insurer offers and your collision or comprehensive deductible.
- 02
Enter the sales tax rate the settlement includes and the title and registration fees your insurer reimburses. If your state pays the tax only after you buy a replacement, enter 0 for now.
- 03
Enter the loan or lease payoff — the lender's payoff quote for the settlement date, not the balance on your last statement.
- 04
Enter the limit on any GAP or loan/lease payoff coverage you carry, or 0 if none. The advanced options hold a GAP deductible benefit, new-car replacement coverage, and the repair estimate, salvage value and state threshold for the total-loss test.
- 05
Read the headline — the check to you, or what is still owed — then the table, which follows the money line by line from the car's value to the lender and back to you.
Formula
Settlement = actual cash value (or the new-car replacement price, if you carry that coverage and it is higher) + sales tax at your rate + title and registration fees − deductible. The lender is paid first: to the lender = the smaller of the settlement and the payoff. Check to you = settlement − payoff, if positive. Shortfall = payoff − settlement, if positive. GAP pays the smaller of the shortfall and its limit, plus any deductible benefit its contract carries. Still owed = shortfall − what GAP pays. The total-loss tests: under a percentage threshold the car is totaled when repair ≥ threshold × value; under the total loss formula, when repair + salvage ≥ value. Keeping the car = settlement − salvage value.
Example
A car with a $24,000 actual cash value, a $1,000 deductible, 6% sales tax ($1,440) and $250 of title and registration fees, a $29,500 loan payoff and $6,000 of GAP coverage. The settlement is $24,000 + $1,440 + $250 − $1,000 = $24,690, all of it paid to the lender. That leaves a $4,810 shortfall, which GAP pays in full, so you owe nothing and receive no check. Remove the GAP coverage and you would still owe $4,810 on a car you no longer have. On the total-loss test, the $19,000 repair estimate is 79% of the car's value, over a 75% threshold, and repair plus $5,000 of salvage equals the $24,000 value under the total loss formula, so the car is totaled either way. Keep the car instead and the salvage deduction brings the settlement down to $19,690.
Definitions
- Actual cash value (ACV)
- What the car was worth just before the loss, allowing for age, mileage and condition — the insurer's measure of a total loss, usually built from comparable vehicles for sale.
- Total loss threshold
- The repair cost, as a percentage of value, at which a state has a car declared totaled — from 60% to 100% in the states that set one.
- Total loss formula
- The test used in states without a percentage: a car is totaled when its repair cost plus salvage value reaches its actual cash value.
- GAP coverage
- Coverage that pays some or all of the difference between a total-loss settlement and the loan or lease payoff, up to its limit.
- Salvage value
- What the wrecked car is worth for parts or rebuilding. It comes off the settlement if you keep the car.
Good to know
Actual cash value is an offer, not a verdict
When an insurer totals a car it pays what the car was worth immediately before the loss, its actual cash value, rather than what it cost or what a replacement would cost. The standard personal auto policy limits the insurer's liability for loss to your car to the lesser of its actual cash value or the amount needed to repair or replace it with property of like kind and quality, and it allows an adjustment for depreciation and physical condition in a total loss. In practice the insurer or a valuation vendor builds the figure from comparable vehicles for sale nearby, adjusted for mileage, options and condition. That makes it an estimate, and estimates can be checked. Look at the comparable vehicles the valuation report used: whether they are the same trim, carry similar mileage, and are genuinely for sale in your market. Local listings for the same car are the most direct evidence if the offer looks low. Condition adjustments deserve the same scrutiny, since a deduction for wear the car did not have comes straight off the check. Many policies also contain an appraisal provision for disputes over the amount of a loss, and state insurance departments publish their own rules for how total losses must be valued and settled. Everything else in the settlement is built on this one number. Sales tax is usually calculated on it, the deductible comes off it, and a lender is paid from it, so every $1,000 of valuation error passes straight through to what you receive or still owe. On the defaults, a $24,000 value becomes a $24,690 settlement after $1,440 of tax, $250 of fees and a $1,000 deductible. If you keep the wrecked car, the insurer deducts its salvage value, $5,000 here, which cuts the settlement to $19,690, and the car carries a salvage title from then on.
When a car is totaled, state by state
Whether a damaged car is repaired or totaled is not left entirely to the insurer. States set the point at which a car must be declared a total loss, and they do it in one of two ways. Most set a percentage: the car is totaled when the repair cost reaches a fixed share of its actual cash value. Policygenius's list, updated in July 2026, shows 28 states and Washington, D.C. taking this approach, with thresholds from 60% in Oklahoma and 65% in Nevada up to 100% in Colorado and Texas, and 75% by far the most common. Florida, Missouri and Oregon sit at 80%; Arkansas, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin at 70%. The other 22 states, including California, Georgia, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Washington, use the total loss formula instead. Under the formula a car is totaled when its repair cost plus its salvage value reaches its actual cash value, which is simply the point where fixing the car costs the insurer more than paying for it and selling the wreck. The two tests can disagree, and the page runs both. On the defaults, a $19,000 repair on a $24,000 car is 79% of value, so it is totaled at a 75% threshold, and $19,000 of repair plus $5,000 of salvage exactly reaches the value under the formula. A $17,000 repair would be totaled under neither: it is 71% of value, and $22,000 of repair and salvage falls short of $24,000. Two cautions apply. An insurer can generally total a car below the state threshold when repairing it makes less economic sense, and thresholds are revised from time to time, so treat any list as a starting point. And the decision governs the title as much as the check, since a totaled car is typically branded salvage. The page leaves the choice of rule to a field, because your state's department of insurance, not a list, is the authority.
Upside down on the loan: who gets paid first
A totaled car with a loan against it settles in a fixed order. The lender holds the title, so the insurer pays the lender first, up to the payoff amount, and only the remainder reaches you. When the settlement is larger than the payoff, you get a check for the difference. When it is smaller, the loan does not disappear with the car: you still owe the shortfall, and the lender will keep billing you for it. Being upside down is common in the first years of a long loan with a small down payment, because the car's value falls fastest exactly when the balance falls slowest. The defaults show the typical case. A $24,690 settlement goes entirely to the lender against a $29,500 payoff, leaving $4,810 owed on a car that no longer exists. That is where GAP coverage comes in. GAP pays the difference between the settlement and the loan, up to its limit. With the $6,000 limit on the defaults it covers the whole $4,810, the loan is cleared, and you walk away owing nothing — but with no car and no check toward the next one. Limits matter. Loan/lease payoff coverage sold as an add-on to a car policy is often capped: Progressive's pays up to 25% of the car's value, which is $6,000 on a $24,000 car, and it does not cover extra charges on the loan or lease such as excess mileage fees. On a car with a wider gap, a 25% cap can leave part of the balance unpaid. Standalone GAP contracts differ, and some also pay the deductible, which the advanced options take. One figure is easy to get wrong: the payoff. Ask the lender for a payoff quote dated for when the settlement will arrive, not the balance on your last statement, because interest keeps accruing in between. Whether GAP was worth buying in the first place is the GAP insurance page's question.
Sales tax, fees and new-car replacement
Replacing a totaled car costs more than its value. The next car carries sales tax, title and registration, and whether the insurer pays those depends heavily on the state. A 2015 survey by the law firm Matthiesen, Wickert & Lehrer found that about two-thirds of states require insurers to pay sales tax after a total loss, and it showed the timing varies as much as the requirement. Some states have the tax included in the settlement check; Ohio insurers pay it only on proof that you bought a replacement vehicle; Missouri handles it through a sales-tax credit affidavit filed on the next car. That survey is more than a decade old and rules have moved since, so read it as a sign of how varied the answer is rather than as a current count. The page takes the tax as the percentage of value the settlement includes, and the fees as a dollar figure, and a state that pays tax later calls for 0 now and a second payment later. At 6% on a $24,000 car the tax is $1,440, and on a loan that is underwater every dollar of it goes to the lender rather than to you. New-car replacement coverage changes the base of the whole calculation. Instead of the actual cash value, the insurer pays what a new car of the same make and model costs, less the deductible. It is narrow by design. Liberty Mutual's version applies only to a car less than one year old with fewer than 15,000 miles and no previous owner, carrying comprehensive and collision coverage, and not to leased cars. Other insurers set different limits, sometimes by model year. When the coverage applies, a new-car price well above the cash value can clear a loan that the cash value alone would not. The page uses the replacement price in place of the value whenever you enter one that is higher.
Frequently asked questions
What happens if my car is totaled and I owe more than it is worth?
The insurer pays the lender first, up to the payoff, and you still owe whatever is left. On the default figures a $24,000 car with $1,690 of tax and fees and a $1,000 deductible settles for $24,690 against a $29,500 payoff, leaving a $4,810 shortfall. With no GAP coverage you owe that $4,810 on a car you no longer have. With the $6,000 GAP limit in the defaults, GAP pays all of it and you owe nothing — but you also get no check.
Does insurance pay sales tax on a totaled car?
In many states, yes, but the rules and the timing vary. A 2015 survey by the law firm Matthiesen, Wickert & Lehrer found about two-thirds of states require insurers to pay sales tax after a total loss. Some pay it only once you buy a replacement: Ohio insurers want proof of purchase, and Missouri handles it through a sales-tax credit affidavit on the next car. At 6% on a $24,000 car the tax is $1,440, so ask your insurer how your state handles it.
When is a car considered a total loss?
It depends on the state. Policygenius's July 2026 list shows 28 states and Washington, D.C. using a fixed percentage of the car's value, from 60% in Oklahoma to 100% in Colorado and Texas, with 75% the most common. The other 22 states use the total loss formula: the car is totaled when the repair cost plus its salvage value reaches its actual cash value. On the defaults, a $19,000 repair on a $24,000 car is 79% of value, so it is totaled at a 75% threshold, and $19,000 of repair plus $5,000 of salvage reaches the value under the formula too.
Does GAP insurance pay my deductible?
Some GAP contracts do, and many coverages do not. Progressive's loan/lease payoff coverage, for example, pays the difference between the car's value and what you owe, up to 25% of the value, after the collision settlement has already taken off your deductible. If your GAP contract lists a deductible benefit, enter it in the advanced options; the page applies it to any remaining shortfall first and passes the rest to you.
What is the difference between GAP insurance and loan/lease payoff coverage?
Both pay some or all of the gap between the settlement and your loan after a total loss. Loan/lease payoff coverage bought with a car policy is often capped: Progressive's pays up to 25% of the car's value, which is $6,000 on a $24,000 car, and does not cover extra loan or lease charges such as excess mileage fees. A standalone GAP contract may have a higher limit. Enter whichever limit you have; whether it was worth buying is a question for the GAP insurance calculator.
What does new-car replacement coverage pay?
It replaces the actual cash value with the price of a new car of the same make and model, less your deductible — but only on a narrow set of cars. Liberty Mutual's version applies to a car less than a year old with fewer than 15,000 miles and no previous owner, and not to leased cars. Enter the new-car price in the advanced options and the page uses it in place of the cash value when it is higher.
Can I keep my car if it is totaled?
Often, yes. The insurer normally deducts the car's salvage value from the settlement, and the car carries a salvage title from then on, which affects registering it and what it will sell for. On the defaults, keeping a car with $5,000 of salvage value drops the settlement from $24,690 to $19,690.