Free audit of your total-loss valuation report
Is the offer for your totaled car low?
Drop in the valuation report your insurer sent. We read every page, flag the adjustments that don’t hold up under your state’s rule, and show you a fair range — before you pay anything.
Example · what the audit marks up
- Base value (avg. of 3 comparables)
- $16,940
- Condition adj. — “Fair” interior
- −$1,210
- Comp #2 — 212 mi away, 94k mi
- −$680
- Mileage adjustment
- +$410
- Options: leather, moonroof, sensing
- not listed
- Adjusted value
- $14,250
- Sales tax, title & fees
- $0
Illustrative example. Your audit uses your report, ZIP and state rule.
of auto claims were declared total losses in 2025 — a record. CCC Crash Course 2026
is what an independent review of one valuation report costs. This audit is free; the packet is $39. Published price lists, Sept 2026
published, 446 fields quoted from their regulation and dated. 28 of those rows are verified end to end; no state is still under review.
documents stored. The report is read once in memory, then discarded.
How it works
Read. Check. Counter.
The valuation report is the insurer’s evidence. Most people never read past the number on page one.
1. Read the report
We extract the comparables, every adjustment, the options list, and what was and wasn't included in the settlement figure.
2. Check it against the rules
Your state's valuation regulation says how comparables must be chosen and what must be paid. Each flag names the rule it rests on — or says plainly that your state has none.
3. Counter, in writing
The $39 packet turns the flags into a letter in your name, a comps worksheet, and the next two steps if the adjuster says no.
The adjuster’s number came from a formula. So does the answer.
Valuation reports follow a fixed method: comparable sales, then itemized adjustments, then what the state says must be added. When a step is skipped or stretched, it shows — if you know where to look.
Every flag names the line on your report and the rule it rests on
The first 72 hours, as a checklist
What to ask for in writing, what not to sign, and the two dates that start most of your state’s clocks. Ten steps, written for the week an insurer calls your car a total loss.
One address, kept until you ask us to drop it, used for this and for a note when a rule in your state changes. Never sold, never passed on — what we keep. Or skip the form entirely and read the checklist now— it is the same one.
Rules by state · sourced and dated
Every rule shows its source and the day we last checked it.
'Comparable automobile' = like kind and quality, same manufacturer, same or newer model year (newer only if insufficient same-year comps), same model type, similar body type, options and mileage similar to the insured vehicle. Each comp must have been available for retail purchase by the general public in the local market area within 90 calendar days of the final settlement offer, and must be identified by VIN, dealer stock/order number, or license plate plus the seller's phone number or street address. Any adjustments must be discernible, measurable, itemized, specified, appropriate in dollar amount and documented in the claim file; unsupported deductions may not be used; no condition deduction unless the loss vehicle's documented condition is below average for its year/make/model (prior/unrelated damage may be deducted).
yes — all applicable sales taxes must be included in the cash settlement whether or not a replacement vehicle is purchased; if the owner retains the salvage, sales tax is computed on the comparable automobile's cost discounted by the tax attributable to the salvage value
'Substantially similar vehicle' = same make, model, year and condition, including all major options; mileage may not exceed the insured vehicle's by more than 4,000 miles or 10% of its mileage at date of loss, whichever is greater. Dealer-quote comps must come from a qualified dealer within 25 miles of the place of principal garagement, remain available for purchase for 3 calendar days after acknowledged notice, and the claim file must record dealer name/location, VIN, stock number, mileage and major options. 'Local market area' (for database valuations) = 100-mile radius of principal garagement, within the U.S.; database must draw on licensed dealers selling 100+ vehicles/year and physical inventory sold within 90 days before the loss. Deviation/explanation: manual-based offers require a detailed written calculation by payment date; any 'best available method' offer must be explained; the only expressly permitted line-item deductions are documented dealer prep (≤ $100), salvage value, and applicable deductions such as the deductible — Reg 64 has no CA-style 'discernible, measurable, itemized' condition-adjustment clause.
yes — actual cash value includes all sales taxes paid or payable on the replacement vehicle; DFS consumer guidance describes the total-loss payment as 'retail value plus sales tax'. The rule sits in the general ACV definition of § 216.6(b), not in § 216.7(c), which never mentions sales tax.
None. No distance, count, age or itemization requirement for comparables in Texas statute or regulation
No rule requiring an insurer to include sales tax in a total-loss settlement. The automobile-insurance subchapter and the unfair-claims-settlement subchapter were both read in full and neither addresses tax. Texas does levy sales tax on a vehicle purchase, so the cost is real — it is the obligation to pay it that the insurance rules do not create.
Rows are read from the primary sources on the dates listed. A field the sources don’t settle is labeled rather than guessed — Texas, for instance, has no total-loss valuation regulation at all, which is itself useful to know.
The packet
One flat $39. Everything you need to answer the adjuster in writing.
Written from your report, your comparables and your state’s rule. Delivered as an editable document within a minute of checkout. If it isn’t useful, ask for your money back within 7 days — no questions.
Counteroffer letter
Point-by-point rebuttal of each flagged adjustment, citing the valuation rule, with your proposed figure.
Comps worksheet
A guided table for 3–6 local listings with the same adjustments the insurer used — so the math is theirs, not yours.
Appraisal-clause request
The letter that invokes your policy's appraisal provision if the counteroffer is refused, with the timeline that follows.
State insurance department complaint
Pre-filled draft for your state's regulator, with the filing link and what to attach.