Texas total-loss rules

Salvage-title definition, not an insurance-code settlement threshold. The Department of Insurance puts the practical point plainly: 'Some companies might total your car even if the cost to fix it is lower.'

Quoted from the 2025 code, current as of 26 May 2025, with 28 TAC 21.203 confirmed against Cornell LII. Marked partial because Texas has no rule specifying comparables, guidebook or database methods; the Department's consumer guide says the insurer pays 'your car's value minus depreciation' and suggests dealer quotes and advertisements as the way to argue with it.

The absence of a rule is an inference from the sources read (the TDI guide, ch. 541, ch. 542 and 28 TAC 21.203); no Texas regulation comparable to FL § 626.9743(5) or GA 120-2-52-.06 was found.

TDI consumer tip (retrieved): 'You can ask the insurance company what source it used to decide your car's value.' No statutory deadline for producing the valuation report.

This is the hardest combination on the site to argue from, and it is worth knowing which one you are in. Texas charges sales tax on a replacement vehicle, so the money is genuinely owed to the state by you. What Texas does not do is require your insurer to fund it. The argument therefore runs through the policy rather than the code: if the insurer promised actual cash value, and actual cash value is what it costs to replace the car, a figure that leaves you unable to buy the equivalent vehicle without finding the tax yourself has not delivered what was promised. That is a contract argument made to an adjuster, and insurers do settle on it.

Registering a replacement in Texas costs money, and nothing in the insurance rules obliges your insurer to cover it. The route is the same as for sales tax: the policy's actual-cash-value promise rather than a statute. Ask for the fees itemized in the settlement rather than demanding them as a right, and be ready for the answer that no rule requires them.

From the TDI consumer guide: 'You can use appraisal only for disputes with your insurance company.' Appraisal here is a policy provision, not a statutory right.

§ 542.055: 'Not later than the 15th day...after the date an insurer receives notice of a claim, the insurer shall: (1) acknowledge receipt of the claim.' § 542.057: pay 'not later than the fifth business day after the date notice is made.' § 542.058/542.060: 18% interest plus attorney fees for late payment. Prompt-pay chapter applies to first-party claims only (TDI cb020).

§ 542.003(b)(4): 'not attempting in good faith to effect a prompt, fair, and equitable settlement of a claim submitted in which liability has become reasonably clear.' § 541.151 gives a private cause of action — unusual among the states, and the strongest lever this row carries.

Four-year period for breach of contract (debt) is the general contract SOL. § 16.070(a) (retrieved): 'A stipulation, contract, or agreement that establishes a limitations period that is shorter than two years is void in this state.' Policy suit-limitation clauses of 2+ years may be enforced; Ins. Code § 541.162 (2 yrs) governs statutory bad-faith claims (not retrieved).

The page was read directly. TDI consumer help line 800-252-3439.