[DAVID GAGNARD]

To all;

I am in the insurance industry in claims,have been for 10 years now. To clear up a few misconceptions let me state the following;;;

99.9% of policy's written are for A.C.V.,actual cash value.
You can get "agreed on value" policys for Cobras.
When an insurance company "totals" your car,they pay you the value of the car and then the car belongs to them to do as they please with it,as they have just bought it from you...
They are then sold for "salvage" mostly thru salvage dealer,some are "bid" out to rebuilders or dismantlers for their parts.
You do have the option to "retain salvage" on your vehicle,you must pay the insurance company the "reasonable amount" they could expect to get at a salvage sale. Granted a 2003 Z-71 is going to bring a lot more salvage than a 1995 Ford Escort.On a car such as a Cobra or any "specialty" car that will not have a good salvage value,20% of the A.C.V. would be the norm,meaning you could buy back your car for 20% of the insurance settlement..Right now late model 4X4s will bring as much as 40% return at a salvage sale,we recently sold a one year old Z-71 hit hard dead center in the front for exactly half what we paid the owner for it and the owner was very satisfied with his settlement...Most mid size autos will bring from 20 to 30 percent return,depending on the amount of damage....

Hope this clears up some misconceptions about the way claims are handled and if anyone has any questions about claims or how they are handled,please feel free to ask...

David