Total loss appraisal
Total loss appraisal reports
When an insurer declares a vehicle a total loss, the figure that matters is its actual cash value: what the vehicle was worth just before the loss. Appraisers prepare that valuation for owners and for insurers, and either way the report has to show its work. VINbasis keeps the claim, the vehicle, the comparables, each adjustment and the arithmetic in one case and one report.
What a total loss valuation states
A total loss valuation states the vehicle's actual cash value as of the date of loss. An appraiser may be engaged by the owner or by the insurer, and the method is the same. In VINbasis, choosing the Total loss purpose makes the date of loss required and opens the claim details.
What you record
- The claim: the insurer, the claim and policy numbers and the date of loss, which is the valuation date.
- The vehicle: decode the VIN and review its details. Paid plans add the factory build with its options and packages.
- The condition: the inspection date, grades, damages and notes from your inspection.
- The comparables: live market listings, vehicles you enter yourself, or vehicles from your own completed cases.
- Optionally, a guidebook value from J.D. Power, Red Book or another named source, and adjustments to the vehicle such as recent repairs, each with its reason.
How the value is reached
Each comparable is adjusted to the vehicle for mileage and, with a paid plan's full build decode, for equipment, configuration and model year. Every adjustment is itemized. The value is the mean of the adjusted prices of the comparables you select, optionally blended 50/50 with the guidebook value. The report states its basis, and states one value rather than a range.
The app applies no automatic discount to asking prices, and the report says so. How the valuation is calculated, step by step.
Settlement figures
When the case calls for it, a settlement section adds the sales tax and fees you enter and subtracts the deductible. It appears in the report only when you enter those figures, and it never blocks issuing the report.
As the claim moves
A claim rarely ends with one figure. Record each offer or response in the case, with its date, amount and source, update the valuation, and issue a new numbered revision. Every issued revision is kept, while offers and negotiation history stay in the case, outside the PDF. When the claim ends, close the case with its outcome: appraisers agreed, umpire award, offer accepted or withdrawn.
The report presents your evidence and your valuation. It does not decide how a claim is settled, and it is not legal advice.