During the estimating and inspection process there is a threshold (dollar amount of repair) in which the estimate must be sent to the insurance company for evaluation. In most cases the insurance company will assess the vehicle value and determine a total repairable cost that they can spend on repairs. This process can take an insurance company several days… If the insurance company does decide your vehicle is a Total Loss, here are reasons why. There are 2 types of Total Losses: Economic and Structural. An Economic Total Losses is when the repair cost exceeds the cost of the insurance company replacing your vehicle. This usually happen when the repair cost reaches around 75% of the vehicles value. The insurance company then sells the vehicle to an auction or salvage yard to recoup the addition cost in paying the total value settlement to the vehicle owner. Keep in mind that only the insurance company can determine a vehicle an Economic Total Loss. A Structural Total Loss is when there is part of the repair that is not repairable. This is usually involves a repair in which either the vehicle manufacturer or government legislation has deemed a specific area of damage unsafe to repair.