What Happens If Your Car Is Totaled By Insurance? 
If your car is severely damaged as a result of an accident , for example , your insurance company 's claims professional will assess the amount of damage and the related cost to repair that damage . Since usually the entire extent of such damage can not be completely understood until the car starts to get torn down by the repair shop , a good rule of thumb is that if the inisitial cost to repair is about 70 % of the current book value of the car , more than likely it will bt `` totalled '' . You will be offered a settlement , subject to your deductible andbased upon that current book value.If you have a full replacement value option on a newer car , you may be offered a new car of the same make and model with similar features . If you choose to take the monitary settlement but also want to keep your car , the insurance company rep may stamp the title to indicate the severity of the damage your car had sustained . If that happens , you will have a difficult time selling it later on . 