You can check with the Pennsylvania Insurance Department to see if there are PA state guidelines for when a car should be declared a total loss. When there are not state guidelines for this then each insurance company usually is allowed to have their own rules for when to determine a vehicle is a total loss.

Without a specific state law as a guideline most insurance companies will determine a vehicle to be a total loss when it is between 51 to 80 percent of its actual worth (because of added storage costs, rental car, etc) or basically when the repairs costs are more than the value of the vehicle.

So if your car is worth $12,500 the insurance company can decide to total it out when the repair estimate comes to that $12,500 or perhaps less depending on their guidelines and state laws (if they exist regarding this). If you have concerns that the car will not be properly repaired or have continual issues due to frame damage then speak to the claims adjuster about these matters.