The Georgia insurance regulator, the office of the Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner, told us that it is up to the insurance company to determine at what percentage of the car's worth they will decide to declare the vehicle to be a total loss.

Rules of Comptroller General Office of Commissioner of Insurance notes in section 120-2-52-.07 that for first party property damage claims if the insurer determines the insured vehicle to be a total loss, and the insurance policy provides for the adjustment and settlement of first party vehicle claims on the basis of actual cash value or replacement, the insurer may elect to pay a cash equivalent settlement or replace the insured vehicle.

With the cash equivalent method your insurer may elect to pay a cash equivalent settlement based upon the actual cost value (ACV) of the vehicle less any deductible provided in the policy, to purchase a comparable automobile by the same manufacturer, same model year, with similar body style, similar options and mileage, including all applicable taxes, license fees and other fees incident to the transfer of ownership of a comparable automobile. The amount payable on taxes, license fees, and transfer fees shall be limited to the amount that would have been paid on the totaled, insured vehicle at the time of settlement.

Without a specific state law as a guideline regarding at what point a vehicle is a total loss most insurance companies will determine a vehicle to be a total loss when it is between 51 to 80 percent of its actual worth or basically when the repairs costs are more than the value of the vehicle. Some though wait until the costs to repair are the same as the total worth of the vehicle.

So if your car is worth $5000 the insurance company can decide to total it out when the repair estimate comes to say $2500 or more or they can wait until repairs cost $5000. Typically they will not just take into account the vehicle of your car but also the cost of storage, towing, rental car and anything else that may be a portion of your property damage claim.

If your car is only worth $5000 than your insurer may decide to total it out soon, where as if it is worth $6000 or more they may not. They will use their own guidelines to determine if it is more economical to get the vehicle repaired or to declare it a total loss. Your insurance company likely has a set amount of the value, say 75% of its worth, in place that the repairs and other various costs involved in the claim must come to in order to declare it a total loss. You can ask the insurer if that is the case and if so what that percentage it is.

If your car is declared a total loss you would receive compensation based on what the insurance company determines the actual cash value of the car was before the accident. They calculate this number through various means - such as local sales of like vehicles, NADA and Blue Book, etc.