The check will ultimately go to your lien holder since they still hold the title to your car. When your car is totaled out and you still owe money on a loan or lease than the money typically goes to your lien holder or the check is made out to both you and the lien holder for you then to sign over to the lien holder.

The insurance company that is settling with you for the actual cash value (ACV) of your totaled vehicle could tell you what their procedure is for cutting the check when a car has a lien holder on it. They will able to clarify how the check will be cut when you come to a settlement on the claim.

Typically if you still owe on a car when it is totaled out the money goes to the lien holder and if the ACV for the car is more than what you owe you will get the money above the loan payoff back. If instead you owe more than the ACV, insurance payout than you would still owe money to your lien holder after the settlement check was received by them. To keep from owing on a car you no longer have it is helpful to have Gap insurance to cover the amount balance of the loan that is still due after the ACV is paid out.

Remember if the amount the insurance company gives you is not what you believe your car was worth at the time of its total loss you can try to negotiate with the insurance company. To negotiate the settlement amount up you would need to show proof that your vehicle in the condition it was in before the accident was worth more than their offer. Normally to do so you will need proof from local dealers of what your car was worth.