Disputing a Total-Loss Valuation From the Other Driver's Insurer

Attorney Answer

You can push back on the number, and you often should. But know your footing first: as a claimant against the other driver's policy you are not that insurer's customer, and Texas's unfair settlement practices statute gives you no claim against it.

Tex. Ins. Code § 541.060(a) sets out the settlement practices an insurer may not engage in, including failing to attempt in good faith to settle a claim where liability has become reasonably clear. Subsection (b) then says: "Subsection (a) does not provide a cause of action to a third party asserting one or more claims against an insured covered under a liability insurance policy." The prompt-payment rules in Chapter 542 are first-party rules as well — they protect the company's own policyholder. That does not mean the other driver's carrier may pay you whatever it likes. It means that if the offer stays unreasonable, your remedy runs against the driver who hit you rather than against the company.

What you are owed for the vehicle is its reasonable value, and that figure is built from comparable vehicles, mileage, options and condition. It is negotiable, and valuation reports routinely contain mistakes that are worth real money once you find them.

There is also something most people never think to ask for. In J & D Towing, LLC v. American Alternative Insurance Corp., the Texas Supreme Court held that loss-of-use damages are recoverable even when a vehicle is totally destroyed, not only when it can be repaired — so long as the loss is foreseeable, traceable to the crash, not speculative, and measured over a reasonable period for replacement. Being without your car is a real loss, and it does not disappear because the car cannot be fixed.

What you can do

1. Ask the adjuster, in writing, for the complete valuation report: every comparable vehicle used and every adjustment made to it.

2. Check those comparables against your actual car — mileage, trim, options, recent tires or repairs, condition — and send corrections with proof: service records, photographs, receipts.

3. Ask specifically about loss of use for the time you have been without the vehicle, and about the sales tax, title and registration costs of replacing it.

4. Look at your own collision coverage. With your own insurer you are the customer, the settlement and prompt-payment rules do apply, and it can pursue the other carrier for what it pays out, including your deductible.

5. File a complaint with the Texas Department of Insurance if the handling is unreasonable. It is free and does not require a lawyer.

6. Do not sign a release until you understand what it covers. If you were hurt at all, even slightly, ask a Texas attorney first — a property release should never be allowed to reach an injury claim.

Most lawyers offer a brief initial call at no cost, and a few minutes on your specific facts is worth more than any general guidance, including this page.

⏱ Time limits apply. Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.003(a) gives two years for property damage claims as well as personal injury claims, running from the day the cause of action accrues, and negotiating with an adjuster does not pause it. Where your dates fall depends on your facts, so have a Texas attorney confirm them before the calendar becomes the problem.