the only entity that can declare a vehicle a salvage title vehicle is
the State......the insurance company just facilitates getting the title
from the owner and processing the salvage title according to the
statutes...
For the purpose of this thread you're arguing semantics. The State
cannot *****-nilly issue a branded title without the facilitating
paperwork - which can only be supplied by the owner or insurance
company. Therefore ONLY the owner and insurance company can
create a branded title. The only title the State/FED can issue
against the will of all parties involved are Grey Market, Export, and
Scrap (lets say from a drug deal confiscation.) Realistically, the
State could not care less about the condition of private property
beyond emissions and safety. (Which is why most States require a
safety inspection to re class a Salvage Title into a Reconstructed
Title.)
Typically the branding of a title is determined by the
amount of cost to return the vehicle to it's pre-loss condition.
Technically regardless if the insurance claim is accepted or not if
the vehicle fits the parameters of the salvage statute then the title
should be processed...
"Typically" and "should" are awfully big words in the legal realms.
"Typically" a car is branded if it reaches the 75% threshold of value
yes, but I have personally experienced high end luxury cars being
branded for literally hundreds of dollars in damage. All depends
on the insurance company's client and agent I suppose. I have also
encountered several cars with Theft notes on titles that were not
branded, meaning the car was stolen at some point and then
(presumably) returned without being submitted for branding.
Without a concession or binding arbitration the insurance
company cannot lay claim to the vehicle and (to my
understanding) if it cannot claim ownership it cannot brand the
title through the State. Possession is 9/10ths the law. Most
companies now have binding arbitration as part of the claim
process, but I also have personal experience where its not
accepted or contracted - if you don't like the terms of the
settlement you can tell them to piss off.
...just some individuals circumvent the statute and do not
process the title thereby keeping a "clear" title when it should
have been branded.
Sure that's perfectly possible, but I find with high-end
performance cars single car accident claims are simply not
reported to the insurance company at all. Considering his record I
m sure Johnny Knoxville (for example) would probably wash off an
Aston Martin as opposed to getting police and insurance involved
in a wreck. There's also a huge amount of wrecks on racetracks
these days that neither get reported OR processed because of the
nature of the wreck. Take your viper into a wall at Sebring and
you'll see how comprehensive your coverage really is.
While I know how abrasive I am, I am not looking to pick a fight
here. It just bothers me when people get shafted over how little
they understand title laws. I have a list of several dozen vipers
right now that have been destroyed and rebuilt with no "official"
record to follow them. Mr. Mom sadly proves my point by
watching a salvaged car for over a year without realizing it. I love
salvage cars - in fact that's mostly what I buy these days because
of the sheer amount of savings for a car that... in all likelihood... I
am going to destroy anyway.
