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Totaled Car Payoff Estimator: Will Insurance Cover Your Loan?

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Estimate your payoff gap

After the insurance settlement clears, do you still owe your lender money, and how much? You supply the car's actual cash value; this estimator does the arithmetic around it and shows the rule behind each line. This calculator runs in your browser and does not send the numbers you enter.

Where are you?

It decides the tax, fee and retention rules. Illinois and Washington are modeled in detail; other states are flagged, not guessed.

How do you own the car?

Best source: the insurer's own total loss valuation report, which you may have to ask for. Or look the car up on a valuation guide (each opens in a new tab; we do not fetch or store values): Kelley Blue Book, Edmunds, J.D. Power. Kelley Blue Book: "The actual cash value is how much the car was worth just before the loss." State Farm: "Actual cash value is generally determined by factors such as the age, condition, equipment and mileage of your vehicle at the time the loss occurred."

Where did that value come from?

Illinois DOI: "If your vehicle is not listed in one of these sources, the company can use written dealer quotes. Ordinarily, however, advertisements are not acceptable sources of market value." A written dealer quote is evidence; a screenshot of a listing is not.

For a lease, enter the lease payoff. Leave blank if you own the car outright.

Do you have gap coverage?

NAIC: "Guaranteed Asset Protection (GAP) insurance (sometimes called loan/lease coverage or debt cancellation) may help pay off what you owe if you owe more on your car than it is worth. It would provide protection whether the accident is your fault or someone else's. This protection can be purchased from a lender, your car dealer or an insurance company or agent."

Who was at fault?
Do you carry collision coverage?

What a replacement of this value would cost in tax and fees. Washington adds these to the settlement; Illinois pays them if you replace the car within 30 days.

Will you buy or lease a replacement within 30 days?
Do you want to keep the totaled car?

Only if you keep the car.

Used for Illinois' rule on keeping a totaled car.

Was the damage hail only, with the car still safe to drive?

From the insurer's settlement, if it lists one. Illinois caps it at $500.

Your estimate

This estimator needs JavaScript. The method: actual cash value, plus taxes and fees where your state adds them, minus your deductible, minus salvage value if you keep the car, minus any itemized deductions, gives the net settlement. Subtract it from your 10-day payoff to see what you would still owe.

How this estimator works

Net settlement = actual cash value + transferable taxes and fees (where the state adds them) - deductible - salvage value (only if you keep the car) - itemized deductions. Shortfall = payoff balance - net settlement. The estimate never goes below a $0 settlement.

Washington: "The insurer must add to the actual cash value any taxes, license fees and other fees required to transfer ownership." Illinois: "If within 30 days of a cash settlement, you can prove that you have bought or leased another vehicle, the company must pay the applicable sales tax, transfer and title fees in an amount equivalent to the value of the total loss vehicle." For every other state the estimator sets taxes and fees to $0 and flags it rather than guessing.

Illinois DOI on deductions: "The insurance company is allowed to make deductions from the retail value if your auto has old, unrepaired collision damages. There is no limit to the amount of the deduction. The insurance company can also make deductions for wear and tear, missing parts and rust, but the maximum deduction may not exceed $500.00. All deductions must be itemized and specified as to dollar amount."

Illinois DOI on how insurers value a car: "If the insurance company elects to make a cash settlement for your totaled vehicle, they must first determine its retail value. Companies normally use guidebooks or computerized data marketed by various sources."

State Farm on gap: "If you have gap insurance through your dealer or bank, that coverage may apply to money you still owe your lender." The estimator never says gap will pay; payment depends on your contract.

Disclaimer

This estimator is general educational information, not insurance advice, legal advice, or a prediction of what any insurer will pay. It does not value your vehicle; the actual cash value you enter comes from you or from a source you choose. Total-loss settlement rules, tax and fee reimbursement, betterment deduction caps, and your right to retain a totaled vehicle are set by state law and vary significantly. The specific rules cited here come from the Illinois Department of Insurance and the Washington State Office of the Insurance Commissioner, accessed August 6, 2026, and may not apply in your state. Gap coverage payment depends entirely on your gap contract's terms and exclusions. Confirm everything with your insurer, your lender, and your state's department of insurance.

FinanceRazor may be paid when you request quotes through this link. This does not change what we report.

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ACV sourcing: three options, ranked

Option A: the insurer's own valuation report. This is the best input and almost nobody asks for it. Washington's Office of the Insurance Commissioner: "To find out if the insurer is offering you a reasonable amount of money, ask them for a 'total loss valuation report.' This shows the data they used to decide your car's value. The insurer might not provide this report unless you ask for it."

Option B: a published valuation guide. The Illinois DOI describes what insurers themselves use: "If the insurance company elects to make a cash settlement for your totaled vehicle, they must first determine its retail value. Companies normally use guidebooks or computerized data marketed by various sources."

Option C: dealer quotes. Illinois again: "If your vehicle is not listed in one of these sources, the company can use written dealer quotes. Ordinarily, however, advertisements are not acceptable sources of market value."

KBB: "The actual cash value is how much the car was worth just before the loss." State Farm: "Actual cash value is generally determined by factors such as the age, condition, equipment and mileage of your vehicle at the time the loss occurred."

Sources