Texas Asset Protection & Claims Guide

01 / Total loss / salvage threshold

Total loss / salvage threshold

Texas uses an economic 100% salvage threshold for statutory title classification.

Repair cost exceeding the actual cash value immediately before damage makes a vehicle a salvage motor vehicle. Texas excludes hail damage, gradual damage, and exterior-paint-only damage from the statutory repair-cost calculation.

Citation: Tex. Transp. Code § 501.091(15), (3)(B); 43 Tex. Admin. Code § 217.83(a)(5)(A)(ii)

02 / The insurer’s total-loss settlement duty

The insurer’s total-loss settlement duty

Texas’s verified rules here concern salvage-title classification, not a general duty to obtain third-party salvage bids.

Texas Department of Insurance Bulletin B-0027-00 states that under the standard Texas policy, a first-party total-loss payment is based on the lesser of actual cash value, repair or replacement with like kind and quality, or the declarations amount, less the deductible. A statutory requirement to disclose comparable vehicles or obtain auction bids was not verified. 43 Tex. Admin. Code § 217.83(c) addresses owner-retained salvage vehicles and requires insurer reporting to the Department of Motor Vehicles; the cited text does not require the insurer to produce a third-party auction bid to the consumer.

Citation: Texas Department of Insurance Bulletin B-0027-00; 43 Tex. Admin. Code § 217.83(c)

03 / Time limit to pursue a third-party diminished value claim

Time limit to pursue a third-party diminished value claim

A Texas third-party property-damage claim, including third-party diminished value, generally has a two-year limitation period from accrual.

The period generally runs from accrual, ordinarily the accident, not the repair date. First-party diminished value is generally not owed: TDI Bulletin B-0027-00 states that an insurer is not obligated to pay first-party diminished value when the vehicle is completely repaired to its pre-damage condition. A third-party loss-of-market-value claim may be available; that is where the leverage is.

Citation: Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.003; Texas Department of Insurance Bulletin B-0027-00

04 / Repair shop choice, parts disclosure and PDR

Repair shop choice, parts disclosure and PDR

No Texas PDR-specific statute or general Texas OEM-versus-aftermarket disclosure rule specific to PDR was verified.

Covered nonmechanical motor-vehicle repair facilities must register with the Commission under Tex. Occ. Code § 2304.051, and § 2304.104 addresses repair records.

Citation: Tex. Occ. Code § 2304.051; Tex. Occ. Code § 2304.104

05 / Hail damage treatment

Hail damage treatment

Texas excludes hail damage from the statutory repair-cost calculation used for salvage-title classification.

This is a verified Texas hail exclusion. Hail damage is listed with gradual damage and exterior-paint-only damage as excluded from that statutory calculation.

Citation: Tex. Transp. Code § 501.091(3)(B); 43 Tex. Admin. Code § 217.83(a)(5)(A)(ii)

Build the supporting record

A Diminished Value Claim Report can organize the facts, documents, and value evidence around the next claim decision.