Can your insurance company give you only half of the car's value because it had previously been totaled but repaired by collision specialists and inspected by the police?

Most auto insurance policy underwriting guidelines specifically exclude comprehensive and collision coverage from a salvaged vehicle. Many will also not even offer liability insurance if they are aware that the vehicle has been totaled and then salvaged. This is because Salvaged vehicles statistically have more operational failures than a vehicle that hasnot been totaled out. Many of these failures occur while on the road resulting in far more accidents. Failure to disclose the salvage nature at policy inception can be construed as deceipt on the part of the insured. If the company pays half the price then you should consider yourself lucky because it probably is actually worth much less. A vehicle that has a "salvage" title is not as valuable as a "clean" title. If the vehicle has been totalled before and you did not receive a salvage title and were not informed in writing that the vehicle had been totalled, you may be able to sue the company that sold the vehicle to you. Caveat Emptor is a good phrase to learn. It's Latin and means roughly, "let the buyer beware". If you were informed that the vehicle had been totalled and they showed you the documentation and gave you a salvaged title, it means that you bought the vehicle for less than full price because of the fault. The insurance company is certainly within their rights to offer you considerably less than full book value for the vehicle.