Kentucky Total Loss Threshold

Kentucky-Auto-Total-Loss-Threshold-By-Law 🔗 (pdf)

Kentucky Total Loss Threshold 

186A.520 Salvage titles – Conditions for issuance – Operation of vehicle with
a salvage title.

(1) Except as provided in KRS 186A.555, a salvage title shall be obtained by the owner of a motor vehicle that meets the following definition of a salvage vehicle:
(a) A vehicle which has been wrecked, destroyed, or damaged, to the extent that the total estimated or actual cost of parts and labor to rebuild or reconstruct the vehicle to its preaccident condition and for legal operation on the roads or highways, not including the cost of parts and labor to reinstall a deployed airbag system, exceeds seventy-five percent (75%) of the retail value of the vehicle, as set forth in a current edition of the National Automobile Dealer’s Association price guide.
(b) The value of repair parts for purposes of this definition shall be determined by using the current published retail cost of the parts equal in kind and quality to the parts to be replaced or the actual retail cost of the repair parts used in repair.
(c) The labor costs of repairs for purposes of this section shall be computed by using the hourly labor rate and time allocations which are reasonable and customary in the automobile repair industry in the community where the repairs are performed.
(d) Airbag reinstallation costs which are excluded from the seventy-five percent
(75%) computation as set forth in paragraph (a) of this subsection shall be included by an insurer in the computation of the total physical damage estimate according to the terms and conditions of individual policies, provided that the total costs payable by an insurer do not exceed the total retail value of the vehicle.
(2) The owner or an authorized agent of a motor vehicle that meets the definition of a salvage vehicle as set forth in subsection (1) of this section shall, within fifteen (15) days from the receipt of all necessary paperwork required by this chapter, submit an application to the county clerk, on a form prescribed by the Department of Vehicle Regulation, for a salvage title, accompanied by a properly endorsed certificate of title and any lien satisfactions, if any appear, as may be required.
(3) The county clerk shall retain a copy of each salvage title application received and shall forward the original and its supporting documents to the Department of Vehicle Regulation in a manner similar to that for handling of an application for a title.
(4) The Department of Vehicle Regulation shall process the salvage title application in a manner similar to that used in processing a title application and the salvage title shall be delivered in a like manner of a title. Salvage titles shall be construed as proof of ownership of a vehicle in a state as to be unusable upon the highways of the Commonwealth. A vehicle shall not be issued a registration for highway use as long as a salvage title is in force.
(5) The only time a vehicle with a salvage title may be operated upon the highways of the Commonwealth is when it is in route to or from an inspection by the certified inspector prior to obtaining a certificate of title after having been rebuilt as per KRS
186.115.