Auto total loss settlement
How do we settle an auto total loss with the title, the lien payoff, the power of attorney and the owner's signatures collected, the payment made and the title transferred?
Run the settlement as a signed package with the lender inside it. When a vehicle is declared a total loss, Callvu prefills the claim, the vehicle and the lienholder, computes the settlement under the state's total loss rules (the actual cash value from the valuation, the taxes and fees the state requires, the deductible, the prior damage), presents the settlement with the valuation to the owner, chases the owner's documents through a link (the title or the lender's release, the power of attorney and the odometer statement, the lien payoff letter from the lender, the keys and the location), captures the owner's signatures with notarization where the state requires, routes a dispute or a value question to the adjuster in the Decision Desk, pays the lender and the owner in the right order, and writes the settlement and the title transfer to the claims system with the salvage process started. Live at Phoenix Insurance, under national rules outside the US.
Live at PhoenixComplex: multi-party handoffsCallvu moves: chase and verify, decide, write back
Last updated November 7, 2026.
The problem today
The owner signed the wrong line on the title, the lender's payoff letter expired, and the car sat in storage for five weeks at a daily rate.
A total loss is a sale the insurer must complete with a seller who did not plan to sell: the title with the right signatures and notarization, the lender's lien released against a payoff that is good for ten days, the power of attorney, the odometer statement, the keys, the plates. Every day the vehicle sits in storage costs money; every mailed form that comes back wrong adds a week. The owner, meanwhile, needs a car.
The state's total loss rules set the valuation method and the figures the settlement must include (sales tax, title and registration fees, in many states), the threshold at which a vehicle is a total loss, the title brand and the transfer requirements, and the period for payment after the settlement is agreed; the state's claim handling rules add the explanation the owner is entitled to. The lender's payoff and release are a third-party chase with their own clock.
A settlement the owner can read, sign and complete on their phone, with the lender chased by the process, is a settlement that closes in days.
How it runs
From the requestto the system of record.
A vehicle is declared a total loss on a claim (from the estimate process or an inspection). Callvu opens the settlement with the claim, the vehicle and the lienholder.
- Owner
- Reviews the settlement and the valuation, provides the documents, signs on their phone or with a notary where required, and arranges the keys and the plates.
- Lienholder
- Provides the payoff letter and the lien release through their link, and receives the payoff.
- Adjuster
- Decides value disputes and exceptions in the Decision Desk.
- Salvage vendor
- Collects the vehicle and receives the title.
- Callvu
- Prefills, computes, presents, chases the owner and the lender, captures signatures, routes, pays and writes.
Prefill and compute the settlement
The claim, the vehicle, the valuation report, the lienholder and the policy's deductible are prefilled; the settlement is computed under the state's rules: the actual cash value from the valuation, the sales tax and the title and registration fees the state requires, the prior damage and the deductible, and the lender's payoff where known; the settlement statement with the valuation and the explanation of the method is presented to the owner.
Chase and verify the documents
The owner's documents are requested through a link with instructions by state (the title or the application for a duplicate, the power of attorney, the odometer disclosure, the lienholder information, the vehicle's location and the keys and plates), read on arrival and checked (the title's owners against the policy and the signatures, the odometer, the notarization where the state requires it); the lender's payoff letter and the lien release are requested through the lender's link and chased against the payoff's good-through date.
Decide
A settlement the owner accepts with complete documents proceeds by rule; a dispute over the value (the owner's comparable vehicles, the condition, an appraisal demand), a title problem (a name mismatch, a missing owner, a lost title), a payoff above the value (a gap claim) or a lease goes to the adjuster in the Decision Desk with the documents and only the allowed outcomes.
Pay, transfer and write back
The lender is paid the payoff and the owner the balance in the order the lien requires, the title is transferred to the insurer or its salvage vendor with the state's brand, the vehicle is released from storage and collected, the settlement, the payments, the documents and the transfer are written to the claims system, and the salvage and recovery process starts from the record.
Where it ends: The total loss was settled under the state's rules with the valuation explained, the owner's and the lender's documents collected and checked through their own links, the payments made in order and the title transferred, with the claims system holding the whole record. The Decision Trace shows the computation, the document checks and any decision; the Audit Trace shows the chases, the signatures and the payments with time.
Runtime enforcement
What is enforcedwhile the work runs.
The regulations preloaded in Callvu Studio and the bank's own policies, applied as steps that run, not lines in a binder. A step that breaks a rule does not run, so a completed run was compliant.
The handoff
Between the front doorand the back office.
The front door
The owner on their phone (and with a notary where the state requires); the lender and the salvage vendor through their links.
The back office
The adjuster decides only disputes and title problems; the payments and the transfer run from the record.
The Decision Desk
- A value dispute, a title problem, a payoff above the value or a lease goes to the adjuster in the Decision Desk with the documents and only the allowed outcomes.
Proof
Live at Phoenix.Published results only.
Each result is a published claim, with its code on agents.callvu.com, where its status, source and last verified date are kept.
Phoenix Insurance reaches more than 90% completion without human help.
INS-06 · Self-asserted · verified 2026-11-05
Phoenix Insurance put more than 100 processes live in under three months.
INS-01 · Self-asserted · verified 2026-11-02
Phoenix Insurance has 40% fewer agent-led calls.
INS-02 · Self-asserted · verified 2026-11-05
Questions
What buyers ask next,answered plainly.
What does the settlement include?
The actual cash value from the valuation, the sales tax and the title and registration fees the state requires, less the deductible and prior damage, with the lender's payoff shown; the method is explained in writing.
What does the owner have to provide?
The title or the duplicate application, the power of attorney, the odometer disclosure, the lienholder information and the keys and plates, through a link with the state's instructions, and signatures with notarization where required.
How is the lender handled?
The payoff letter and the lien release are requested through the lender's link and chased against the good-through date; the lender is paid first under the loss payable clause.
Related processes
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