Total Loss Claims

Boulton et al. v. Aviva General Insurance Company et al.

Nova Scotia Supreme Court File: Hfx No. 538941

Gluckstein Lawyers and Wagners have jointly issued a proposed class action lawsuit against a number of automobile insurance companies for systematically underpaying consumers with total loss accident claims.

A total loss claim is made when an automobile insurer decides that an accident vehicle is too damaged to repair or is simply not worth repairing. If the insurer finds that an accident vehicle is a total loss, they are required to pay the policyholder the car’s Actual Cash Value (“ACV”), meaning the value of the car immediately before the total loss accident. The ACV is determined by looking at prices of similar cars in similar condition to the accident vehicle, also called “competitor vehicles.”

Our lawsuit alleges that these insurers relied on one of two companies—Mitchell International, Inc. and Audatex (also known as Solera)—to provide valuation reports for the Actual Cash Values (“ACVs”) of total loss accident vehicles. These reports included arbitrary and illegal charges that diminished the valuations of total loss vehicles, lowering insurers’ payouts to consumers with total loss accident claims. In the Mitchell reports, these charges were called “Projected Sold Adjustments,” while in the Audatex reports they were called “Typical Negotiation Adjustments.”

Both the “Projected Sold Adjustment” and “Typical Negotiation Adjustment” are based on the flawed theory that used car purchasers typically pay less than a dealer’s advertised sticker price. Our claim therefore seeks damages for people who were charged a “Projected Sold Adjustment,” a “Typical Negotiation Adjustment,” or some other equivalent charge in a total loss claim with an insurer relying on Mitchell or Audatex valuation reports.

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