Legal information disclaimer
How VVA handles legal information on its diminished-value pages, calculators, and tools. Last reviewed: .
VVA is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice
Vehicle Value Analysis is a vehicle valuation service. We produce comparable-sales market reports and diminished-value calculations from a database of 10 million+ verified vehicle sales. We are not a law firm, we do not provide legal advice, and the information on our state-specific pages, FAQ, and calculator tools is general guidance only.
For case-specific legal advice — including statute-of-limitations questions, first-party vs third-party DV strategy, appraisal-clause invocation, and bad-faith claims — consult a property-damage attorney licensed in your state. Your state's bar association maintains a lawyer-referral service that can point you to attorneys experienced in first-party insurance disputes.
Per-state verification status
Our 50-state diminished-value content is shipped in waves. Wave 1 (the five states below marked "Verified") was hand-curated with primary-source citations from state legislature sites, Justia, and state Department of Insurance bulletins. Wave 2 entries are AI-drafted and pending paralegal verification — they are clearly labeled as such, and the underlying citation links go to the most authoritative source we could find. Wave 3 will retroactively spot-check the top-10 traffic states with attorney review.
| State | Status | Source | Last reviewed | View page |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| California | Verified | Justia | 2026-05-16 | View California state page |
| Florida | Verified | Justia | 2026-05-16 | View Florida state page |
| Georgia | Verified | Justia | 2026-05-16 | View Georgia state page |
| New York | Pending | AI-draft | 2026-05-16 | View New York state page |
| Texas | Verified | DVAC | 2026-05-16 | View Texas state page |
How to verify a legal fact yourself
If you want to check anything on our state pages or tools against primary sources, here is the standard list:
- Statutes of limitations: search your state legislature's official statutes site (e.g. statutes.capitol.texas.gov for Texas) or look up the citation on Justia.
- State case law: Justia and CourtListener index decisions from state supreme courts and federal courts. Case citations we link from our state pages all resolve to one of these two sources where possible.
- First-party vs third-party DV rules + UM/UIM coverage: your state's Department of Insurance website publishes consumer bulletins on auto-insurance practices.
- Total-loss thresholds + salvage-title procedures: your state DMV/DOT site covers titling rules; your state DOI site covers insurer behavior.
- Texas-specific: Texas Department of Insurance consumer-help pages at tdi.texas.gov. SB 458 implementation rules are being settled through TDI rulemaking as of this writing.
Reporting an error or correction
If you find an inaccuracy on any of our state pages, FAQ entries, or calculator outputs, email us at support@vehiclevalueanalysis.com with the specific page URL and the source you are citing. We review every correction request within 5 business days and either update the content with your source or explain why the existing text stands.
Tool-specific disclaimers
- 17c Calculator: an illustrative calculation of the State-Farm-developed diminished-value formula. The "market comparables typically show" range is industry-typical, not your vehicle's specific number. For a defensible number, order a VVA Diminished Value report.
- VIN Decoder: powered by the NHTSA vPIC public vehicle database. Older vehicles (pre-1981) and some foreign-market imports may return incomplete data.
- State Deadline Calculator: shows the typical statute of limitations for DV claims in your state from the date of loss. Tolling rules and sub-limits vary by state and by claim framing (breach-of-contract vs negligence). Consult an attorney before relying on the calculator for a near-deadline claim.
- Total Loss Threshold Tool: state thresholds and Total Loss Formula behavior vary. The tool uses the statutory threshold; insurer practical behavior may differ.