Stated Value vs Actual Cash Value: How a Totaled Wheelchair Van Gets Paid

What each valuation basis pays

Collision and comprehensive coverage, together called physical damage, pay to fix or replace your own van. Every physical damage policy says how much it will pay when the van is totaled. There are three common answers.

Actual cash value. The Texas Department of Insurance defines it as the current cost to replace your property minus depreciation, which is the loss in value from age and wear (auto glossary, June 11, 2024). The standard business auto form, ISO CA 00 01, pays the lesser of the van’s actual cash value at the time of loss or the cost to repair or replace it with property of like kind and quality. On a total loss, the insurer adjusts for depreciation and physical condition, and it never pays for betterment.

Stated amount. You list a dollar figure for each van, and the policy pays the least of that figure, the actual cash value, or the cost of repair. Virginia’s approved endorsement that sets a maximum limit for damage to a personal auto, PP 13 58, sets the limit that way and warns at the top that coverage is not on an agreed value basis and the scheduled amount is not necessarily what you will receive. A notice of auto insurance form the Texas Department of Insurance approved in October 2023 (CAF-4025-5) lists each vehicle’s physical damage limit as either ACV or a stated amount, so you can see which one you have.

Agreed value. You and the insurer settle on the van’s value when the policy is written, and a total loss pays that amount. New Jersey’s claim rules call this a stated value policy that pays a specified dollar amount on a total loss (N.J.A.C. 11:3-10.4(i)). Because the names overlap, the wording in the limit of insurance section is what counts.

Basis	What a total loss pays	What to check
Actual cash value	Replacement cost minus depreciation, or repair cost if lower, less your deductible	Whether the insurer’s comparable vans are converted
Stated amount	The lowest of the stated figure, actual cash value, or repair cost, less your deductible	That the stated figure is not well above what the van is worth
Agreed value	The value set when the policy was written, less your deductible	That the form says it pays the agreed amount itself

A totaled wheelchair van: an example

Florida’s TRIPS state contract for transit vehicles priced a new lowered-floor Chrysler Voyager wheelchair minivan at $69,476 on its order form effective February 20, 2025. See what a wheelchair van costs for what the conversion alone adds.

Say a van like that is totaled three years after you buy it.

1. On actual cash value, the adjuster prices comparable vehicles. If the comparables are plain minivans, the figure leaves out the ramp and lowered floor, and you have to prove what the conversion adds.
2. On a stated amount of $55,000, if the adjuster sets actual cash value at $40,000, the policy pays $40,000 less your deductible, because it pays the lower number. The $55,000 on your schedule is only a ceiling.
3. On an agreed value of $55,000, the policy pays $55,000 less your deductible.

Now say you still owe your lender $30,000 and it is listed as loss payee. The check goes to you and the lender as your interests appear, so the loan is paid from it and you keep the rest. If the payout is smaller than the loan, gap insurance, if you carry it, covers the difference.

How to get the conversion counted

On a business auto policy, physical damage covers a covered auto “or its equipment,” so the lift, ramp, and tie-downs are covered along with the van, and the lowered floor is part of the van itself. Two limits catch owners:

• Electronics. The standard form covers equipment that sends or receives audio, video, or data only when it runs solely on the van’s power and is permanently installed, and then caps it at $1,000 per loss if it sits where the factory would not put it. A tablet with its own battery falls outside the coverage.
• Personal policies. The standard personal auto policy pays at most $1,500 for equipment the factory did not install, such as a raised roof, and excludes damage while the car is used as a public or livery conveyance. Paid NEMT trips need a commercial policy. See using a personal vehicle for NEMT.

Keep a claim file for each van, with copies off site:

1. The bill of sale and the converter’s invoice, with the conversion priced as its own line.
2. The certification labels. A converter working on a new van adds a label saying it still meets the affected federal safety standards (49 CFR 567.7). A shop that modifies a van already in service for riders with disabilities, and in doing so disables a part a federal standard requires, must label the van and give you a document listing the standards it may no longer meet (49 CFR 595.7).
3. The lift paperwork. A platform lift carries a DOT label certifying it as a public use or private use lift (FMVSS 403), and the owner’s manual must hold the lift maker’s insert (FMVSS 404, S4.2).
4. Photos of the ramp or lift, floor, and securement stations, plus the broker inspection reports that show the van in service.

When a claim comes, state rules help you push back. Florida’s statute, which covers commercial vehicles too, says a comparable vehicle must have similar options and mileage, an insurer that uses a valuation database must give you the relevant parts of its valuation documents on request, and every deduction for depreciation must be itemized and explained in writing if you ask (section 626.9743, 2026 Florida Statutes). New Jersey requires a written, itemized valuation by the date of payment and lets the insurer adjust for the presence or absence of extras. If you tell the insurer in writing within 30 calendar days of receiving the check that you cannot buy a comparable van at that price, it must reopen the claim.

If you and the insurer still disagree on the amount, the business auto form lets either side demand an appraisal. How that works, and how to claim downtime when another driver caused the crash, is in when another driver hits your van.

Loss payee: who else is paid from the claim

A loss payee is the lender, lessor, or agency with a money interest in the van. The Texas notice form makes physical damage loss payable to you and the loss payee as interest may appear. The loss payable clause Virginia approves for personal auto policies goes further: your fraud does not cancel the payee’s interest unless the loss comes from your converting, hiding, or embezzling the vehicle, and the payee gets the same advance notice of cancellation you do.

A loss payee is not an additional insured. The loss payee shares in payments for damage to the van. An additional insured is covered by your liability policy. These lenders and agencies set the terms as of October 2026:

• SBA 7(a) lenders. For loans over $50,000, SBA requires hazard insurance on all collateral. Personal property, which includes a pledged van, must be insured for full replacement cost, or the most insurable value when replacement cost is not available, with a lender’s loss payable clause and at least 10 days’ written notice of cancellation (SOP 50 10 8.1, effective October 1, 2026). A loan of $500,000 or less is exempt when all the business’s assets are worth $50,000 or less to replace. See NEMT business loans.
• Arizona’s 5310 program. When the state is the owner or lienholder, it must be listed as loss payee and additional insured, and grant vans need collision and comprehensive for their full fair market replacement value with a deductible of $5,000 or less (fiscal year 2025 guidebook). While the van is under the state’s lien, the whole payment goes to the state, the deductible is yours to pay, and the guidebook warns the payment after a total loss is unlikely to buy a replacement van.
• Wisconsin’s 5310 program. The state holds the lien for the van’s useful life and keeps its percentage interest while the van is worth more than $10,000. The grantee or a lessee operating the van must carry collision and comprehensive (Cycle 51 guidelines, calendar year 2027). See Section 5310 grants.

For a leased van, the lessor sets the coverage in the lease. See lease or buy a NEMT vehicle.

What to ask your agent at renewal

1. Which basis covers each van: actual cash value, stated amount, or agreed value. Get it from the declarations or the vehicle schedule.
2. Whether the vehicle schedule describes each van as converted, with the year, ramp or lift, and conversion cost.
3. What agreed value would cost, if your insurer offers it, and what records it needs to set the value.
4. Whether each stated amount still fits, and how it affects your premium. A stated figure well above the van’s real value does not raise what a total loss pays.
5. Whether every lender, lessor, and grant agency is named as loss payee, with the exact name each one requires.

For what sets your premium, see NEMT insurance cost. Before you buy, see buying a used wheelchair van.