A bill that would raise Rhode Island's vehicle total loss threshold from 80% to 85% is now on Gov. Dan McKee's desk after clearing both chambers of the General Assembly. A higher threshold keeps more vehicles with extensive damage in the repairable category rather than diverting them to salvage, directly affecting the volume of work collision repair shops receive.
Senate Bill 3115 would amend Rhode Island's Unfair Claims Settlement Practices Act to raise the point at which an insurer may declare a vehicle a total loss from 80% to 85% of its pre-accident fair market value. Under the bill, an insurer could not declare a vehicle a total loss unless repair costs exceed 85% of the vehicle's fair market value immediately before the accident, according to the bill text.
S3115 would mark Rhode Island's second total loss threshold increase in as many years. House Bill 6053 raised the threshold from 75% to 80% in 2025.
How Rhode Island's threshold compares to other states
States regulate total loss determinations through different legal mechanisms, and the percentages they use often govern different things. Florida sets an 80% figure under Florida Statute § 319.30 for uninsured vehicles, tied to the cost of repair relative to replacement cost, that triggers the salvage title process. Wisconsin sets a 70% figure under Wisconsin Statute § 342.065(1)(c), which similarly requires a vehicle's title to be branded as salvage once that threshold is crossed, rather than governing when an insurer must settle a claim as a total loss.
New York uses a similar approach. Under 15 NYCRR § 20.20, a vehicle's title must be branded salvage once repair costs exceed 75% of its retail value, a threshold that also functions primarily as a title-branding rule rather than a direct claims-settlement mandate.
Oklahoma sets the one of the lowest verified percentage threshold at 60%, under Oklahoma Statute Title 47, § 1111. A bill that would raise that threshold to 70%, Senate Bill 1920, passed the Oklahoma Senate 48-0 in February and remains pending in the House.
Texas does not use a percentage threshold at all. Texas Transportation Code § 501.091 defines a salvage motor vehicle as one where the cost of repairs, combined with the vehicle's salvage value, equals or exceeds its actual cash value before the damage occurred. Texas and Colorado are commonly described in consumer insurance research as having the highest effective thresholds in the country, though that comparison was not independently verified against Colorado's statute for this article.
A record share of claims are now total losses
Total loss frequency in the United States reached a record 23.1% of all collision claims in 2025, according to CCC Intelligent Solutions' Crash Course 2026 report. A higher total loss threshold keeps more borderline vehicles in the repairable category, which directly affects the volume of work available to collision repair shops.
Rhode Island's collision repair framework is already among the more protective in the country, according to Auto Body Association of Rhode Island President Randy Bottella, as cited in prior coverage of S3115. Before the 2025 threshold increase, the Auto Service Association described Rhode Island as the only state that gave consumers any right to demand a vehicle be repaired rather than totaled, according to the same report.
McKee has not indicated whether he will sign, veto or allow S3115 to become law without his signature.
