If I total my car in Malta, how is the payout amount actually calculated?

For a total loss claim, insurers generally calculate the payout based on the vehicle's market value immediately before the accident, commonly referred to as its pre-accident market value, rather than what you originally paid for it or what you might personally believe it's worth, and this market value assessment typically considers factors such as the car's age, mileage, condition, and comparable sale prices for similar vehicles in Malta at the relevant time, following principles generally consistent with your policy's specific terms and standard practice under insurance regulation connected to the Insurance Business Act, Chapter 403 of the Laws of Malta. If you believe the insurer's valuation is genuinely too low, you are entitled to challenge it, and a practical first step is gathering your own independent evidence of the car's actual market value, such as listings for comparable vehicles of the same make, model, age, and condition currently for sale in Malta, which can support a formal request to the insurer to reconsider their valuation. If the insurer maintains a valuation you believe is unfairly low despite your supporting evidence, you can escalate a formal complaint through their internal process and, if unresolved, to the Office of the Arbiter for Financial Services, which can independently review whether the insurer's valuation methodology and figure were fair and reasonable given the evidence available.