What is Pre-Accident Value (PAV) and How Does It Affect Your Bid?

What is Pre-Accident Value?

Pre-Accident Value is the market value of a vehicle in the condition it was in immediately before the damage occurred. It represents the price a willing buyer would reasonably pay for that vehicle in the open market — taking into account age, mileage, specification, service history, and condition.

When an insurer declares a vehicle a total loss (write-off), it's because the estimated repair cost exceeds a threshold percentage of the PAV — typically 50–70% depending on the insurer. The PAV is then used to determine the settlement paid to the vehicle owner.

How Insurers Calculate PAV

UK insurers typically reference one or more of the following valuation guides:

• CAP HPI — The industry's primary trade valuation database. Used by the majority of UK insurers for PAV calculations.
• Glass's Guide — The second major trade guide. Often used alongside CAP for cross-reference.
• Retail market comparables — Auto Trader, PistonHeads, or dealer ads for rare or specialist vehicles without reliable guide data.

Valuations are adjusted for actual mileage, service history quality, specification differences, and recent market price movements.

Where to Find PAV Data

As a buyer, you can estimate PAV using:

• Auto Trader — Filter by exact spec and mileage for retail market comparables. Free.
• WhatCar / Parkers — Free valuation tools with retail and part-exchange prices.
• CAP HPI — Subscription-based trade valuations. Most accurate for trade buyers.
• eBay Motors / PistonHeads — Useful for specialist or rare vehicles without strong guide data.

For RepairIQ, use the retail value for the vehicle's year, make, model, trim level, and approximate mileage. Being conservative with PAV produces a more realistic max bid figure.

How PAV Affects Your RepairIQ Calculation

In RepairIQ, PAV is your target resale value — the price you expect to sell the repaired vehicle for. RepairIQ subtracts your estimated repair costs, auction fees, and required profit margin from the PAV to calculate your maximum safe bid.

An inflated PAV input will produce an unrealistically high max bid — leaving you underfunded for repairs. Always use the conservative retail value, not the aspirational top-of-market figure.