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Actual cash value (ACV)

What your item is worth used — not what it costs to buy the same thing new.

What it means for your money

This is usually the number on your first check. The insurer takes what the item would cost new today and subtracts an amount for how old and worn it was, and pays you the rest.

The important part is that it is often not the last check. If your policy is replacement cost, the difference is held back rather than canceled, and you claim it once you have actually replaced the item.

Find out which one your policy pays

Where the number comes from

Your adjuster calculates it per line: replacement cost today, minus depreciation for age and condition. Both halves should appear on the schedule they send you.

See this on a real sofa
Sofa, bought 2019 for $1,200
What the same sofa costs new today
$1,400
Less depreciation for six years of wear
−$840
Actual cash value
$560

The first check is for $560. If the policy is replacement cost, the $840 is withheld rather than gone — you claim it after you buy the replacement.

Actual cash value (ACV) sits next to replacement cost, depreciation and recoverable depreciation. They tend to arrive together.

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Indemnia builds the itemized list this all gets applied to, with the receipt attached to the line it proves. See how it works.