Most buyers read the list of covered repairs first. The contract also has a separate set of terms for the moment the covered item is stolen, damaged beyond repair, or written off. Those terms can end the contract, change what the seller owes, or require you to take actions that cost time. Ask about them before you sign.
Ask how the contract defines a total loss
Ask for the written definition of a total loss in the contract, not a general description from the sales call. Compare it with any definition your lender or insurer uses, because the two may not match. If the contract does not define the term, ask in writing what the seller will treat as a total loss.
Ask what happens on theft
Ask whether a stolen item ends the contract, pauses it, or leaves it in place if the item is recovered. Ask whether you must report the theft to police and within what period the report must be made. Keep the police report with your contract records.
Ask what happens to salvage
If an item is written off, ask whether you keep the salvage, whether the seller takes it, and whether the contract requires you to sell it through a particular channel. Ask whether any balance on the item is treated differently under the contract.
Ask how the contract ends and how it is recorded
Ask in writing how the contract is closed after a loss, who sends the notice, and whether any unused term is handled under the contract's own terms. Ask for the answer as a numbered list in the seller's own words, and keep it with the signed copy.
What this guide has not read
This guide does not read any seller's total-loss, theft, or salvage terms, and it does not promise that any claim will be paid. Ask the seller to put every answer in writing. The state pages on this site restate the rules where they have been read, and where a state page does not restate a rule on this subject, this guide has not read it.