💵 Actual Cash Value (Depreciation) Calculator

Enter an item's replacement cost, current age, and expected useful life to calculate its Actual Cash Value (ACV) — what an insurer would typically pay for a depreciated item, as opposed to full replacement cost.

Replacement Cost ($)

Item Age (years)

Expected Useful Life (years)

Minimum Salvage Value (%)

Straight-line depreciation with a floor

The item loses an equal slice of its replacement cost every year until it hits the salvage percentage, and stops there:

annual depreciation = replacement cost / useful life
total depreciation  = min(annual × age, replacement cost × (1 − salvage %))
actual cash value   = replacement cost − total depreciation

A $1,000 item, five years old against a ten year life with a 10% floor, depreciates $100 a year: $500 written off, 50.0%, and an ACV of $500. The same item at twelve years would compute $1,200 of depreciation, so the floor takes over and the ACV settles at $100.

Replacement cost is not what you paid

Enter what an equivalent new item costs today, not the price on your old receipt. A laptop bought for $1,400 whose current equivalent sells for $900 depreciates from $900.

Useful life is the schedule length, not how long yours has survived. Look it up on the item depreciation life reference before guessing.
Salvage % stops the value reaching zero. Set it to 0 if you want a fully written-down figure.

This is an estimate you can check a claim against, not a settlement. Insurers apply their own schedules and adjust for condition, and a replacement cost policy typically pays the ACV first and the rest once the item is actually replaced. Keep the receipts, serial numbers and photos that establish the model and the age.

Frequently asked questions

What is actual cash value on an insurance claim?

Replacement cost minus depreciation for age and wear. It is the depreciated worth of the item you lost, which is usually well under what a new one costs and has nothing to do with the price you originally paid.

What is the difference between ACV and replacement cost coverage?

ACV coverage pays the depreciated figure and stops. Replacement cost coverage pays enough for a new equivalent, commonly in two stages, with the withheld depreciation released after you buy the replacement and show what it cost.

Does a five year old sofa really lose half its value?

On a ten year straight-line schedule, yes: $100 a year off a $1,000 sofa. A real schedule may run fifteen years for furniture, which would put the same sofa at $667 instead.