This one is not yours, and it is on this site because people find it and assume it is. It is the procedure an insurer follows when a claim has been paid, the vehicle is a total loss, and the owner has not complied with the insurer's request to assign and remit the certificate of ownership. If a claims department is chasing you for a title, this is the document describing what happens if you keep not sending it - and what you should actually do instead is assign the certificate to them and be done with it.
Written against OS/SS-37 (R7/25), issued under the Commission's Salvage Title Unit procedure for total-loss vehicles. If you are the owner and you are reading this, you are on the wrong page for the right reason. Sign the certificate over to the insurer; that is the shorter road.
Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank OS/SS-37 from the nj.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today.
There is nothing on it to fill in. The OS/SS-37 is a two-page procedure sheet listing what an insurance company must post to the Salvage Title Unit, and it carries no entry fields of any kind - the documents it describes are letters on the insurer's own letterhead, cheque images and bank printouts, none of which exist as boxes on this page. Showing it completed would mean inventing an insurer's letter and presenting it as the form.
| On the form | What to put in it |
|---|---|
| Who it is for | The insurer, not the policyholder. Every numbered item is something the insurance company prepares and posts to the Salvage Title Unit; the application may only be processed through the mail. |
| Item 1, the salvage application | The Application for Salvage Certificate of Title with a completed sales tax stamp, date, signature, exemption code and sales tax identification number, and the title fee. |
| Items 2, 3 and 4, the insurer's letter | An original notarized and signed letter on the insurer's letterhead, stating that they are licensed to do business in New Jersey, specifying whether they want a certificate of ownership or a salvage certificate of title, and stating that the claim was settled with the policyholder, that the vehicle is in the possession of the insurer, an authorized salvage auction or a salvage processor, and that the owner of record failed to assign and deliver the certificate within 30 days of the payment of the claim. There are three versions of that letter - New Jersey title, out-of-state title, and a title delivered but never assigned. |
| Item 5, proof of payment of the claim | The front and back of a cancelled cheque, an original certification from a financial institution confirming a wire or electronic funds transfer, a printout from the institution's secure website, or an insurance company printout screen showing the policyholder's name and address and the VIN with the payment cashed, cleared or accepted. |
| Items 6 and 7, liens | For an out-of-state certificate, a copy of the certified lien search request and results showing no liens recorded; and an original notarized lien satisfaction or release where there are. |
| Item 8, the certificate itself | Where it is available, the insurer must complete the back of the title - the form names the buyer's section, the odometer statement and the statement of buyer. |
| Item 9, power of attorney | A notarized power of attorney issued by the insurer with a list of authorized representatives. |
| Item 10, the notice | A copy of the notice the insurer sent to the owners and to any lienholders of record asking for the certificate, sent at least 30 days prior to applying, by certified mail or a commercial courier providing proof of delivery to the last known address in the Commission's records. Anything returned undeliverable goes in with the original unopened envelope and the carrier's notation of why. |
Every line here was read off OS/SS-37 (R7/25) itself — the PDF is here — and off the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission pages. This is plain-language help with a form, not legal advice, and where our wording and the agency's differ, theirs governs.
Back to all New Jersey seller paperwork, or what selling a car in New Jersey involves.