salvage

In general, that portion of goods or property which has been saved or remains after a casualty such as fire or other loss.

In business, any property which is no longer useful (e.g. obsolete equipment) but which has scrap value.

In insurance, that portion of property which is taken over by the insurance company after payment of a claim for the loss. The insurance company may deduct the salvage value from the amount of the claim paid and leave the property with the insured.

In maritime law, a compensation allowed to persons by whose assistance a ship or its cargo has been saved, in whole or in part, from impending danger, or recovered from actual loss, in cases of shipwreck, derelict, or recapture. Cope v. Vallette Dry-Dock Co., 119 U.S. 625, 7 S.Ct. 336, 30 L.Ed. 501.

Elements necessary to valid "salvage" are marine peril, with service voluntarily rendered, when not required as existing duty, or from a special contract, and success in whole or in part, and that service rendered contributed to such success. Robert R. Sizer & Co. v. Chiarello Bros., D.C.N.Y., 32 F.2d 333, 335.

@ equitable salvage

By analogy, the term "salvage" is sometimes also used in cases which have nothing to do with maritime perils, but in which property has been preserved from loss by the last of several advances by different persons. In such a case, the person making the last advance is frequently entitled to priority over the others, on the ground that, without his advance, the property would have been lost altogether. This right, which is sometimes called that of "equitable salvage," and is in the nature of a lien, is chiefly of importance with reference to payments made to prevent leases or policies of insurance from being forfeited, or to prevent mines and similar undertakings from being stopped or injured

@ salvage charges

This term includes all the expenses and costs incurred in the work of saving and preserving the property which was in danger. The salvage charges ultimately fall upon the insurers

@ salvage loss

That kind of loss which it is presumed would, but for certain services rendered and exertions made, have become a total loss. In the language of marine underwriters, this term means the difference between the amount of salvage, after deducting the charges, and the original value of the property insured

@ salvage service

A service voluntarily rendered to a vessel in need of assistance, and is designed to relieve her from distress or danger, either present or to be reasonably apprehended and for which a salvage reward is allowed by the maritime law. It is distinguished from "towage service," in that the latter is rendered for the mere purpose of expediting a vessel's voyage, without reference to any circumstances of danger, though the service in each case may be rendered in the same way. The Emanuel Stavroudis, D.C.Md., 23 F.2d 214, 216

@ salvage value

That value of an asset which remains after the useful life of the asset has expired. It is commonly equivalent to scrap value and in most cases must be deducted in computing depreciation. Actual or estimated selling price, net of removal or disposal costs, of a used plant asset to be sold or otherwise retired. It may consist of the actual resale price which taxpayer can expect to realize upon disposition of asset when taxpayer's use of it in his business terminates; it is not some nominal or junk value. Hibernia Nat. Bank in New Orleans, Trust Div. v. U.S., C.A.La., 740 F.2d 382, 386.

The value of a building or portion of a building to be moved from one location for use at another site. Occurs in condemnation, especially for highway purposes, where large tracts of land must be cleared

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