Auto Insurance Claims: Boyfriends Car stolen, full coverage auto insurance, certified mail

Question
My boyfriend bought a 2000 jeep Cherokee back in April which he is currently financing. At the end of July he parked in front of his house and later found his car to be stolen. It supposedly has a low jack in it which he later found out all it had was a kill switch. He filed a police report as soon as he noticed the car was gone and it was found the next day. the outside of the vehicle is in great shape, however the inside damages were...
ignition cylinder completely ripped out, heating/cooling controls and center counsel and radio stolen, plus damages to the dash. the insurance company (state farm) told him that only the ignition cylinder would be replaced so that the car could be started again, yet all the personal items (cd's etc...) would not be replaced along with the heating/cooling unit, radio, or dash would be fixed. they also said they would not be cleaning the car either. the inside looks like a bomb went off in it and they don't want to do anything about it. it seems a little unfair to pay for full coverage auto insurance and for them to make him pay for the majority of the damages. is there anything he can do so that they will at least fix the heating/cooling unit so that way we at least have some heat when it gets to be winter?

Answer
Nicole,

Have your boyfriend send a letter to State Farm referencing the claim # and demand that they return the Jeep to its pre-loss condition, including cleaning the interior. Send it by certified mail with a return receipt. If they still hedge on paying the full amount of the claim, you should retain an attorney with a specialty in insurance law, bad faith, etc.

One possible option is to use the appraisal clause in the policy. It provides a means to settle a claim in which the policyholder and the insurer differ on the amount of the loss. It involves your boyfriend finding an appraiser to write an estimate of the damage and the cost to repair, the insurance company hires an independent appraiser, and the two select an umpire to make a binding decision.

Some bad faith court cases have been lost when policyholders failed to use the appraisal clause before filing suit. However, your boyfriend will have to pay the cost of the appraiser and split the cost for the umpire. You can find an appraiser in the yellow pages or online.

It ought to be resolved before the cold winds start to blow.

Charlie