Auto Insurance Claims: Insurance Company Stop Payment of Auto theft settlement after vehicle recovered., gang tattoos, lien holder

Question
Hello, my automobile was stolen on 4/1/12. The Insurance compnay offered a written settlement on 5/10/12. I verbally accepted settlement offer on 5/11/12. The Insurance company issued payment to my lien holder via check on 5/11/12. Upon driving to the supermarket on 5/13, I identified 2 individuals driving my vehicle on the road. I pursued the individuals, while contacting the local police. The individuals were apprehended and the car was recoverd. The arresting officer mentioned that it appears that the criminal was a drug dealer as few containers of marijuana and cocaine wer found on the criminal, in addition he had few gang tattoos. The total damages to my car is approximatley $4000, insurance settlemetn was $24000.  I contacted the insruance compnay on 5/14/12 and notified them of the auto recovery. They indicated that they will issue a stop payment on the check to the lien holder. I do not want to take possesion of the vehicle given that it was driven by drug dealers. I want the insurance company to fulfill the settlement offer. Can they retract the offer since the car was recovered and no money or change of title has exchanged? Or must the insurance fulfill the written settlement offer?

Answer
They can stop payment and now they must repair the vehicle.  If the title had been signed over, then there would be no going back.  But this apparently has not yet occurred. Once the vehicle was recovered, everything changed.

Their responsibility is now to pay to repair the vehicle and have it professionally cleaned.

I understand you do not want it back, but neither do they, and they are not obligated to do so.