If the car is stolen and a claim is made, how would the actual cash value or ACV be determined by the insurer? Would it be done by the insurer or an independent agency? Would it be possible to dispute the price offered by the insurer? Would the insured person be able to get an independent value assessment?

At the outset, the insured person should check whether the car insurance policy had specified and defined the actual cash value. Normally, this value would be the market value of the car and the insured person is free to support the claim with independent value assessment from private professional appraisers. The private agency employed by the insurance company would expect to get regular business from the insurer and would generally undervalue the cash value to be in the good books of the insurer. If there is any doubt or discrepancy, the insured person could demand the vehicles that had been used for comparing the stolen vehicle. That person could ask questions like whether the other vehicles had the same, more, or less miles on them, whether they were equipped in a similar fashion like the stolen car, whether the models were the same, and whether the prices in the area they selected were lower than the prices in the area where the car had been stolen. The insured person should be very alert and be prepared for hard negotiation, discussion and bargaining.