Insurance company refuses to sell me my car back

[GYS2]

Under what circumstances can an insurance company refuse to sell a vehicle back to its owner? Is this even legal? My 2001 s-10 crew cab caught fire 5 weeks ago and the insurance company totaled it. By looking at the outside you would never know anything was wrong with it, its all interior damage. I can fix this for very little but our insurance company says we can't buy it back. Can they do this? What rights do we have to keep our truck?

[Oneeyedvic]

By accepting an amount for the vehicle it is no longer 'your' truck. The insurance company take title to it and can do what they want with it.

[sandmaster]

I agree. Usually the company are only too willing to sell the car back in order to reduce their loss, but the car is now their property and they can decide what what to do.