When you say "put in another quote" are the insurance company likely to be looking for a proper quote on headed paper before they will part with cash, or will they just be happy to save themselves c. £800?

Thanks, that makes sense. I haven't been in touch with the insurers yet, this is uncharted territory for me so I wanted to make sure I didn't make any expensive mistakes. Cash settlement sounds like the most sensible way of resolving it - hopefully they'll be compliant.

I run a small business, and have an interesting situation with one of our vans. Back in May a motorist ran into it when it was parked. Some of our staff were unloading it at the time, and we have a couple of independent witnesses, so there is no dispute over who is at fault. The damage is a pretty significant dent in one side. The vehicle was still driveable, but subsequently the clutch has gone. At the time of the accident, we were on the point of replacing the vehicle anyway, and were hoping that the insurers would write it off. Instead they have decided on a repair at a local coachbuilders at a cost of roughly £1800+v. I estimate the most we'd get for the van, in full running order, is £800. At the moment it looks like the repairs to get it into running order would be in the region of £500. (Replacement clutch and a repair to the handbrake, priced from a tame local mechanic, not a main dealer) Obviously spending £1800+ on a scrapheap worth less than half that doesn't make sense. I'm not sure what our options are. The two main courses of action that I can think of are: 1) Try and persuade our insurance company to write the vehicle off. I'd be happy with a payoff of even £500 from this. Not sure of the best way to approach it with them though. 2) Get in touch with the driver, and offer to drop our claim against him in exchange for some cash. We have contact details for the driver, but again I'm unsure of how to proceed with this one. Plus I expect that someone who goes careers round a blind junction at 40+mph isn't going to be the most stable or reasonable person to deal with. I'm open to any or all suggestions as to the best way forward. Thanks!