Its all a bit painful really.

[Thickasmud]

Just too clarify a few points for the discussion.
1. The car was returned to my possession yesterday (Tuesday) evening.
2. The offer letter for settlement states "We are therefor pleased to offer you the sum of £200 with the salvage of the vehicle to remain your property."

It is entirely possible that if the salvage had not been assessed at £0 then the Insurer would have sought to retain the "salvage" and recover some of their costs, now whether that course of action would be enforceable is a separate question. I imagine for the legal position, much would depend upon the terms included within the letter accompanying any payment from the insurance company.

I am currently looking for similar cars (Auto, Diesel N/A, PAS, CL etc)that have been recently sold or are being sold in order to "prove" the value of my car to the Insurer and there are surprisingly few. These cars really are starting to get quite rare and are becoming "keepers".

[Barrie James]

It all depends upon how long you are prepared to wait, and how long you have before you have to make a deal with the insurance company. Many years ago I was rammed by another car while driving my 1972 GS 1015 Club. The car was totalled, it was 7 years old and I was offered £225 as a write-off settlement. I had already replaced it with another GS, a 1973 1220 Club Estate, which itself was totalled, also by another car & my wife was driving at that time. To get back to the original line. As I had another car I wasn't worried and hung-on for several months. Then, out-of-the-blue, I received a 'phone call from one of the insurance company's minions. During our conversation he let slip that he had been told by his manager to settle for under £500. I replied, "I'll settle for that!" "What, he said?" "£500, says I." The long and the short of it was that I got the £500, and I'd only paid £475 for the car some two years before the accident. It does pay to haggle, but you need time and your wits about you.