Reads like they are attempting to write it off and offer you a paltry
settlement. You should not involve your insurer anyway. Sue the driver who crashed into you using the Small Claims Track at the County Court. I'm getting a lot of complaints about insurers trying this stunt and leaving people who had a decent old car with just a few hundred quid. Fortunately the recent appeal court judgement Copley v Lawn and Maden v Haller (17-6-2009) puts people like you in a much stronger position to assert your right to force the insurer to use a cheaper method to repair your car rather than allow him to use an expensive method to write it off. The same applies to the provision of temporary replacement cars.