Having been a 'not at fault' victim of a drunk driver on February 1st, my car was taken to a garage for insurance assessment.

It appeared to me to be body work damage only, and the car was still driveable, other than the wing chaffing against the tyre. I had bought it new, as a one off treat to myself, it was my pride and joy (an Audi A4 Cabriolet sport) and its value to me as a car was much greater than its market value.

I was astounded at the amount of time it took (over six weeks) for an assessment of the cost of repairing the car to be made. I was then dismayed when told that the cost of repair was such that they were treating it as a 'total loss'. After being told it was being written off I asked the garage who had assessed the damage if they would repair the car for me for the amount they had quoted to the insurance company.

My intention was to buy it back at salvage value out of the insurance settlement. I was told by the garage that they would not be prepared to do the repairs due to a so called 'conflict of interest. This made me suspicious. I then queried the value put on the car as, having looked on line for a 'like for like' replacement, I found I would not be in a position to buy a similar car, or even one that was a year older, for the pay out offered. In the end having been frightened off having it repaired, (the garage said it might have other problems), I questioned the 'write off' value put on the car. I was told I would not be eligible for a higher pay out. In the end I agreed to a settlement.

During the 9 weeks it has taken to settle the claim I have had the use of a courtesy car. However, today when I returned the courtesy car I was shocked to discover that the charge being made to the 'guilty party's' insurance company for providing me with a courtesy car is almost as much as the 'write off' payment being made to me for my lovely Cabriolet.

My questions are:

1) should I have been given the option of choosing not to have a courtesy car but instead have been offered a higher payout, so I would be able to replace the car; and

2) is there an insurance Ombudsman who I could contact to find out if there is any link between the car hire company, the garage who assessed the damage, and even the salvage company. I wonder if there is a link that makes in in everyone's interest but mine to write off such a lovely car. At the moment I feel the system works to ensure money is made by every company involved i.e. the car hire people; the garage assessing the damage and salvage company (I am convinced my car will be repaired and back on the road in the future as it was deemed a Category D write off), rather than to make sure that the 'innocent' victims in road accidents do not loose out financially on top of the time involved and the inconvenience.

Thank you for your help in this matter.