[Matt_75]

I'm struggling to understand the assessor's rationale for making it a Cat B write off instead of Cat S. Is it because some repair panels are not available brand new and therefore a satisfactory repair (to the insurers standard) isn't possible?

If you can push them to make it a Cat S, you could buy the car back from the insurer and repair it.

My Dad had a similar situation a year or two ago and was offered a derisory figure for his car. With some haggling and providing evidence of other similar cars (age, mileage, spec) for sale, he was able to agree a better valuation, although he still wasn't 100% happy with it.

What a huge pain in the backside, you have my sympathy. I fear this sort of thing happening to one of our cars, sentimental value doesn't factor into the insurers equation unfortunately.