Rang the insurance company to chase up my claim. And, my car's been written off 
Turns out the repair bill from their approved repairer is just short of £1,600, and with the car value on the policy of £1,500 it's a no goer. "But Al, surely you've valued the car higher, didn't you say it was £2,500?". Ah well, dear reader, this is where reading documents comes into play. My insurance was for a £2,500 car when I took it out 7 years ago. But, and this is the annoying bit, as the years go by the value drops. After all, the car's a year older. And, if you don't notice at renewal time, tough!
Fortunately, as I've mentioned, I've a local garage which should be able to repair it for £800 or so, with me doing all the prep and stripping. So, once I get the confirmation from the insurance I'll start the negoiation. More faffing around, just like I said before Christmas
Hi my car has just been classed as a writeoff and they are not going to give me what its worth at all, once its reg as an insurance write off can you repair it and use it afterwards, dont really want to sell it but am not too sure what i need to do, can you get it insured after? hope you can advise me many thanks
You can find lots of info on what you need to do on the Direct Government site at www.direct.gov.uk.
In my case, I've bought the car back from the insurance company. Once repaired, I'll need to have a Vehicle Identity Check (VIC) and engineers report so that the insurance company will reinsure it at it's original value. You also need the VIC if you want to sell the vehicle on. Full details and Q&As are on the directgov website.
Hope that's of help!