I was in exactly your position last Christmas Eve, also with a 9-year-old car. I was offered their estimate for buying a like-for-like, but I preferred to have the car repaired at my local bodyshop, as it required only dismantling and reassembly with new parts, which I guessed would cost somewhere near the value of the car. As it had been 100% reliable that seemed a good option. The insurers then offered 65% of replacement cost. In the end I topped it up with £250 for a full repair. An MoT fell due a few weeks after repair anyway, but I'm not sure whether a standard MoT will detect some consequences of a collision.

You should at least look into that possibility, though if your car's structure has been distorted it may be wiser to take the money, especially if you did not intend to keep it for long anyway. If you do, the car may soon depreciate to the point where its value is not greatly diminished by the Cat-D status. It is just harder to find a buyer.

Reinsuring - as I had not claimed, I just informed my insurers and my policy continued as before. You may well feel 'ripped off' whatever happens, but in my case I was fully satisfied with the way Aviva handled matters. I was lucky that the third party immediately admitted fault.

In answer to your questions :

1. Yes, you can. You may find another repairer may be considerably cheaper. You could always ask for a second estimate.

2. Also correct. Most traders won't buy in a Cat D car, and lots of private buyers are very wary of them too. so you'd need to discount the car heavily compared to a 'clean' car to sell it.

3. Plenty of insurers will insure ex- Cat D cars on normal terms - though bear in mind that the payout if it gets written off/stolen in the future will be considerably less than the equivalent 'clean' car would be, as in (2) above.

4. You don't get a refund. the insurance policy has paid out.

5. No. But it might be a good idea.

My general advice for ex-Cat D (or C) cars is only to buy them if you are prepared to keep it and run it into the ground. You should assume that you will not be able to sell it at any price. Not strictly true, but true enough.