How to make sure you get a decent deal if your car is hit by a third party.

This has cropped up a couple of times recently.
Insurance companies hate paying out properly, at any time, and they love to con peeps by saying the magic words, "write off" and "Uneconomical to repair"

If it is absolutely the third party's fault, then his/her insurance company MUST pay for perfect repair or true replacement value. After all, whether their insured hit a 20 year old Focus or a brand new Ferrari, it was still their insured's fault and the damage still has to be repaired, no matter what the cost, paid for by them.
But don't take my word for it.
Here is an article from Land Rover Monthly which explains it well.
I wish I had read it back in 1984, whn a scrote wrote off my beloved Renault 17 and i was "forced" to accept a write off value which would never have bought a replacement.

Had this out several times on ere with people insisting they have to accept the other insurers right off decision.

I suspect the insurance companies bank on you needing to replace your vehicle as soon as possible so you'll accept a low offer.

The Ombudsman is the long game & you need to have exhausted the insurer's complaints procedure first before they will get involved.

Went through this years ago with my eldest when his 306 was written off - hit from the rear in a slow moving line of traffic on the Aston Expressway & pushed into the car in front. He was TPF&T without legal insurance so I did the chasing the other party's insurers.
Derisory offer increased slightly when first offer rejected followed by ignoring of letters & it took 9 months to get a satisfactory settlement after getting the Ombudsman involved.
Bank of Dad had bought a replacement so got the cheque when it arrived.
All correspondence from me was by recorded delivery & written in plain English. Keep copies of everything & proofs of sending.

Make sure all your demands & incurred expenses are reasonable or if it ends up in the civil courts you may not get what you expect.