just been thru this with my jeep getting hit by an idiot and writing it off only couple months back
my insurance company wanted 20% of the value to keep the car
i got to keep my p/plate, they offered to send it back to me after they had disposed of the car
mine got assessed and the guy told me that day that it would be a write off but was over a week before the insurance could confirm this as they had to get a full written report from the engineer before they confirm it as uneconomical to repair,
it then was passed to another dept to value it
was a comlplete nightmare took over 3 months from accident till the cheque finally arrived, even then it wasn't for the full amount, still waiting for my excees back and that was from aprill