Thankyou to everyone for all your advices

Last night he wouldn't accept my original idea of £700 (I am factoring in the inconvenience here, that I now need to find another car and possibly hire one until that happens). We then talked about going through the insurance, which he still didn't seem keen on. Then I began to explain to him that I don't really care how much he thinks my car is worth - he thought £400 "top book" - its the fact that I now do not have a vehicle. After some long sighs he agreed to £550 and I feel that in all fairness, the insurance company are never going to pay out that much, so I accepted his offer.
I will try shifting the old vehicle on ebay, I don't really want to scrap it as they'll only give me about £30 and what a waste...I'd rather it went to someone who needs it.
Still really hurts to think of all the time and effort gone into repairs etc and how some rich cow can come and take all that away from you...ah well that's life.