Hi mdoo98, I was making the assumption that the OP was retaining the vehicle.
the car wil lremain their vehicle until the insurer's pay out - unless they settle with the policyholder retaining the vehicle,.
however, the car will always go onto the MIAFTR database, hence the info provided about VIC, etc.
regardless of whether a claim is pursued, once we are informed that a vehicle is a total loss, we have an obligation to update the MIAFTR database.
I agree totally about the repair costs, but insurers base the estimated repair costs on Thatcham's guidelines for repair times, and using new, rather than used, parts.
Half the cars we write off should never be written off, but stupid legislation, governing bodies, and do-gooder's in general put pay to everything