Morris Minor Owners Club

This Minor has had a light shunt but was a cat C writeoff. All bolt on parts. No wonder our insurance premiums are so high.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Morris-Minor- ... SwwE5WVFBM

Thinking they can get that much for a car with accident damage and rust may have influenced the writing off decision.

It is a very rare car - a hatchback Minor

looks like it wants, 2 wings bumper valance, bumper blade, over rider,grill , rad panel,headlights ,paint,all at garage prices,there is a good chance the inner wing and maybe the chassis has slite damage, only pattern parts are available which may not be a straight fit, may need lots of fetling. so lets say the car has a pre accident value of 2500,these repairs can easily top that figure so insurance company tell customer its a write off!! customer thinks its so bad its going to be scrapped, suprise suprise insurance company sell it off through the nation wide salvage yards for say 1000 and some one buys it and repairs with good second hand parts and his own spare time at a fraction of the cost, now thats viable!! and the insurance company are also up on all this cos they are going to put up the premium for the customer and dont forget they got the 1000 quid as well!!! at the end of the day insurance paid out 2500 but they are well on the way to getting it all back, so i ask is insurance a risky business to be in??anyway im off for a walk, Mackie the collie

If this had been an RH insurance write off, and is part of your particular documentation, then under their policy, they pay out on the claim, and hand the salvage back to the owner free of charge. That's if they want it, of course.
This option definitely has to be seen as a bonus for the owner.

I'd be more concerned about the usual rust problems than the damage on show. Ie while costing up the price of the new headlamp and bumper bear in mind there are no under-body pictures, sill pictures etc.

But to answer the question why?
If the repairs amount to more than the value of the car it is written off.
This includes labour costs not just parts.
There is a system where you can buy the car back if written off and run it when fixed and safe, when you sell it there is a little more documentation to re register the keeper I think.
My guess is the owner did just this, buy backs are usually very cheap, so in selling margins can be high, buyer beware.

I wonder how much an insurance company would value a Morris minor at, if it was insured on a normal insurance basis, rather than on an agreed value basis, if a total loss claim was made.