My car (an 05 Peugeot 206) was involved in an accident (which was my fault but thankfully no other vehicle or persons involved) and there's been some damage to the front of my car (bonnet, grill etc.) - I've rung my insurer and they believe it's a write-off but I've asked them to send an assessor to check the damage. I've also had an independent garage look at the car (as someone else said that they did this in a similar scenario) who believe its not a write-off and they can repair it (£450 was quoted for parts!!). He's sending me a quote for insurance work and a quote if it was done for cash. Can I get my insurer to use this garage if their assessor still deems it a write-off? If not, what are my options? This is my first time claiming insurance and I've got no real idea!!

When they say 'write off' what is actually meant is 'beyond economical repair'. What's the point of spending £1,000 to repair a car that's worth £500.

You never had the option of deciding not to inform the insurance company. Somewhere in the small print of every policy is something about having to inform the company if there's a 'claimable event' even if no claim is made. This is so they can re-assess your risk as a driver. If you don't inform them of a claimable event your cover will be void.

In any case your company is already aware of the case.

If the independent garage is quoting £450 for parts what is their estimate for labour?
Your insurance premium is going to be affected anyway so why would you want to be paying in cash, unless you have a huge excess.
As already mentioned the garage is acting illegally in offering you two quotes. He is attempting to defraud the insurance company AND to defraud the Inland Revenue.

If the insurance company are giving you the write-off value, then they obviously believe the cost of repairs isn't worth it. If £450 is quoted for parts then there could be another £450 for labour. You need to phone your insurance company and tell them what another garage has said. As far as I am aware you can choose whoever you like to repair your car and can also put it back on the road after being an insurance write-off if it gets a new MOT. Why is your garage quoting you two different figures - it's illegal (he is defrauding the insurance company) and that's why your insurance (and mine!) is so expensive!

It is 100% the insurance companies decision.

The very first thing i wonder here is what is the excess on your policy? When the insurance assessor says it is a write off he does NOT mean that the car cannot be repaired. The insurance company will have a set figure which is a percentage of a cars undamaged trade value. A common figure being 40%. If a repair is going to cost over that figure the insurance company will write it off. One critical factor can be how much painting will be needed. Though there are some exceptions, in general an insurance repair has to use new parts.

To illustrate how the options work - my youngest son is a vehicle repair tech and 4 years back bought ,my wife a Cat D write off Peugeot 406 hdi 110 estate from a trade salvage auction. It had very low miles, someone ran into the back of it at traffic lights {not hard} which put an unsightly creased dent in the tailgate, damaged the rear bumper and damaged a bit in the middle of the front bumper where it rolled up against the tow-bar of the car sitting in front of it. The insurance wrote it off because an insurance repair would require new front and back bumpers, which would come in primer and have to be painted. A new tailgate, which would come bare ie without glass. rear wiper, lock, sealing rubber, wiring and would have to be painted. The final repair bill would have exceeded 40% of the cars value so it was written off. My son collected it from the auction yard and drove it home on trade plates. Thanks to the internet my son located a car of the same year and colour at a Midlands breakers and bought the front and back bumper and tailgate [complete not bare] plus a Witter Tow Bar for the vehicle all for £350 delivered. Took him under 3 hours to replace the parts including a Fish & Chips break.

If the insurance company assessor deems the car a write off by his company standards then that is what they will do. There are a lot of 206's around in breakers yards and bearing in mind that any payout the insurance company made will have your policy 'excess' deducted from it plus you lose no claims bonus it might make more sense to drop the claim and fix it yourself with parts from breakers yards. Replacing bonnet and grill is an easy diy job. You almost certainly will be able to find a bonnet of the same colour. The insurers pay out offer on an 05 Pug 206, after excess deducted, will be a pretty small figure.