Right oh brains trust....

My 24 yo niece who lives with us was on the wrong end of a lane change by a blind dumbass in Perth! His insurance company has accepted liability for damage to a rear drivers side door and banged up rear bumper but because the car is a "uni student" 2002 Subi Forester the cost of the repairs are more than the value of the car - maybe $3000ish?? ( they say ). Allianz has told her to take it back for a reassessment next week but after the initial quote they have said the repairs are more than the car is worth.

What are the options ???

Ideally she would like to keep the car with minimal interference from the licencing department (taking it over the pits to get it relicensed if it is written off is a pain and time consuming and costly) and maybe accept a smaller payout without it getting written off and repairing the door by getting one from the wreckers - the door still opens and works fine but looks a bit crap!

The worst case scenario is that the car, which is basically a reliable and safe student car, is written off and she has to fork out to get an unknown quantity of a car when her Subi is quite fine except for the bashed in door.

The other driver was at fault but she is concerned that she will come out of the deal either without a car and a small amount of cash to get a replacement or the grind of dealing with getting a repairable write off relicensed....

Thanks in advance for any advice..