Rebuilding an insurance write-off privately

[Fonzie]

Hi,

Having lost the back end of my Chimaera recently, it is now in a pretty bad state - first impressions from the repairers are that it is likely to be a write-off.

If this is the case, and provided the chassis is deemed to be OK, I am very tempted to buy the wreck back from the insurers & spend the money fixing it privately as it was in absolutely perfect condition a couple of days ago. 90% of the damage is bodywork which would have to be handled by professionals.

I was wondering if anyone had any opinions on this course of action, particularly the impact on future insurance, HPI, re-sale value, etc. (Not that I'd ever want to sell it!)

Thanks.