Well the update on the insurance saga...
Initial amount i was offered was a (laughable) £800... eventually after much back and forth-ness I got this up to £1500, after providing evidence from autotrader and internet etc of how much a replacement would cost me.
Also getting £350 for minor whiplash, travel expenses to see replacement cars and little things like that.
So in total, £1850 which I'm pretty happy with to be fair. Keep in mind I only paid a grand for the car in the first place
Found myself a replacement, another '98 1.9 tdi with 85000 miles and recaro interior, very well looked after, for £1200 with years tax&MOT, although it's in a green/turqoise type colour which I'm not overly keen on so might look into a smoothing+respray job sometime.
Oh, and my courtesy car was a rather fetching Vauxhall Zafira 1.6
totally unsexy when you're 21 lol
Just thought I'd fill you guys in if anyone was bored/interested!