Fortunately I had a very good dashcam installed which captured everything, including time, location, my speed, voice, registration numbers and witnesses.
I was trapped inside the drivers seat until Fire Service removed the door and freed up my seat. then off to A&E.
The dashcam is invaluable in this type of incident, as I was unable to obtain details from other driver and witnesses.
Recently had a tree fall on my Smart Fortwo. Damage looked minimal & repairable. Indeed a Smart specialist looked at photos & said not total loss, repairable.
However insurers looked at same photos & said total loss. The car was not seen by an assessor. May be different for a Cali as worth much more than my Smart. Once they deem it a total loss it is done deal, no going back. The category stays on the vehicle for life. Cat S can only be bought by a specialist registered business & stripped for spares, not repaired.
The buy back price will be the same as insurers will get from the likes of Copart. A couple of things to be aware of if you ever buy a total loss, the value will be much less, there maybe unseen damage, insurance will probably go up & may not be able to get insurance.
Insurance pays out forecourt values, not trade or private value. I got paid out £500 more for my Smart than i paid for it in 2020.