How does insurance work with totalling a car?

[T_Raven]

i'm interested to know what happens with this. i had a motorcycle totalled once when i let a potential buyer ride it. i actually got more out of it than i was asking for it, but my insurance company rocks. they gave me the nada book value.

my neighbor hit my sister's parked car one day totalling it. his insurance company offered a "market value" much lower than book value. i found 15 ads online for similar cars in similar condition, all were asking for more than what they offered my sister but it did no good. i'd still like to know how they get their "market value"