How to estimate price of an old CrMo frame? So it happened.

My old good CrMo friend got hit by a car and the blow was heavy enough to affect the whole frame. Now the car driver is expected to pay back the expenses but I am not sure how to estimate the price of such an old frame.

It is a road bike frame, order-made in Japan somewhere in nineties and all I know is its serial number. Can take pictures of some particular parts if it helps for the estimate.

What are the signs of high-end or a low-end frame, so that I know how much to ask?  Where to look?

Pictures:
In this sort of negotiation, typically you end up meeting somewhere in the middle. You provide a number, the other side provides a lower number, and the actual number is somewhere between those two numbers (possibly close to what the other side offered initially). Even if the number you supply is accurate and well-supported, I'd wager they will offer less.

If I was in your shoes, I would start with the cost for a similar bicycle today. Call the shop back and ask for a price, and spec the bike with a similar level of modern components. If it was Ultegra, ask for Ultegra. Clearly this is just a starting point; they will certainly not pay this amount. I would also look for roughly equivalent mass-produced bicycles that could serve as a back-up. Do your homework, and with any luck you can find some comparable bicycles from around that time which have been sold or are for sale (eBay, or some equivalents).

Here in the States, one Web site that might be of interest in a situation like this is BikePedia; one could use a site like that to collect some data points of the costs of comparable bicycles. Since your bicycle was not brand new, I wouldn't expect to get anywhere close to the true replacement cost, but don't help the other side by low-balling the value of what you've lost.