Im just thinking out loud here and not in the loop in any way but...
1, new panels require no work, yet old panels will need repairs and that costs money, sometimes quite a lot more than new. For the LC I only paint new stuff now for that reason.
2, if 1200 quid is with new panels, then a tank is 400+ and the rest of the panels are able to be priced on norbos pages, so if you take those prices off then you should be able to get a bit of an idea what the job to coat new panels with no real work costs, maybe 600? thats old money tho, tanks at least have gone up...
3, most importantly, always ring the source before believing what is written on the net by people who may have old info and/or are not in the loop...
and, generally...
4, dont use a car bodywork place... i know not all are bad, but most often they have no idea about bikes and their work is done for viewing 'large scale' ie a bonnet isnt viewed up close by anyone usually, plus its a vast area. this means it doesnt have to be as good as a bike bodywork job, which needs to be really good as you see it small and up close. Car places are also really bad at fitting bike graphics as not only do they have little experience with them, especially those that curve around like on the LC tank, but they also dont do anywhere as much investigation into where and how they fit as bike places do... and you will defo know a lot more than them, tho they may take your advice/info with a pinch of salt and often the guy doing the work isnt the guy in the office so will never hear your verbal helpful info. This can lead to issues like the tank shown above where stuff is very wrongly placed.
and about decals, i'll add,
5, Who ever you use, unless they are an expert in the bike in question and have done loads youve seen and approved of, always... ALWAYS!... print out and give them a set of good clear photos of the locations you want the decals fitted. Without that you can end up with a right dogs breakfast... and its very late to fix it when things have been clear coated...
6, clear coating... if not clearcoating (panels other than the tank) you need decals that are designed to be left uncleared. Lots of us clear all the decals now as they last longer. Its not OEM but it looks better... IMHO. That 'IMHO' is important here as its probably contentious to say it, so its up to you. Just make sure to get ones that have a protection layer if not clearing all the panels. You decal supplier should ask you about this if he's any good.
6, Remember, its your money... get the result that you want. I have a mate who had a car place do a 'great value' white paint on new panels/tank for him. Being generous, its a '10ft job'. Would probably be ok on a race bike... Sadly, up close its awful and has inclusions, runs and orange peel etc etc. I looked it over with him and for sure it could be 'improved', but it'll never be a 100% job and hes shoved it in a cupboard as i think he feels a bit sick when he looks at it. Ok, for sure it was 'cheap', tho for him its not been 'cheerful'... but when you talk to the next painter you find that in fact its been worse than a waste of the money he spent so far. It transpires that he'll not only lose the money he outlaid with the car place, plus the money in the decals too, but it'll also now cost him more as this bad paint/decal job now needs to come off what was brand new tank/panels and labour is costed hourly at bodyshops and not forgotten in the bill. Food for thought. There is a quote that goes along the lines that '
the sting of the cost is quickly forgotten on a good job, the sting of a bad job lasts forever...'7th and lastly... There are other bike painters in the UK if you dont want to use the ones mentioned often on this forum, then google/fb etc etc should give you info/reviews of them too.