Firstly its not illegal to sort out minor claims between the parties involved, the insurance is there to indemnify you if you can't or don't want to, but you don't have to use it.
The other and more important issue is that a whiplash injury can take time to develop into pain as the swelling and shock can hide these effects for a while. Get down to your GP asap to get it checked out and recorded in your medical notes though in terms of treatment its unlikely they will do anything apart from recommend pain relief which you can buy yourself cheaper than prescription.
Notify your insurance asap never feel pressured by the third party into accepting his solution, its sounds like an easy non fault accident and you should be confident and clear that it was not your fault, after all you stopped for the lights, he didn't!
The agreed value is between you and your insurer, not the 3rd parties insurer, they will only pay market value, and that is only if its written off - they might decide to fix it. Arm yourself with information on what it would cost to replace your car with a similar one so cut out some ads from Mini World, Mini Mag and ebay classifieds so when it comes to arguing the case for repair with the loss adjuster that you are able to provide this information quickly and you will either get it fixed or at least a fairer settlement than if you hadn't done your homework.
Claiming for the injury could take a long time, you would certainly have to be assessed by an independent doctor paid for by the insurance company, and they might also pay for physio etc to reduce the healing time which is good obviously.
I strongly recommend you don't take any chances, you only get one back and pair of shoulders, so do it all properly, and remember you're the innocent party in all this.
Best of luck with it
thanks for this, to be honest with you i know im not at fault, and only said to him at the spot that i dont mind him repairing the car as long as im satisfied with the quality, not no shabby touch ups. then friends and colleagues suggesting i go through insurance and then some stiffness and pain developing made me think again. will be going to the gp tomorrow as it is.
as mentioned another issue is the increase in premium, i dont get any NCB anyway as its a specialist or classic policy cant remember which one lol, was with lancaster insurance. insurance is already expensive for me, im 21 and live in a middle to high insurance area.
i was just thinking that if i can get him to get me a light for that side and as the dents are small, i may just tell him to give me the money for the repairs, as i want to get the whole car done anyway in the near future anyway, so makes sense to just leave it till then. so with the money he gives me i can perhaps buy wheels for the car.
