A familiar tale, I had an off on my motorbike, police ambulance etc - broken collar bone, damage to helmet and scrapes on bike. The other party admitted responsibility to police, told them he would pay for damage, I was happy if he paid up - no further action. After I got out of hospital and priced up the damage - £500. Phoned him to let him know, he hung up refused to take any calls, so I put to a claims solicitor - result was in 5 figures. I expect his excess and next renewal was more than £500.