John
I can't really add anything to that above. I too have have been hit by the dreaded white van man, it did write off my car (but thankfully i was driving a company saloon at the time) and although it was terribly time consuming and a perishing nuisance, all came good in the end.
I got a nice new car, my neck pains subsided over time , and I could even laugh about it after a while. Hope it is the same for you.