John, I wish you a happy ending with all the tedious procedures that are now pending. As others have said, good that there were no injuries, it could have ended worse for you.
In one point the accident record in Germany would probably have been different. If the police are not called, there is always the chance that the guilty person will revoke his original confession of guilt. Unfortunately, sometimes honest people are persuaded by their money-hungry lawyers to deviate from their original confession of guilt if the police - as a witness - did not record the accident and thus the question of guilt is not clearly recorded. Then it is often the case that the court gives the injured party a partial guilt if there are no witnesses.
Perhaps the rules of the game are different in the UK. I don't want to rub salt in the wound, but in my country I would have called the police at this level of damage. Anyway I wish you best luck to sort all the troubles quickly.
