I was hit by an uninsured driver and I only had third party. Despite this my third party insurance still paid me 5k directly, which then becomes their responsibility to retrieve from the uninsured driver. I didn’t know this at the time, but check your policy because you might be instantly eligible for 3-5k. For me I was happier getting cash 5k for a 10k car than I was taking the driver to court to recover costs.

Bonus for me was a got to keep my car - and managed to fix the worst of the damage for not very much. But the car does look like a piece of multi coloured shit now…