A very stressful situation, but you're not claiming against your own insurance, you're claiming against the other party (via your insurance). This means that your insurer is working in your interests and shouldn't be fighting you, which is the best situation. It also means that the 3rd party insurer has no business in knowing whether your tow bar was declared to *your* insurance. The onus is on them to put you back into the same position as you were. It's the same deal with the kids' seats - they need replacing and it doesn't matter what the original price was.
We had a very similar incident a few years ago (we were stationary at lights, another car slammed into the back of us causing lots of damage to us and the car in front, kids seats etc). Our insurer (NFU) were great and it's part of the reason we have continued to pay a bit more for the premiums in order to stick with them.
Talked to the personal injury solicitors Direct Line passed me on to, seemingly part of DL Group. First of all seemed ok and a date for a call was arranged to start the process. Then they called back today and said they couldn't proceed as it happened in Scotland. They gave a referral as to who they could pass me on to (Friends Legal). I did think jurisdiction issues might crop up at some point.
Another thing, both callers were South African, which makes me wonder about the control of my data. I think many years of blocking calls from ambulance chasers is ahead.
I've also complained to Direct Line about the third party they are using for the car seat settlement.
