A young man of about 21 has just run into the back of my mother's 2003 Skoda Octavia car on a level crossing. He was very pleasant, apologized and admitted that it was his mistake. He pressed the accelerator instead of the brake, he says. My mother has not been hurt. About 20 minutes later, just as my mother got home, the young man’s insurance company (Prudential) phoned to say that they wanted to resolve the damage and provide a car without involving my mother's insurance company at all. They said it keeps paperwork down. They have told her that she can designate a repair workshop, if she wishes to. The damage doesn't look severe, but there might be some hidden structural damage. I think that it's vital that she tells her insurance company what has happened. I can remember reading about insurance companies sometimes twisting arms and getting people to take action that might not be helpful to them. I don't want them to write the car off, for example. What steps should she take here please? How can she be sure that the repairs are completed correctly? I feel that my mother is being rushed a little into agreeing to what Prudential wants.