You could well get the judgement in your favour, but enforcing it is a whole different kettle of fish! As you say, any compensation order could well be set at a nominal weekly sum taking years to repay - if they stick to it.
Weigh up whether your loss of no claims bonus is worth the potential 5+ years worth of stress - I think that in your shoes I'd let the insurance company deal with it. As aggravating as it is, at least you can put the whole nasty incident behind you.