Have spoken to the painter involved and he said he is willing to pay for the repairs, be it cash or off of his public liability insurance.
Go through your insurance. I nearly went down the 'let the 3rd party pay out of their own pocket' route in August.
Suffice to say, he didn't turn up to pay so I coughed up my excess and took my car away. 3rd Party told L&V that he would pay so they gave me my £500 excess back - Yippee.
Lo and behold, on Friday I get a call from L&V asking if I will attend court on their behalf as 3rd Party is not responding to their letters/calls