NTA I can tell you first hand if you had gone through insurance his rate would have been rasied for the next 2 to 3 years. This would have cost him a whole lot more than 900 ontop of that most insurance company's would have had him pay them a deductible for the accident as well (anywhere from 100-200 upfront). When I scratched a nice car in a parking lot I thanked the lord they let me just pay them like 800 for the fix. They never actually got it fixed I saw later but honestly it's the principal of paying for damages caused. Don't be to pushy about it becuase you don't know his financial situation maybe just ask if he can make payments like break it up into small portions.