<prompt> Human: My brother was involved in a minor traffic accident yesterday and reversed into a car at walking pace, there was no damage on inspection and from the photos and videos i cannot see any damage, if any at all on both vehicles. The other party rang today asking for 150 to cover the costs, it seems weird that he has pulled out this figure from nowhere considering he hasnt been to a garage or had it assessed, claiming that because it was raining yesterday it hid all the damage? i have the feeling that he is just saying this to earn quick cash as he got angry and defensive when i questioned him about this.. any advice would be appreciated thanksUpdate: Thanks for advice, taking this matter to insurance company.. I didnt want it to affect my bros NCD bonus as he is just a new driver, but seems like this guy is trying to take advantage of this. The other party refused an offer of payment of repairs at a garage, and said paying him 150 is cheaper than to get it done at a garage red flag and said if we took it to insurance he would claim whiplash that he never wanted to talk to me again. Assistant: He either pays up 150 or you get the insurance involved. Insurance will definitely cost him more than 150 in the long run and it was his fault for hitting a parked car.Human: Ive just spoken to the guy again, i asked him to go to a certified garage to get a quota for said damageshe refused said he was going to go through insurance and claim whiplash, which is absolutely ridiculous. It seems like a threat to pay him upfront.  <response>: Too bad you didnt record the conversation. At any rate, my wife was an insurance broker, and is now an underwriter and she says this stuff happens all the time. I imagine there wont be any damages, and hes going to have to go through a lot of steps to prove he has whiplash related to the accident. Basically he has no case, and its best to leave it to insurance. Next time you talk to him, let him know theres zero chance you will be doing anything other than going through insurance who knows, maybe he doesnt even have insurance and is attempting to bypass that ideaEDIT: As a side tip, my wife told me that generally its a bad idea to bypass your insurance and pay cash, even for a small minor accident. The reason she doesnt advise this is that most accidents allow 1-2 years limit on filing for injury. So, if you were to pay cash out of pocket for the damages to the other persons vehicle, you are now admitting it was your fault. So now, that person can wait a bit, then file HEFTY medical damages against you, and its going to be extremely difficult to fight as you admitted guilt by PAYING for the damages previously. If you pay out of pocket, you are basically admitting you are at fault, and anything that may come after that will be harder to disprove. 