As part of the insurance re-buy process, there should be a dialogue box "Your ship was destroyed by Cmdr xxx. Would you like to contribute some credits towards their bounty? <enter amount>
Also, the best approach text I've seen is This isn't a robbery, I'm merely collecting the System Trader's Tax
I was a toll collector for a time in Uszaa. Lots of complaints from turists but the space-highways dont maintain themselves