Auto Insurance Claims: hitting an illegally parked car, boat of a car, insurance situation

Question
My friend had backed into a truck that was illegally parked behind him in our apartment parking lot. He didnt know he had backed into him as there was very little damage done (and he has a boat of a car for sure!).  The guy who owns the truck said a woman saw him leave from my apartment. I called my friend to confirm but he wasnt sure he had hit it but truck owner had been parked close so it didnt surprise him.
I went with the truck owner and took pics and mentioned that he had infact parked illegal.  He said that he didnt (but upon asking property  management and the fact he had parked in front of people's garages said different).  He refuses to turn into insurance and didnt call the police (truck owner).  The truck owner and my friend discussed getting an estimate and then working out a payment.  My friend wanted to turn it into insurance but he found out his coverage had lapsed to non payment but being the holiday weekend (Thanksgiving) no one was at the office to apply the payment he needed to make.  So I guess my question would be, given the insurance situation (lapsed coverage as of that very day due to no one in office to apply payment) do you think they would still cover him if he explained what happened. (several calls were made to insurance to confirm payment but no one was there to answer and noone returned phone calls)
Also do you think the truck owner has any leverage with the damage of his vehicle even though he was parked illegal?  If he pays the guy $250 for the damage - Iw ill be helping him so I want to make sure the truck owner even has right to the money when he wasnt parked correctly.

Answer
Hi Jayme,

Unfortunately, the fact that the truck was parked illegally is not relevant. Anytime you hit a stationary object it is considered to be your fault. Since your friend was driving, he had any opportunity to either avoid the accident or pulling back into the parking space and waiting until the truck was moved.

That having been said, your friend is responsible for the damage. He should have the truck owner to get an estimate of repairs and then he should draw up a release form. Then he should only pay in exchange for the truck owner signing the release form. That way the truck owner can not come back for any more money if it ends up costing more. If your friend thinks the truck owner will settle for $250.00 then he should jump on that right away. Body work is very expensive and there is nothing that could be repaired for that little. But, even if the truck owner will accept $250.00 it should only be paid in exchange for a signed release form.

If the insurance was cancelled they will not pay the claim no matter what the explanation. There is no grace period in auto insurance. Either you have it or you don't.

I hope this helps
Richard Hixenbaugh