You’ve got a messy situation here, try to take it one step at a time
I am in school and cannot afford to pay for the damages to the car. I don’t know how much damage there is or if it would be totaled. I’ve tried to to it to see how much it would cost but no mechanic wants to touch it without knowing how they are getting paid.
Any body shop will give you a free estimate, tell them you want to pay cash for the repair to avoid having your insurance go up.
I remember calling the insurance company with the saleman to verify. I was trading in a RAV4 at the time and I guess that did not have the coverage either, because now that Ii am going over my insurance history it shows on the day I was leasing the highlander the agent added collision and comprehensive coverage to the RAV 4. Once the car was given back in and I took the car off the policy, I added the Highlander and didn’t know I did not have the coverage.
Back-track here and get more detail if you don’t have it (you may have just omitted here). Independent agent for your insurance? Do they log their calls or what was requested? What exactly did you give the dealer for proof of insurance?
Toyota/TFS had the option to verify it as the lienholder, but – let’s say they discovered it in the past 2 1/2 years and sent a letter and you never received it: you never noticed how LOW your insurance was on this car? You signed a lease that says you would have minimum insurance coverage at inception and throughout the lease and you didn’t, whatever your intentions were.
Focus on the insurance agent, insurance company, and dealer. Nail down exact days and times, who you spoke with, what you asked for, how it was acknowledged. If you end up making a complaint to your insurance in writing, you need more facts and less feelings than you shared here.
I can’t give it back that way.
Your lease agreement (which you should read beginning-to-end at least three times) spells this out. Technically you can. Worst case is you turn the car in wrecked, then send you a marked-up repair bill at disposition and it ends up on your credit report as a judgement.
The other thread to pull if you haven’t: where was the hit-and-run? Is it possible it was caught on camera? Have you run down that and other possible witnesses who might have seen who did it? Did you reach out to all the local body shops to see if they had a repair that would have matched your damage?
Good luck getting this sorted out.
