<prompt> Human: I got a new car lease 2017 Jetta in January 2018 from a dealer in New Jersey and I live in Philly. Unfortunately about a week after I had just gotten the car I was rear-ended while I was stopped at a stop light within Philadelphia. Figures my luck...So as I mentioned I was stopped at a stop light and just as the light turned green I was bumped from behind by a pickup truck. Right away I got out of the car and went to the back to inspect the damage and meet the other driver. The other drivers truck was undamaged but my bumper was slightly cracked along the top and also had a small dent in the middle. Honestly the damage is pretty unnoticeable unless pointed out. So after I saw that there was some damage I asked the driver if he wanted to exchange insurance. Upon inspection of the insurance card he handed me I noticed it was over a year expired so I asked if had another one which he said no. He assured me, however, that he had an up to date policy but he just didnt have the new card. I told him I felt uncomfortable just accepting his expired information so I said I wanted to call the police to be sure I got a report and I did just that. An officer shows up 10 minutes later and the other driver and I each speak with her separately to give her our information and side of the story. Pretty cut and dry as I was stopped at the light and he bumped me from behind. I told the officer I was concerned over his expired insurance card and she said she would take everything down. So the other driver ended up just giving her the expired policy information as well and she took it down in the report. I asked the officer what to do from here and she told me I could pickup the report from the police station and I should try to work the situation out with the driver and his insurance. Before I left the scene I made sure to get pictures of the scene, both cars, and the damage. I also exchanged contact information with the driver and made sure I had his policy numbers with the expectation of everything to go smoothly the next day when I call him and his insurance.After I got back home I called my insurance and let them know about what happened and gave them all the information so they could open an incident and begin the process to have them handle everything with the other drivers insurance company. The next day I made an attempt to call the driver to let him know that I opened the claim with my insurance company and to check if he had contacted his insurance yet, but he did not answer. A few days pass and he continued to ignore my calls and I start to feel pretty uneasy about the situation... sure enough my insurance company lets me know they are unable to verify his policy information and was unable to get in contact him as well. They remind me that I dont have uninsured motorist coverage and if they couldnt verify any policy for the other driver that my policy would cover the damage after I pay my deductible of 1000.I went to have the damage appraised and the repair costs for a new bumper was just over 1000. So pretty much pointless to go with my policy to repair the bumper. I should also mention that when I signed the lease for my car I opted in to pay an extra 27 on top of my monthly payment to cover any dents or scratches at the end of the lease.So my options pretty much were to either bite the bullet and live with a cracked bumper for a few years keep in mind the damage is hard to notice. Or take the guy who hit me to small claims court, which Im really unsure how to go about doing. You also maybe wondering why Im only now finally asking about this... Early February my father became very ill and was in and out of the hospital until he passed away in May. During this time it was really the last thing on my mind, having to take this guy to court for rear-ending me and having to take even more time of work, going down town to city hall to obtain the police report and to file my claim in small claims court and then finally going to court to argue my case.My questions are:1. Can I still now file a claim against him in small claims court after all these months of inactivity?2. Is it worth my time to file this in small claims? or should I just bite the bullet, wait till the end of my lease and just live with the damage.3. If its worth taking him to small claims, I could really use some good advice on how to go about doing that in Philadelphia.Thank you!  <response>: Id do small claims court. You dont have to fix your car with the proceeds. 