Don't Be Caught With Your Pants Down!
Waiting until it's too late to look for car insurance quotes can have disastrous consequences, as my sister recently found out first-hand.
They say that hindsight is 20/20. Indeed, we tend to do the majority of our learning from our mistakes - it's all part of the human experience. For example, my sister recently learned the hard way that getting car insurance quotes is something you should do BEFORE you get into a car accident.
You see, my sister Nikki is one very busy lady. She is a very successful business owner, wife and mother of 2 - with yet another baby on the way, due any second now. As you can well imagine, with so much on her plate, and with the looming expense of another new baby to contemplate, insuring her Audi was on a bottomless to-do list that never quite got checked off.
While nobody can blame her for being distracted - pregnancy brain is a very real thing! - and let's be honest, most people feel that car insurance is a grudge purchase anyway; far less important than more pressing matters, right? Well that's where she was so very, very wrong!
In a rush to get everything done that needed to be done in preparation for the new incumbent, as well as to try and keep her salon stocked and meet all her back-to-back client appointments, Nikki wasn't paying attention in traffic and found herself T-boned. Thankfully she was bruised but OK, and the baby was fine. Unfortunately, her car and the other driver's car were a mess, and both had to be towed away. In shock, Nikki began to panic, as the reality of what could have happened sank in. Once she calmed down, relieved that no serious injuries were sustained, she did what she should have done months ago - she went looking for insurance quotes.(Well, she got her hubby to, anyway).
What she didn't realise at the time was just how far this regret would trickle down into every aspect of her life. Without transport she could no longer drop the kids or fetch them from school. She can't go shopping or buy supplies without her hubby, even getting to doctor appointments is now a hassle. Uber is fantastic, but it is by no means free.
Her oldest son, who has just started grade 1, has had to stay in aftercare for the day. The school didn't want to accept him into aftercare as they were fully booked, but they made an exception due to extreme circumstances. So there's Uber, towing and aftercare that have been unexpectedly added onto the budget. Then there's the matter of the Audi repair. Current tentative estimations are R20000, but they are expecting it to be much more. As for the other driver's car repairs, that's yet to be revealed.
Still think that car insurance is a luxury? There's a saying that goes "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail." It is so scary to contemplate how life can change in an instant. No matter how careful we try to be, we can never know the future - we can only do our best to be prepared.
As a parent and business owner, I have learned time and time again that the more you have, the more you stand to lose. Unexpected expenses that come from car accidents go further than spray jobs; medical bills, loss of income and emotional trauma can not only put a dent in your business, it can end it!
The story has a happy(er) ending. Nikki's hubby found a car insurance company that exceeded his expectation, and since they have two cars they even receive a 20% discount! These guys even have plans that offer decreasing premiums (what?!). Whether you are insured or not, you should definitely check out King Price Insurance - you only stand to gain!