Add to that the cost of uniforms, sports gear, music lessons and for some extra maths and science lessons and you're looking at a rather daunting sum.
What to do after a car accident:
- Stop your car immediately if you think there may be injuries, or damage to other vehicles or property. It is an offence not to stop.
- Make sure the scene is safe and switch your car off and turn on your hazard lights to alert oncoming traffic about the accident.
- Stay calm and wait for help to arrive.
- Don’t accept liability and be careful not to take the blame or apologise for any incident until you have spoken to your insurer. Let them investigate the incident before accepting responsibility.
- Call the police immediately in the event of an accident involving people or property damage. For minor incidents, report it to the police within 24 hours. You will not be able to claim from your insurer unless you have a police case number.
- Exchange information. By law, all parties involved in an accident must exchange details. Ask the other driver for their name, ID number, address, telephone numbers (try to get a home number as well as a cellphone number) and their insurance details. You must also provide this information to them.
- Notify your insurance company immediately. Regardless of whether or not a claim is to be made or whose fault it was, you'll need to let your insurance company know.
Write down the following details:
- Date, time and place the accident occurred.
- The other vehicles’ make, model, colour and registration number.
- Contact details of the owner of the other motor vehicle, if not the driver.
- Contact details of any witnesses.
- Name of police or traffic officer, if present, and their police station.
- Name/telephone number of the towing operator.
- If you can, take pictures of the road layout, the position of the vehicles, skid marks, collision points and the damage caused.
Third party claims:
Third Party insurance covers you against claims made by others against you. If you were the cause of an accident your Third Party insurance will cover any costs you may be liable for, such as costs relating to death, injury and damage and any legal costs.
We have a dedicated team available to deal with third party claims so if you receive a claim from a third party, please pass the correspondence on to us immediately. We will deal with it on your behalf.
If your vehicle is stolen or written-off:
Once we have established that your vehicle cannot be repaired or recovered, a Claims Negotiator will contact you with the details of what to do next and what documentation is required to settle your claim as quickly as possible.
Know your rights!
If you are unlucky enough to be involved in an accident you can expect a host of tow trucks to arrive, all clamouring to be the one to tow your vehicle away! Worse still, you could find a police officer advising or insisting that you choose a particular tow operator to clear the accident scene. Here’s what you should know:
- No towing operator or police officer has the right to force you to make use of a specific towing operator.
- Should a police officer attempt to force you to make use of a particular towing operator, a charge can be laid against the officer at the nearest police station. In this case, make sure you take note of the officer’s details.
- The responsibility for moving any obstruction to traffic rests with the police department, not the towing operator.
Home emergency tips
You should be able to feel secure at your home, but unfortunately burglaries, accidents, fire and other damage can happen to anyone, with devastating and often costly results. Read a few practical tips in the event of an emergency.
Burglary:
- If you enter your property and notice anything out of place, leave immediately and call the police. The intruders may still be inside.
- Don’t clean up or move anything until the police have had a chance to inspect the scene, or you could be damaging vital evidence. The police will want to take a statement from you, as well as photographs and fingerprints.
- The police will also give you a case number which you’ll need for your insurance claim.
- If your bank or credit cards have been stolen, call the bank’s emergency number and have them stopped. Report any important documents that are missing to the police.
- Make a list of all the stolen items and if you have them, include the items’ model and serial numbers, how much you paid for them, as well as any purchase receipts, instruction manuals or photographs. The more detail you provide, the more helpful the information will be to assist us in dealing with your claim quickly and efficiently.
Important: Make sure that you report your claim within 30 days of the incident.
Burst Geyser:
- The first thing to do is switch off the geyser isolator switches on your main electrical distribution board. If in doubt, switch off your main electricity supply.
- Then turn off the water at the geyser inlet valve to minimise further water damage to ceilings, walls, carpeting and furniture. If your geyser is inaccessible, or you are not sure where the valve is located, (or if you have a burst pipe) turn off your water at the mains.
- Once the water and electricity have been switched off, open up all the hot taps – your bath, basins, shower, kitchen, etc. This will drain out some of the hot water from the geyser, but its main purpose is to release the pressure in the geyser cylinder thereby making it leak less.
- If you have switched off the main water supply to the whole house, you can also open up all the cold taps, as this will sometimes drain all the hot water from the geyser instead of it leaking onto your ceiling.
- If you have an Old Mutual Houseowners policy, call our Claims Department immediately to report the damage and an External Loss Adjuster or an investigator will be appointed and will contact you within 24 hours.
Storm, hail or flood damage:
- In the event of a flood, dry up as much water as possible to minimise further damage. Remove furniture and household contents from wet areas.
- If your home has been damaged during a storm (for example if a tree has fallen on the roof), or you have damage caused by hail, evaluate the damage so that you can describe it clearly to your insurer. If needed, board up any broken windows or doors.
- If you have an Old Mutual Houseowners policy, call our Claims Department immediately to report the damage and an External Loss Adjuster or an investigator will be appointed and will contact you within 24 hours.
Fire:
Experiencing a house fire is a frightening and upsetting experience. In the event of a fire, it is very important to know what to do to protect yourself and others from any possibility of harm.
- Contact the emergency services in your area immediately.
- If you are inside the house when a fire starts, check where the fire is coming from. If there is smoke coming from under a door, do not open it. Even if you don't see smoke, there could still be fire on the other side, so feel the door and doorknob with the back of your hand to see if it is warm or hot.
- If the door and doorknob are not hot, slowly open the door. If you can see an escape route, stay low to the ground – crawl on your hands and knees as fast as you can until you can get out of the house. Don't walk upright – since smoke rises, you're more likely to inhale smoke if you are higher up.
- If you see smoke or fire coming from under a door, block the cracks in the door with towels, blankets or clothes so the smoke doesn't come in. Open a window and shout ‘FIRE’ as loud as you can.
- If you have water, wet a shirt or pillowcase and cover your mouth and nose so you don't breathe in too much smoke.
- If your clothes catch fire, drop to the floor and roll around to put out the flames.
- Do not re-enter the house or any other building that has been affected by a fire until you have been told it is safe to do so.
- If you have an Old Mutual Houseowners, Home Contents or Personal Goods policy, notify us as soon as possible that you have a claim. We have a system in place to deal rapidly with these types of substantial losses.
Do you have enough cover?
Having up-to-date insurance cover will help to ensure that you are able to cope financially in the event of loss or damage to your home, its contents and your personal valuables. If you are unsure about what level of cover you currently have, or you would like to find out more about the various types of cover available, call us now on +267 390 5700.