What should you do after car accident?
Of course, the environment can be a factor contributing to accident risk. Bad weather, rain, snow, strong wind – the likelihood of an accident to occur in such conditions is certainly quite high. But still, it’s much easier and cheaper to try to avoid an accident rather than having to deal with the consequences. Not to say that accidents are quite hazardous and can be deadly even if you’re not speeding. However, if you faced an accident, it really helps to remember certain things that will help you cope with the situation as effectively as possible. Here are some things to keep in mind that will actually help you.
It would be very good if you’ve had these tips printed and stored somewhere in your car, because it is so easy to forget everything when being in a stress situation. And having an accident, regardless of how serious it is, is surely a stressful situation.
First of all, you should do everything possible in order not to panic. Try to calm down and examine the situation. See what damage has your and the other party’s car sustained, ask if anyone’s injured. Other people’s health and life has priority than car damage, so if there’s anyone hurt call for medical assistance in the first place and then get busy with the vehicles. It may be a single scratch or a serious crash, so being cool-headed and able to evaluate and react accordingly is very important.
Cooperate with the police and tell everything they ask you too. Escaping the scene is not a very bright idea, because it will cause much more trouble and legal action when they find you. And it will be almost impossible to get car insurance coverage if your accident is not documented with the police. No matter who’s at fault in the accident, be there and tell everything as it happened. This will make it a lot easier and faster for everyone involved.
Don’t let yourself go. Try talking only to the policeman, answer all the questions in an informative manner. Of course, it is quite hard to remain calm, especially when you’re not at fault and the other party starts talking to you aggressively. Getting caught in an argue will only make things worse. So keep the conversations to a minimum, speaking in details only to the police and your car insurance company.
Take note of everything you can. When an accident takes place, people sometimes forget to write down the info of the other party involved, which only makes the coverage process longer. Make sure you have all the names, contacts and details written down. Before the police arrive, it really helps to call your insurance agent for an advice, and he or she will surely ask you to learn the other party’s insurance company.
In general, your insurance company should be the first to know about the accident, so it really makes sense of having their contact number somewhere in your wallet. Ask how to proceed and tell everything required as it will ease the process of filing and processing your car insurance claim.
For women – planning our insurance needs
Once, the world was simple. If there were two opposites like either/or and day/night, it was easy to treat them as different and act accordingly. Then along came the idea of equality and some opposites were judged the same when it came to the treatment they deserved. At least, it’s now politically incorrect to suggest men and women should be treated differently. So the law imposes rules to prevent discrimination on the ground of sex (or gender if that is also different). Except that, when it comes to insurance, there are some very good reasons for treating men and women differently. Although the law may have changed, there are some fixed biological and cultural roles that seem permanently attached to women. We may now vote, own property and pursue our own careers, but we give birth and are expected to raise a family with the possibility of becoming a carer for elderly parents. In juggling between all these conflicting demands on our time, it’s easy to drop the ball of financial planning.
In a perfect world, we women would sit down calmly and set out a plan for our lives. This would list goals and some way to monitor progress so that, if we seem to be straying off track, we can steer back on course. There would be milestones: getting a job, saving for our own home, avoiding debt, planning a family. If our partner, children or parents come to depend on the income we bring into the household, we should think about insurance. How could we leave them without providing for them? If we are not a burden to them during our lives, we do not want to become a burden by leaving them. So we need enough coverage to clear the mortgage on the home, pay for the education of our children and buy in care for our parents. In this, it does not matter whether we are a single mother or one of a couple. Loss of our earning capacity affects everyone around us.
Then we come to the key difference. We live longer than men so the right life insurance policy is our way of saving for retirement. As we reach the end of our working lives, all the major debts should be paid off. Hopefully, we have made pension arrangements and can live simply. But there are always emergencies. In such cases, having a policy with a cash value or an investment element gives us a safety net. In the worst case, we can sell the policy for a lump sum. With the right policy, we can draw down cash or borrow against the anticipated benefits.
This need for long-term thinking means we should take extra care when getting life insurance quotes. We should cover the range of policy types. It may then be appropriate to talk to an independent agent or broker to get advice. The aim is to ensure we have the right level of coverage at an affordable premium during our lives with adequate protection for our retirement needs. Rising above the selfish needs, we can also think about the flexibility to provide cover for the family we leave behind. This may involve planning to increase the investment element as we grow older, or adding coverage to boost the benefits we leave behind at the end of a long life.
