I like to think of myself as an independent person even though I sometimes do not have the faintest idea what I’m doing. When I left the parental home and struck out on my own, I was very green and didn’t know the first thing about how to go about getting insurance for my car and possessions, let alone the names of any insurance companies I might use. Now that I have the advantage of hindsight, I can honestly say that I would have saved myself loads of time and effort if I had only known about getting insurance online.

Well I remember the days of telephoning insurance companies individually and trying to scribble down the terms being quoted while holding the phone in one hand and trying to stop the notepad from moving away with the other. To make matters worse, I often could not decipher what I had written down and would have to phone the company back to ask for clarification. Then, because it was invariably a call centre, I would get somebody new and would have to give my details all over again. Needless to say, my phone bill was pretty high that month, despite the fact that I didn’t phone many insurance companies for quotes. In fact, I pretty much went with the first company I approached. Bad move, I know, but I was befuddled by all the insurance jargon and felt pressured to get insured ASAP.

Fortunately, I knew enough about insurance to pick a reputable company and it has stood me in good stead. Thanks to a helpful insurance rep, I now have a single policy that covers both my car and household contents. I have since learnt that is a better deal in terms of what I have to pay on my premium each month but, at the time, I hadn’t a clue that it was possible to even combine one’s car and contents insurance, let alone get it cheaper. Getting a car and home contents insurance policy was the beginning of a big learning curve for me. I learnt that, as with most things, you have to do your homework before you take out insurance. I was lucky enough not to be taken for a ride as a result of decisions I made based on very little knowledge of what I was in for. I have learnt that it is important to do research beforehand and not let other make important decisions for me.

On the subject of online insurance, it is possible to get a number of quotes from an insurance company offering this service by entering your details only once. Choosing to go this route will give you a number of quotes to choose from so you won’t be making the mistake (as I did) of going with the first insurance company you come across. Furthermore, these quotes will be uniform as they come off a single set of details so there won’t be any comparing of apples with pears, so to speak. Alternatively, if you already know the names of a number of reputable insurance companies, you can visit their websites individually to get quotes if this is what you prefer.

For more information about insurance online, please visit our website on http://www.hollardlifeinsurance.co.za