New short-term insurer Naked challenges the insurance status quo. When it comes to car insurance, ideally you want to be fully insured so that your own car is covered in an accident or theft, but that doesn’t mean you have to pay the highest...
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Selling your car successfully
Selling your car can be a stressful experience, especially if you’re new to doing it. Follow these tips to sell your car without getting ripped off in the process. When it comes to selling a car, women in particular feel intimidated by the exercise...
Do insurers pay out when it comes to car-jamming claims?
Car jamming is by no means a new trick – the tactic has been reported on for a number of years now and it’s still being used. Essentially, car jamming is a practice whereby thieves use a signal-jamming device to interfere with your car remote....
Driving your way to a lower premium
A sobering thought before we all climb behind the wheel of our cars this holiday: South Africa’s roads are among the most dangerous in the world! According to the World Health Organisation, the number of road deaths in South Africa per 100 000...
Insuring your child’s car
Car insurance for a person under the age of 25 can be extremely high as they have a much higher risk rating than someone who has been driving for many years. They are also at that age where they are more likely to undertake risky driving behaviour....
Does a new car make us happy?
I recently spent some time interviewing potential candidates for the City Press/Absa Money Makeover competition. It is so interesting that almost all applicants state that their biggest financial mistake was buying a new car. As one applicant said...
Better to own a car or to simply Uber?
If you are looking for ways to save in 2017, you might want to consider tossing your car and Ubering instead. MyTreasury.co.za, which helps South Africans find the best savings account to match their needs, crunched the numbers to see when it makes...
Should you lease or buy a car?
South Africans are well known for treating their cars as status symbols. Car finance figures show that on average, South Africans who are financing their cars tend to buy a new car every three years. Simphiwe Nghona, executive head of Wesbank’s...
Understand the fine print
I often receive complaints from people who have signed agreements they haven’t fully understood. Unfortunately there is little recourse for the consumer in such cases. Take time to read the fine print. As consumers we tend to be very emotional...
Remote jamming could jam your insurance claim
You’re at your local shopping centre, the kids are screaming and you’re rushing to get your shopping done as quickly as possible so you hurriedly press the remote button to lock your car and run into the centre. But have you double-checked that...
Previous Articles
How to buy a car on auction
Auctions are typically associated with property or fine art, however, you can also pick up a good second-hand car at an auction. The first thing you need to know when buying a car on auction is that it is sold “voetstoots”, which means that you buy the item as is....
How to sell your car privately
As people’s budgets come under increasing pressure, the number of people who can afford to buy new cars is dwindling fast. With banks financing two used cars for every new car purchase, the second-hand car market is booming. If you want to sell your car privately,...
What to do when you fall behind on repayments
Lindi wrote to me looking for advice regarding her car repayments. She had fallen behind on her repayments to BMW Finance as her business was in financial difficulty. She wanted to find out if she could hand back the car to the financial institution and what the...
Paying for someone else’s mistake
If someone jumps a stop street and crashes into you, you could find yourself liable for damages. When Chantal’s car was written off by a driver who jumped a stop street she was confident that the driver’s insurance would cover the full damages to her vehicle as her...
How to cut your fuel bill
The fuel price increase on 1 April was unfortunately no April Fool’s joke. Motorists are now paying an extra R1.62 per litre of petrol, which means that if you fill up your 50-litre tank twice a month, you're now spending an additional R160 per month on fuel. It is...
Buying a car in December
By Nicholas Nkosi, Head of Vehicle and Asset Finance – Personal Markets, at Standard Bank It is natural to think about the joys of starting the New Year in your dream car when your bank account is filled with an end-of-year bonus. However, is it advisable to buy a...
Car insurance – mind the gap
There are two major purchases you will make in your lifetime for which entering into debt can be justified: one is the purchase of property and the other is the purchase of a car. If you buy a car through bank finance, you will find that taking out comprehensive car...
Free financial planning workshops in Cape Town
Financial Planning Week: 25-29 August CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® professionals Craig Torr, Paul Rossouw, Ian Beere and Laverne Slater will be giving four free financial planning workshops in Cape Town on 26, 27 and 28 August, as part of Financial Planning Week in...
Uninsured drivers beware
Insurers are becoming more enthusiastic about suing uninsured drivers to recover costs. If you are uninsured and crash into another vehicle causing damage amounting to thousands of rands, you are liable for those repairs. Even if the other driver was insured, his...
What carpooling means for your insurance
With the price of petrol having reached record levels recently, carpooling is something you could consider as a means to cut your travel costs. However, if you do decide to carpool, you need to inform your insurer or broker immediately and find out what the...