Worst case scenarios and how to make the best out of them
Research shows that the four biggest sources of stress in a person’s life is when they experience moving house, losing a job, the end of a relationship and the death of a loved one. Based on that knowledge, the best thing to do is to be prepared for a worst case scenario, but to always expect the best scenario to happen. That way, you know you’re ready for whatever might come your way, but you’re not going to let it get you down. No, you’ll be a vision of positivity, knowing that you’ve done all you need to, to make sure that you and your loved ones are taken care of.
Here are some things in your everyday life that could go wrong… and some of the steps you can take to ensure you mitigate the consequences from them. Let’s face it… failure to plan and planning to fail. If you’ve done all you can, even when it comes to handling things out of your control, then you can rest easy and let go of what might happen after that, and rolling with the punches becomes easier to deal with.
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Automobile accident
Accidents happen even to the most cautious of us, some steps that you can take to prevent damages during an accident are:
Getting a baby car seat, strapping your kids in! Survivability is much higher in instances where kids are strapped in correctly while in an adequately sized car seat. This means you’ll also need to shift to different car seats as your kids grow up. From baby carrier seats to back-to-forward facing car seats and booster seats for your bigger kids.
Wear your seat belts, and not just because it’s the law!
Make sure you car is serviced on time. This means your tyres are always in tiptop condition, your airbags and brakes are working fine.
And in the event you do still get into an automobile accident, make sure you have car insurance, motorcycle insurance, personal health insurance, and life insurance all sorted for your loved ones.
In the event you get into a car accident overseas, just make sure that you have travel insurance. There are several options that you can choose for travel insurance, which will provide coverage either based on countries and destinations over specific dates, or an overall duration of your policy.
Home accidents
Did you know that home accidents are the most prevalent of all types of accidents? Kids can fall off bunk beds, while in the kitchen, blunt knives can slip while you’re trying to cut a carrot, or you experience scalding from boiling hot water or a burn from the stove. Bathroom accidents usually involve slipping on a wet surface and falling down.
This usually means staying on top of all safety practices.
Make sure all exposed wires are concealed
Baby-proof areas of your home with a secure gate, especially the stairway to prevent unwanted falls (pictured above)
Make sure kitchen knives are sharpened - as much as it sounds counter to what you want, blunt knives are dangerous. Ask any chef!
Make sure all wet spills are promptly wiped up regardless of which part of the house it is
Make sure all appliances are checked for shortage, and liquids are kept away from power sources
Make sure bunk beds have raised sides to avoid a nasty fall
Make sure all corners are protected and all movable heavy furniture are bolted to the wall to avoid falling on children
And in the case of an accident happening anyway in spite of your best efforts, the best thing to do is to ensure that you have insurance coverage. The last thing you want in an already frantic situation is to scramble to sort out payment to the hospital just so you or your loved one can be seen by a doctor or admitted into the hospital.
Incidences during travel
Sometimes it’s not just during your day-to-day that things could go wrong. When you travel, you’re exposed even more to things going wrong that not getting travel insurance seems to be quite a silly thing to omit. A thousand things could go wrong when you travel compared to your day-to-day, such as lost luggage, flight delays and missing connecting flights, or missing flights entirely because of a traffic jam, getting into a motorcycle accident, robbery or theft during your travels, a health emergency, etc. It’s not unheard of to have someone close to you experience an unfortunate part of travelling. So the best thing to do is to get travel insurance. Apart from knowing that you’re covered financially, when something traumatic happens, it’s good to know that you have an insurance agent who is looking out for you and can coordinate with hospitals or emergency services, the closest embassy, as well as your family members.
The best thing you can do for yourself and your family when it comes to having peace of mind, is working to provide both preventions - like car seats, or fire-retardant fabrics at home - and preemptive tools or assets in place to mitigate your way out of a bad situation. Insurance, is really like preparing an umbrella before it rains. Sometimes, you will get rained on in spite of your best efforts… and having a nice swanky umbrella to pull out of your bag will always be appreciated when the time comes for it.
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