Last week I was at a stop street, when I was rear-ended so hard by another car, my teeth rattled in my mouth!

I got out and looked at my car, and to my surprise, the damage was negligable (or so I thought).

The other driver was very apologetic, and I almost let it go, without taking his details, as I made a mental decision that I was not going to go thru' all the hassle of making an insurance claim for a tiny little scrath on my bumber.

BUT, something told to take his details, just in case.

On the way home I noticed that the dashboard lights indicating that the boot was open had come on. I got out and checked, but the boot was closed and locked.

To cut a long story short, I then noticed that the right back side of the car was out of alignment with the bumper so I took the car to a panelbeater, and was shocked to fnd out that my valence (I had never heard of a valence before!) was totally buckled, and the damage amounted to almost R19 000-00!!!

Phew, thank heaven I took his details! I doubt my insurance company would have been too impressed with me, if I hadn't.

There is wisdom in the saying "Rather be safe than sorry!"