"Discovery Insure kept my family safe that night"

“We were travelling back to Johannesburg from Leisure Bay in KwaZulu-Natal and it was around 3.30am,” Louis recalls. “We had been driving for about half an hour when I heard a mechanical noise coming from under the vehicle. Initially I ignored it but the noise got louder and then I felt the car lose all power.”

Anxious about stopping on the side of the road, Louis quickly did a check underneath the car and noticed transmission oil pouring out from the gearbox. “It was completely dark and it felt like we were in the middle of nowhere. It was my worst-case scenario – being stranded next to a dark highway with my wife and 2-year-old son at night.”

Just when Louis was about to start trying to contact someone for help, his phone rang. “It was within a minute of us stopping. A call centre agent from Discovery Insure had noticed that we had stopped driving and was concerned because this was an unusual place to have stopped at an unusual time. I immediately felt better, and was told that they’d handle everything from their side and get us the necessary roadside assistance.”

Louis decided to try drive a bit further to get as close to the nearest toll plaza as possible. Just before getting there, though, the car broke down completely. “We got another call almost immediately: another call centre representative from Discovery Insure. Within five minutes we had received confirmation that roadside assistance would be with us as soon as possible. As we waited the thirty or so minutes until the tow truck arrived, we received regular calls from Discovery to check up on us. It really made me, and my wife, feel a lot better that someone knew where we were.”

Ilan Ossin, head of telematics technology at Discovery Insure, credits the fast response time of his team to the advanced technology that Discovery Insure uses as part of their insurance offering. “Louis has a piece of technology installed in his car with a feature called unique driver profile that is able to detect unusual driving behaviour. In Louis’ case, it was very late at night and he had stopped somewhere out of the ordinary – so we were alerted to this and followed up with him immediately.”

After the flatbed arrived for his vehicle, Louis and his family were transported back to Leisure Bay in KZN; where they had started their journey earlier that morning. The bad news the next day, however, was that they needed a new gearbox which would take around two weeks to rebuild. “We phoned Discovery Insure to explain our problem. Within an hour they had organised a rental car for us so we could get back home to Pretoria. By the time we got to Europcar, all the documentation had been filled out for us so all I needed to do was show my driving licence and we were on our way!”

“I can’t convey my gratitude and appreciation to Discovery Insure enough,” adds Anke, Louis’ wife. “As a family we are beyond grateful for the support we received that night. Who knows how differently things could have turned out if it wasn’t for this great service?”

Discovery Insure is committed to creating a nation of great drivers and keeping its members safe on the road.