You should be thinking about student insurance

What you should know:

• If you are off to university soon, you are probably more excited about the parties and making friends than you are about the idea of property insurance. However, it has never been a more important thing for prospective students to consider.

• These days, the average student now has more than £2,000-worth of laptops, smartphones, bicycles and televisions with them at university and they are also almost three times more likely to be a victim of a burglary than a the average family household.

• Student communities tend to be burglary hotspots as criminals know that they are likely to have valuable possessions and are unlikely to be security conscious. Students must therefore take seriously the need for insurance to protect their property.

What’s the answer?• As a direct resolution to this problem, a lot of universities now offer to help

students set up their own insurance policy to ensure students have coverage at minimal cost. • A basic contract could only be around £10 a month, covering laptops, mobile

phones and other equipment for loss, damage and theft. It may initially seem like a lot of money out of the beer budget, but far worse to lose your laptop and not be able to afford a new one.

• For those who really can’t afford to purchase their own personal insurance coverage, it is always possible to use their parent’s policies. • Most general household insurance policies will cover quite a significant amount

of loss, provided the student lives at home with their parents during university holidays. • This not only covers theft but also loss and damage as a result of flood, fire or

malicious damage. You have to be aware, however, that it does not cover these things if they occur through reckless behaviour or the student’s own fault. So if you leave you bicycle in the garden and it is not locked, the policy will not cover for theft.

• Tenant or renters insurance is a very useful thing to have in terms of the overall house or student property insurance. You cannot rely on your landlord’s policy covering you. They may have insurance for the entire building but not for the possessions inside.• Landlord insurance also does not cover for personal liability and third party injury,

so this also is something to consider.