First Year Student Living In Halls?
If you're moving away to College/University to study, the last thing on your mind will be insurance. But with students being a magnet for thieves as they carry laptops, smartphones and tablets to and from university each day can you afford not to be insured. On average each student takes around £4,000 worth of possessions with them to university.
There are normally 2 types of home insurance, buildings and contents insurance. If you are renting a room in a student house, flat or halls of residence (private or university), you will need your own contents insurance. The buildings insurance should be covered by your landlord, accommodation provider or university, as this covers the building itself that you live in for damage.
Contents insurance will normally protect your possessions against standard perils such as loss or damage caused by theft, fire, flood, storm, explosion or burst pipes.
Parents and students tend to assume that the students' possessions will be covered by the parents' home insurance policy. But this isn't generally the case and even where there is an element of cover there will be limitations so you will need to check ask your insurer questions such as:
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It allows you to pick and choose the covers that are important to you so you don't pay for cover you don't need.
It also automatically covers you for things such as:
Check if your contents insurance covers you for "Walk in theft" cover. You can normally check for this by looking in the policy wording next to the theft cover and seeing if it excludes "Walk in theft" or states that theft must be by "forcible and violent entry". If it's included this means that you will be covered for burglary even if there is no sign of forced entry.
Contents insurance will generally cover your possessions within the address you are staying (shared house / halls of residence) but you will normally need to purchase one or more of the optional extensions to the basic cover to cover items outside of the property. Expensive items such as mobile phones, laptops, jewellery and pedal cycles will need to be added so that they are covered if they are stolen or damage away from the property - for example while you are at university or travelling to and from university.
A lot of students have a bicycle as it is a cheap way of travelling around. Your bike will not normally be-covered as standard so will need to be added to the cover. Check if there are any specific lock requirements to ensure that your cover is in-place when you lock it up outside university.
Accidental damage cover could be invaluable as it covers you against accidents such as spilling a drink on your laptop. This cover would pay for the repair or replacement of your laptop.
If you have an expensive watch or jewellery for example, you will need to be certain that you have covered it for its full value should it get stolen or damaged. Contents policies tend to have a maximum amount that they will pay for any single item known as the single item limit. So, you should check with the insurer what this amount is and is normally based around your general sum insured for contents. You can normally specify an item that exceeds this limit under the specified items section therefore covering it to its full value. Although this will more than likely increase your premium it could save you money in the long run if it has to be replaced.
Pay upfront: It might be tempting to pay the premium over the year via instalments but by paying monthly you could be increasing your cost as you may be charged interest for the privilege.
Value you possessions accurately: Don't under insure your possessions as if a claim is made the insurer may reduce your claim by the percentage that you have under insured by (known as the rule of average) or even refuse your claim as you have under declared your belongings on the application form.
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