Insuring Students

With A-Levels looming and university applications out of the way now is the time that people start to think seriously about which university they are going to go to. Many will be travelling around the country attending differnet open days and trying to work out which is the best for them.

A recent student survey suggested that the current generation of University-goers take an average of £1,400 worth of possessions with them. This may be in the form of musical instruments, computers, printers, MP3 players, speaker systems, just about anything that you can think of has probably been taken to University by a student.

University is also a prime target for those wishing to make money through burglary. In one high-profile British University nearly every single room on the ground floor of a college was burgled in less than a week. The problem is that unlike your own home where you can take measures to protect yourself, if you happen to live on the ground floor of an old apartment block with weak windows and no double-glazing, there’s not a lot you can do to make your room more secure.

For that reason, whilst it might not be the first thing that leaps to mind, it’s important to have proper insurance when you go to university. You might find that your possessions are insured under your parents home insurance policy, but you should make sure before you go. If they are not many universities have close connections with specialist insurers who can offer you good deals, but that doesn’t mean that they’re the best out there.

This will only apply for your first year, many Universities offer accommodation for the first year and then students live in privately rented accommodation in the second and third year, this poses further insurance issues.

Many landlords will have their own buildings insurance. That means that your insurance only has to cover your own possessions. Unless you’re on very good terms with your housemates it’s best to get coverage for your own room rather than the value of the entire house’s contents. You don’t want your own policy premiums to be raised because your housemate has an expensive guitar.

If you talk to an insurance provider more often than not they will be able to help you out, but if you have particularly expensive items it might be cheaper to have them insured individually rather than included in the costs of your own contents, as single expensive items can lift the premiums quite significantly.

Theft is one of the main dangers to students, particularly second and third years, and nothing can be more disruptive to your university career than suffering a theft. Co-Operative Finance are one company who are offering good home insurance deals at the moment and might be the ideal place to look for a good policy.

Simple, straight forward home insurance cover from The Co-Operative Insurance.