The average student now possesses more than £4,500 worth of goods, according to Endsleigh, the insurance company. More than two-thirds of today’s undergraduates own laptops with an average value of £850, as well as music players and mobile phones.
Home Office figures show that one in three students becomes a victim of crime each year.
Many insurers offer parents the option of adding their children to their existing home-contents insurance to cover them when they are studying away from home.
Tesco, Esure and Norwich Union Direct all offer this option for no extra charge. The cover usually includes up to £5,000 worth of possessions or 15% of the contents sum insured on the parents’ policy — normally about £30,000, therefore providing insurance for £4,500 worth of possessions.
Peter Gerrard, senior researcher at the price comparison website Moneysupermarket.com, said: “Unlike other areas of student life, insurance should not cost the earth. In fact, it may not cost anything at all if they are able to take out cover under their parents’ home-contents policies. It’s easy to do and will save much-needed cash at a time when budgeting is tight.”
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However, it is important to read the small print because some parents’ policies have big caveats. Many will cover students only if there is clear evidence of a break-in, as opposed to an opportunistic “walk-in theft”, for example.
The latter is common in halls of residence, where students are at the mercy of housemates who may leave doors or windows unlocked.
Saga insurance, for example, offers student cover as an add-on for those undergraduates whose parents already have Saga’s home-contents insurance. But it does not cover walk-in thefts.
Endsleigh, which does cover walk-in theft on its stand-alone policy, said 30% of its claims for burglary were cases where there had been no forcible entry.
You may get less cover if you take out a stand-alone policy, however.
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Endsleigh charges an annual premium of £91 to cover £3,000 of belongings in a shared house. To add a laptop worth £800, you would have to pay an additional annual premium would be £56.