Student’s Contents Insurance – Do I Need it for my Student Accommodation?

Students can be prime targets for crime especially around fresher’s week. Young people tend to move on mass in cities and they are thus open targets. Research has found that almost 46% of students don’t have any form of contents insurance.

 

Given the statistics we have got above it is safe to say that students do need contents insurance. The good news is that you may already have cover.

 

It may be that you have cover under your parent’s contents insurance. You should check to see if this is the case. Whilst it isn’t common to be covered some policies do cover it.

 

If you do not currently come under their insurance policy, it is worth asking your parents to call up and get a quote. It may be cheaper for them.

 

Please bear in mind that there may be an excess on your parents’ insurance. Thus, this might be higher because they have added you on to it.

 

How does contents insurance work?

 

Contents does exactly what it says! It covers the contents of your student accommodation in the case of loss.

 

The most basic student cover will cover your belongings if they are in your house or halls. But extended cover could include beyond this. This will protect you from theft, loss, general damage, earthquake, lightening, falling trees and water damage.

 

You can often add more protection to cover your possessions when you are out of the house. But you need to make sure that your provider does this.

 

What things do I need to know about my policy?

 

These are some items you need to know about your policy: –

 

1. It will have an excess – this is an amount that you agree to pay on any claim and it gets deducted from the pay-out. So, for instance if your excess is £300.00 and your claim is £900.00, they will only pay you out £600.00. It is important to understand thus that if your claim is for £299.00 you will be paying for it all.

 

1. Can a high excess be a bad thing? – This is a matter for you what type of excess you have but the higher it is the less the premium is. You also need to check what type of items you have. For instance, if you only have small value items. Then it is unlikely that a high excess would be good for you as it wouldn’t cover anything for you. It is a matter for you to look at. If for instance. You are always losing and damaging belongings and unlikely to have spare cash to cover an excess. Then you need to look at policies that have a much smaller excess at any one time.

 

1. What if some items would cost extra to protect – bikes, laptops and other high value goods. Often must be added onto the contents policy particularly if you tend to carry these around and want to be covered. Accidental damage is also something that isn’t covered on the policy so you would need to check this.

 

1. How much does contents insurance cost? – The most important thing of all is to understand what you are paying for when you are dealing with a policy. After all you need to know how good the deal is. It is no good taking out a cheap policy that doesn’t cover you for anything.

 

How to save on contents insurance

 

Shop around – it is important that you shop around and get lots of quotes from different companies. Looking at compare the market you need to understand that often any provider that is on this site will be paying them to get to number 1. You need to shop around on the internet to get the best price.

 

1. Do some haggling with your insurer. It is fine to haggle with an insurance company. You might find that they would be willing to bring their premium down. Especially if you can show that you do have an alternative that is cheaper but you prefer to go with them. Not all companies will do this but it is something that you might want to consider.3. Consider what you want to insure.

 

1. If you are not worried about an old phone and don’t need to cover them then it is a cost that you may not have to incur. It depends on how much it will cost you to replace them.

 

1. Look after your possessions. Whilst this might seem common sense if you are super careful with your stuff and don’t lose it then you may never have to make a claim. Therefore, your insurance will eventually decrease. The more claims you make the more increases.

 

1. Pay up front. If you can afford to pay up front then you will find that your policy will be a lot cheaper. Rather than paying it on a direct debit that you find that interest is added to.

 

1. Read the small print! It is so important that you read the small print and understand what exclusions are on your policy.

 

Who does students contents insurance?

 

There are various companies that do this they are as follows: –

 

Buzzvault – they are one of the cheapest insurers around currently and are very student based.

 

Endsleighs – Endsleighs are one of the only student’s contents provider that are supported by the National Union of students.

 

They have various options available depending on what you want to protect but you can choose to insure pretty much anything. The price is usually monthly but can dictate how much cover you want and what your circumstances are. They also have a rare bonus of insuring students for non-forced entry thefts ie. Where somebody in the house may have taken it.

 

It is a matter for you.

 

Protect your Bubble.com. These suite to young people as they are for the cheapest cover on individual gadgets. We believe that they offer discounts on the internet.

 

Your bank – contents cover is often added as an incentive by several High Street banks when taking out an account. It does tend to cost a little more each month than if you went with another company. But some of the banks have special offers to their existing customers, so it is worth looking at them. You may find that they will be much easier to deal with.

 

Your mum and dad’s policy – yes, it is worth looking at your mum and dad’s policy to see whether they will be able to cover you. You might find that they can extend the cover and thus can end up costing you nothing through the bank of mum and dad.

 

The internet – There are so many providers out here we have not been able to list all of them the best thing to do is to look and shop around to see what is the best possible price as well as the correct cover for you. Good hunting on your content’s insurance for your student accommodation in Brighton.

 

We have previously written an article on general Student lettings information. This could help you. Click here.