Why you should check your home insurance when your children go off to university

Why you should check your home insurance when your children go off to university

Yes! They’ve done it – they’ve made it to university. There’s loads that needs to be prepared, purchased, and arranged to help your child prepare for student life. The good news is that protection for the belongings they take with them to their new digs could actually be one less thing to worry about.

That’s because certain home insurance policies, such as Paymentshield’s 5 Star Defaqto Rated Home Insurance will provide cover up to £5,000 for loss or damage to your contents when taken away from your home by a family member in full time education. If you’re not covered by Paymentshield, just check if items temporarily removed from your home are covered under your policy.

It’s an unfortunate reality that, students may be the target of theft and vandalism. Thankfully, if you’ve got quality insurance, your home insurance policy may already provide financial protection should any thing be stolen from your child while they’re away studying. It is, however, worth bearing in mind that the policy may only provide cover for theft where force and violence has been used so it’s still a good idea to make sure your child is extra careful about who’s invited into their accommodation and ensure that any high value belongings are kept somewhere safe during any parties!

 

What are the most commonly nicked items from students?

Bicycles, laptops, tablets, phones, wallets and expensive jewellery all rank among the top items. It’s a good idea to mark your high value belongings with a UV pen to increase the chance of them being returned to you, should they be recovered after a theft.

 

Things to check before your child moves away:

What are my cover limits? – The first thing is to check is that you have contents insurance as part of your home insurance policy and if it will cover items that’ve been temporarily removed from the insured address whilst your child is attending full-time education. If it does, then great – but it’s also worthwhile double checking how much cover is provided. For example, it might provide up to £5,000 of cover so it’s therefore worth thinking about if this is enough should your child need to replace all their belongings; clothes, bedding, laptop etc.

If you’re a Paymentshield Contents Insurance customer you’ll be covered for items removed from your home while attending full-time education up to £5,000.

Do you already have accidental damage cover? – Accidental damage cover tends to be offered as an add-on when you buy home insurance to protect against accidental damage caused by you or your family. If you want to make sure you’re covered for things like your tablet/laptop getting drenched in a drink or the expensive watch you bought your loved one for their 18th birthday being dropped and smashed then you may need to add it to your policy.

Do you have personal possessions cover? – Personal possessions cover is also normally an optional extra when taking out home insurance policies. This cover specifically protects items that are normally worn or carried when taken out of the home – such as your watch, smartphone or laptop/tablet.

If you’d like your child to have the added protection, so they don’t have to worry about being out and about at the library or the pub with their belongings then this is a good idea. You should check to see if this section of your policy will continue to offer cover while your child is living at a different address to the one your policy is registered to.