Students heading off to uni should take a few minutes to make sure their belongings are properly insured. Some will be covered under their parent’s home insurance policy, others buy student contents policies and it’s becoming more common for cover to be offered as part of student accommodation.

Online insurance firm Gocompare.com compared more than 300 home insurance policies and found that while most (77 per cent) give some cover for student belongings as standard, the cover offered and the restrictions on it varied massively.

The average student takes around £1,750 worth of kit with them, including expensive gadgets such as laptops, iPods and smartphones.

Gocompare.com found the lowest amount of cover bought was £500 and the highest £25,000, which makes the mind boggle.

Most policies provide between £2,500 and £5,000-worth and that’s normally about right.

Ben Wilson, of Gocompare.com, said: “Student accommodation is often shared housing so can be less secure than other properties.

“This, coupled with the fact that it is likely to house a multitude of electronic items and bicycles, make it an attractive target for burglars.

“So, students need to make sure that they have adequate insurance in place to protect their belongings.

“As well as looking at their family home contents policy, students intending to live on campus should check what cover is provided.

“Student halls often provide a degree of insurance against theft of personal possessions.

“But you’ll need to check the policy terms and conditions and decide if you need to top it up if you need to cover specific items such as expensive IT equipment or musical instruments.”

Top 10 student tips: 1. Don’t assume your belongings are automatically covered by the family home insurance policy, halls of residence or landlord’s insurance.

2. Check policy terms and conditions to make sure you can meet the conditions. For example, it might specify you must lock your bedroom door when you leave your shared house.

3. Items such as bicycles, musical equipment and course fees are not usually covered as standard, but cover can be bought for a higher premium.

4. Expensive items need to be listed separately on the policy.

5. Check the dates, as some policies don’t provide cover outside term-time.

6. If you’re in shared accommodation, each of you will be responsible for taking out your own contents insurance.

7. Most insurers will replace laptops, new for old and sometimes within 24 hours but they can’t replace the data on it. So, remember to save essays to external drives or memory sticks.

8. Don’t store more cash in your room than you have to and never keep your PIN codes with your bank cards.

9. Register your valuables, such as bicycles, with the local police station, so if they’re recovered they can be traced back to you.

10. If you are living in halls of residence be careful who you let in, or who comes in after you, as they may not be a student but an opportunist thief.

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