Students - belongings, bikes and protecting your property
After Fresher's week and making new friends, personal security is likely to be the last thing on a student's mind as they head off for a new term at university or college.
But with a third of students estimated to become victims of crime, Aviva is urging all youngsters and parents to consider what cover they have in place and how best to protect their belongings.
According to the UK's largest insurer the average student's possessions are worth at least £1,725.51 including electronic gadgets, laptops and bikes
But the good news is that your parents' home insurance policy could also protect your children's bits and pieces when they are away from home. A standard home contents policy with Aviva gives £5000 worth of cover for items "temporarily removed from the home" providing the son or daughter still lives at home outside of term time. This includes belongings in a student's room, at their shared house or halls on campus, and covers them for all standard perils like fire, storm, flood, or malicious damage. Theft is also covered, but only if someone physically breaks in to the accommodation.
What about belongings outside student accommodation?
If parents want their child's laptop, mobile phone and iPod to be covered when they're out and about or if they accidentally damage it, they will need to have additional Personal Belongings cover, but again if the parents have it on their policy, students will be covered automatically.
If not, Personal Belongings cover can be added to their Aviva policy from around £27 a year for £2,000 worth of cover, including £750 for cash, and a single article limit of £2,000. (The overall limit can be increased to £10,000 and individual items can be specified on the policy if worth more than £2,000). This means everyone in the family is covered anywhere in the world.
Jonathan Cracknell, underwriting manager at Aviva, comments: "It's only natural for parents to worry when their children fly the nest for the first time. Students are a high risk group when it comes to theft, and clearly safety and security are not the first things on their minds. But with the average student's possessions running into thousands of pounds it's important to take simple precautions to protect their belongings, whether it's their smartphone, TV or laptop.
"Very basic measures, like ensuring your student room or house is properly secured and not left open for anyone to wander in will help reduce the chances of being a victim of crime. And don't flash expensive gadgets around when you are out and about..
"But after paying out for tuition and accommodation fees it might come as a surprise to many to find that students possession could well be covered on their parents insurance, be it their bedding, clothes, TV or iPhone."
Student wheels
Aviva's home contents insurance covers bikes as standard if your cycle is stolen from inside your student home or a locked garage or shed, but if you want your bikes covered in student accommodation, and anywhere in the world, you might want to consider adding additional bike cover to your home policy.
The additional cover starts from £9 per year and covers all bikes within the family home up to your chosen limit between £300 and £2,500 for theft, loss or damage per bike. But remember when you are away from home and not riding the bike to lock it securely to an object that can't be moved such as a concrete post or railing, to be covered for theft.
For those whose children will be taking a car to university, Aviva MultiCar insurance can help and gives discounts of up to a third for each additional car added to the policy. MultiCar is available to husbands and wives, common-law partners and any relatives and will cover up to five cars or vans in a household.
Students with cars, who live away from their permanent home address during term-time, also qualify as long as their car is registered at their parents' address. As well as a single renewal date and one set of policy documentation for the whole family, MultiCar offers the flexibility to keep each driver's NCD separate and tailor cover for each vehicle.
Go to aviva.co.uk/multicar-insurance for more information
Go to aviva.co.uk/multicare-insurance for more information
Aviva's top tips for student safety
Don't forget to lock up...Make sure you remember to lock doors and windows every time you go out so you don't leave your room open to opportunistic thieves.
Out of sight, out of mind...Don't leave your valuables in full view when you go out, hide them away somewhere safe, especially if you are in a ground-floor flat, which are easy targets for thieves
Travel light...Don't carry around belongings you don't need, these are likely to be safer locked up at home.
Be discreet...When you're out and about, make sure you're not flashing your latest gadget; this is only alerting would-be thieves to what you've got on you.
Lock your bike to a fixed object such as a bike rack or a ground anchor, and use a good quality lock such as a D-lock which is strong and difficult for thieves to cut through
Avoid leaving your bike in isolated areas, and lock it near to other bikes so yours is not such an obvious target
Safe and secure...Park your car with other cars in a well lit and busy area and it is less likely to be targeted by opportunist thieves.