Legal & General offers security tips for students

With another year of record breaking ‘A level' passes, more students than ever may be heading into higher education at universities across Britain.

As students move out of their parents homes, possibly to live on their own for the first time, they could be putting themselves in a position where they are at a higher risk of being burgled.

The recent Crime in England and Wales 2007/2008 report found that full-time students are twice as likely to be burgled, 4.8%, compared to those in managerial and professional occupations, 2.3%.

Elaine Parkes, Head of technical services, for Legal & General's general insurance business said: "The Crime report would indicate that if students are careful and do make checks to ensure the property they live in is secure, they can greatly reduce the likelihood of being burgled. They should also check what insurance cover they have in place and that it is at an adequate level to cover items, such as laptops, TV's and ipods, as well as their books. Some of these student essentials can be classed as ‘high risk' items and will need to be added to a home contents policy to ensure cover is in place."

Legal & General's household insurance automatically includes cover for contents temporarily removed from a parent's home of up to 15% of the parent's contents sum insured. This means a student's belongings will be insured in any building where they reside, while in full time education.

Elaine continued: "Just as a word of warning, students in shared accommodation should not assume that you will be covered if their laptop or ipod is stolen from their room. Most household insurance policies will only accept a claim if it is clear that force was used to gain entry to the room. So it is particularly important that students in shared accommodation ensure that all doors, including the internal door to their room has a lock and is locked whenever they leave the room - even though they may not be leaving the building."

The Crime report also found that households with no home security measures were around ten times more likely to have been victims of burglary than households where there were simple security measures, such as deadlocks on doors or window locks, 25% compared with 2.3%.

Legal & General has a special booklet, Safeguarding Your Home, which outlines useful tips and explains home security features. This guide may also be of interest to students and those in rented accommodation, in providing some useful tips on protecting their property and possessions. The following security tips should act as a helpful reminder to students living away from home:

Ensure that all accessible external doors and windows are fitted with locks and the keys removed and hidden from view.

Check with the landlord that previous tenants no longer have any keys.

If in shared accommodation check the room door can be locked.

Arrange for a friend to visit the property regularly if you are away to remove any mail and put it in a safe place. Don't forget to provide them with a contact number.

Check outside lighting does work and leave lights on in the house during darkness using a suitable timing device.

Remove any valuables from show and put in a safe place, hidden from view.

Whenever you leave your home always lock all doors, even if it's only for a couple of minutes.

If the property has a garden, check access is secure.

Finally, ensure you have the household insurance policy details and a contact number handy in case a claim has to be made.

For further details of Legal & General's home insurance and the cover for student belongings, visit legalandgeneral.com