Insurance

Determining whether or not you need insurance and what kind of insurance to get can be a confusing process. To help you make a decision, we’ve put together a list of the different types of insurance you might need.

Why you may need insurance

LOSS: 29% of students have lost their phone at least once.
BROKEN: 77% of our gadget and possessions claims are for accidental damage.
STOLEN: 22% of students have experienced theft whilst out and about.
SPILLS: 37% of students have experienced liquid damage to their phones.Source: Endsleigh’s 2016 Student Survey in collaboration with the NUS Insight Team.

Firstly, you should check with your landlord (if applicable) to establish what cover they already have in place.

If you’re living in university halls or shared student accommodation, your university or accommodation provider may have already arranged some contents insurance for you. You can check if you’re covered, what’s included and how to personalise and extend any cover if you require it.

Although some parents’ home insurance policies may cover some of the risks of taking your belongings away to university, students these days are taking a valuable haul of stuff with them.

• Today’s students take close to £3,000 worth of possessions with them to university.
• Your parents’ policy may not cover these gadgets for accidental damage, or incidents whilst you are out and about.

Next, you should think about your own possessions. What items do you value most? Once you have a clear idea of what you’d like to protect, there are a number of options you might choose:

• Gadget insurance – This is a specific type of insurance that protects gadgets such as smartphones, tablets and laptops if they’re stolen or damaged. The advantage of this type of policy is that it covers your gadgets wherever you go and not just in your home.
• Contents insurance – While your landlord might have their own contents policy in place, this may not cover your possessions such as clothes, cameras, jewellery and other valuables
• Bicycle insurance – You can often add bicycle cover onto an existing contents policy. However, if you’re only interested in covering you bike because you rely on it for getting around, you can take out a stand-alone bicycle insurance policy. This will cover you if it is stolen or damaged.
• Musical instrument insurance – Much like bicycle cover, you can often add a musical instrument onto an existing policy. If you would rather just protect your instrument however, you can purchase cover which will protect you if your instrument is accidentally damaged or stolen.