Students urged to check home contents insurance policies

Homeowners have been warned that home insurance policies do not necessarily cover the possessions of students living away from home.

There are in the region of 430,000 households in England and Wales which contain students who spend some of the year away from home - an increase of ten per cent on 2003 levels.

However, with one in three standard policies affording cover for students living away from home only up to a value of £3,750, Sainsbury's has warned that many people are taking a significant risk given the value of students' possessions - including iPods, laptops, TVs and games consoles - often runs into thousands of pounds.

Indeed, this is especially true given the extent to which students are targeted by burglars.

"Unfortunately students are frequent targets for crime so it really is essential that they make sure they have the appropriate cover in place before they go off to college or university," commented Neil Laird, Sainsbury's home insurance manager.

"The average student will have possessions that would cost thousands of pounds to replace if they were burgled, which the vast majority of students just could not afford to do."

September 09^th 2008

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