Students warned of insurance gap

Many students are unaware that personal possessions may not be covered by their parents’ insurance policy when they move out of the family home, according to research carried out by Abbey home insurance.

The average university student has £3,325 worth of belongings, meaning an incident of theft or accidental damage could leave them seriously out of pocket.

As well as wrongly believing they are already covered, some students also claim they cannot afford insurance or have other things to spend their money on.

Prasad Shastri, head of insurance marketing at Abbey, said: “Even though finances can be tight while at university, with a potential total value of belongings in excess of £3,000, students should not viewing insurance as an optional extra, but a necessity.”

In their rooms, students typically, have computers, TVs, games consoles and stereos, as well as expensive mobile phones and MP3 players – all potential rich pickings for any would-be thief.

03/10/2007 08:52:10