Students advised to check their home insurance policies

A worrying number or students don't realise that their belongings may not be covered by their home insurance policy when they move from their family home to student accommodation, the British Insurance Broker's Association (BIBA) has warned.

Following from the news that British students may have up to £1.7 billion worth of uninsured valuables in their university bedrooms alone, Which4u reports that BIBA has found students may be surprised to know that musical instruments, laptops, iPods and designer clothes may be covered neither by their hall of residence's contents and building insurance nor their own home insurance policy.

Graeme Trudgill, a technical and corporate affairs executive at BIBA, warned that not having the proper home insurance cover could cost academics dearly, with goods such as laptops proving expensive to replace.

BIBA officials have also urged students to make sure they protect their personal belongings with their own home insurance cover or by their parents' home insurance policies, with Mr. Trudgill adding "the main thing is, one way or another: make sure that you're covered.

"Some policies will cover it automatically - you will just need to obviously tell the insurer and broker that the person is now away at student accommodation.

However, students not covered by their parent's home insurance have been advised to compare home insurance cover in order to find the policy that best suits their needs.

Research conducted by M&S Money has revealed that only 52 per cent of students are sufficiently insured.

Mon, 04 Oct 2010 02:37:00 GMT