Do You Need to Purchase Student House Insurance

Students often worry about what they will eat, when their homework is due, and which parties they should go to, but few stay up at night worrying about their home insurance. Insurance seems boring and unnecessary until the first crisis such as a house fire or flood – after that, you will certainly understand why it's important to be protected in case anything happens!

Finding contents insurance for a home is hard enough, but many students don't have the experience needed to sift through the offers available and figure out which student house insurance deal is the best. Here's what you need to know about buying student insurance for your residence.

Landlords must cover the house, but not contents.

If you rent from a landlord or agency, your landlord has to cover the structural or buildings insurance, but they don't cover your contents. If your possessions are stolen in a burglary or there is a fire, for example, you wouldn't receive any money to replace your clothes, bedding, furniture, appliances, laptop, and so on. If you value your possessions, insurance is a smart purchase. You shouldn't need to buy buildings insurance as long as you aren't mortgaging the house directly, which most students don't. The landlord needs to cover the cost of insuring the home.

Your parents' policy won't cover private rentals.

Students living in halls of residence have less to worry about. The structural insurance is included, and many halls of residence include basic contents policies, but these policies may not cover more expensive items or all your possessions. Your parents' policy will probably only cover loss due to burglaries with forced entry and typically covers only people in residence, not those in private accommodations. These policies also tend to limit the amount you can claim to some percentage of your parents' coverage; for instance, if your parents have £100,000 in coverage, you might be eligible for just 2%, or £2,000.

Look for brokers or student-specific providers.

The most often-recommended provider for student insurance is Endsleigh, since they were set up specifically for students who couldn't get coverage through other providers. Many comparison websites send you to Endsleigh to get a quote because they are one of the most affordable providers and also happen to create student-specific policies. Of course, you can also go through a standard broker to find policies that may be suitable for a student.

Landlords can earn a discount by accommodating you.

Some landlords don't accept students because their rental insurance doesn't cover students. If you get a private accommodation and your landlord is looking for a good insurance policy, Endsleigh offers a policy that provides a 10% discount to landlords who are renting to students. Their insurance policies for landlords cover a variety of damage types and disasters.

You can insure the whole household contents or your room.

If you share the house, whether or not you have your own room, yet you separately own appliances such as the TV or washing machine, you have two options. You will need to either get your own insurance policy that covers the appliances you own and have your roommates get their own policies or you will need a joint policy if you can get them to pay half of the cost. For those in a room of their own (it must be locked and people can't get in without your permission, meaning it is your own area and is more secure than an open house), you can insure the contents of just one room.

Consider any high-value items you own.

Many students own expensive laptops, printers, or other items that aren't covered under their standard policy. Check your policy to see what the upper limit is for insurable items. If an expensive item is stolen or damaged, you want to be able to replace it! Some providers put a limit of £750 to £1,500 on the items you can claim. If you have a high-value item, you may need to pay an additional monthly fee to insure it.

Students should consider buying student house insurance rather than relying on chance to keep them safe from disasters. If anything happens, you will be glad you thought ahead and purchased insurance before you needed it.

For anyone that needs to think about student insurance Sam Jones recommends http://www.uswitch.com/home-insurance/cheap-student-insurance/ as having the best advice and information as well as an online price checking facility