Student Insurance For Laptop, Mobile, Ipod Etc

angie54321

My son is a Uni student, and lives in rented accomodation with friends.

Although we haved nagged him, he says he can't afford insurance (he can afford beers and take aways though!!!)

He has a laptop, an ipod and a mobile phone. I am interested in getting just these items insured.

Can anyone recomend a good insurer who would just insure those items, at a reasonable price?

jennifernil

Endsleigh are good for students. But have you checked if they can be , or maybe already are, covered under your own house contents? You can get "all risks" cover for items temporarily removed from the home, worth checking.

morg_monster

I realise you've probably thought if this already... but is it worth insuring the mobile phone, when if it gets nicked he can just report it stolen ASAP and buy a £25 PAYG phone to replace it? just because most mobile phone insurance often has a fairly high premium. Of course if he is a bit scatterbrained or forgetful might be money well spent...!

Also the Ipod - this isn't exactly an essential, are you sure you want to bother paying to insure this? If it gets nicked, then its his inconvenience! (sorry if this sounds a bit harsh!)

Of course the laptop - thats another matter. Obviously want to get this insured, don't want any excuses for not handing in those essays!

angie54321

Checked Endsleigh, they came out at £176! which I consider expensive.

I don't want another claim on our household insurance - our policy price nearly doubled last claim - next time we will be uninsurable!

He has a contract phone, so if it is pinched we still have to pay for the contract/line rental AND get another one, even if it was PAYG. So that could be an expensive option.

The reason I have posted this is because he phoned yesterday to tell us he had sat on his phone, and broken the screen! He has had to pay £40 for a new screen, and he is a typical loping teenager who leaves his hi-tech equipment dumped around anywhere, especially on the floor(!), so sooner or later there is bound to be another accident or loss. (His ipod is one of the new ones, worth £180, so worth insuring, I think)

Astaroth

Unless he has a lock on the door to his bedroom and doesnt leave anything of his outside of his personal room then mainstream insurers often wont touch the typical student shared accommodation (though people often lie and insure everyone's things under a single policy as a "family" rather than a group of students)

You obviously can get specialist insurance for things like mobiles and laptops however they are fairly expensive when you cross compare it to home insurance.

maclean2

Hi - try https://www.pavilioninsurance.co.uk who have cover available for laptops phones etc.They are well established but I have no personal experience of them.

olly300

angie54321 wrote:

He has a contract phone, so if it is pinched we still have to pay for the contract/line rental AND get another one, even if it was PAYG. So that could be an expensive option.

Nope unless you have a 3G mobile it is very easy to get a replacement so insurance is not needed. All you need to do is report the phone and sim stolen via telephone to the phone company immediately you notice it has gone, then in a letter to them once you have informed the police , get a new sim card of the phone company which will have the same phone number, get an old phone of a friend/family member or one of ebay and put the sim in that. I know about 4 people who have done this. This alternative phone is unlikely to get nicked as it will be more undesirable.

The ipod isn't worth insuring as MP3 players quickly lose their value. In 2 years the ipod is basically worthless because a new model has come out.

The laptop should be insured. Even 7 year old laptops are stolen by thieves. Unfortunately the cost of lost data can't be replaced.

He should check out whether his bank does student insurance. Also student insurance generally has very strict limits on the amount you can claim for computer equipment and other valuables. And you need to prove you have the stuff, so photos or receipts, if you are going to claim.

angie54321

olly300 wrote:

Nope unless you have a 3G mobile it is very easy to get a replacement so insurance is not needed. All you need to do is report the phone and sim stolen via telephone to the phone company immediately you notice it has gone, then in a letter to them once you have informed the police , get a new sim card of the phone company which will have the same phone number, get an old phone of a friend/family member or one of ebay and put the sim in that. I know about 4 people who have done this. This alternative phone is unlikely to get nicked as it will be more undesirable.

The ipod isn't worth insuring as MP3 players quickly lose their value. In 2 years the ipod is basically worthless because a new model has come out.

The laptop should be insured. Even 7 year old laptops are stolen by thieves. Unfortunately the cost of lost data can't be replaced.

He should check out whether his bank does student insurance. Also student insurance generally has very strict limits on the amount you can claim for computer equipment and other valuables. And you need to prove you have the stuff, so photos or receipts, if you are going to claim.

It's a 3G mobile! His ipod is brand new, xmas present.

Will check out banks, never thought of that!

jennifernil

If you want insurance then you will just have to bite the bullet and pay up.
However you do seem to be assuming that his stuff is going to be stolen!
Our daughter has mobile, I pod and laptop, all of which she saved up for and bought herself, this tends to focus the mind on looking after them! She also shares a flat, and is now halfway through her 4th year and has not had anything stolen.
All her stuff is covered under our insurance. If we had to claim she knows she would have to pay the excess etc herself, so only the laptop would be worth claiming for.

jennifernil

I see there is a company JS Insurance that offer laptop insurance, they are mentioned on the laptop insurance thread in this forum. They seem to charge £50 for £1000 cover, worth looking at.

Myosin

Couldn't he just take care of his stuff thus reducing the need for "accidental damage cover" which would bring the cost down a fair bit...