Wondering what people think of Endsleigh student possessions insurance?

[Tom87]

I've already put this post onto the "Insurance/Assurance" section but thought I'd put it here to as it directly concerns students:

This isn't a complaint, more a query.

I'm looking into taking out student possessions insurance with Endsleigh for my shared rented student house next academic year.

Thing is, the minimum cover (£2,500 worth - well over the value of my possessions) excludes pretty much everything I own that is of value! During term time (i.e. not vacation cover), it does not cover either theft or accidental damage of:

CDs
DVDs
CD players/hifis
DVD players (portable with screen or proper size)
MP3 players

The only thing that leaves is clothes and books. If either of these gets stolen, you have to have a certified police report before being able to claim for the theft. Personally I think it's petty and a waste of valuable police time to go to the police station to report the theft of your miniature French verb tables or A4 lined paper pad or something like that!). It just doesn't seem worth it. And no-one would break into a house just to steal that anyway.

So with the exception of my laptop and mobile, that excludes almost everything I own! So I'm thinking maybe it's not worth it at all to bother with getting a policy if it doesn't cover anything I want to cover. I'm sure I could find a individual laptop cover (i.e. no possessions else with it) cheaper somewhere else (or indeed with Endsleigh perhaps). My mobile is quite old and not worth much and I would be quite happy to just buy a new one myself so I wouldn't bother insuring it.

The vacation cover does cover these things, but to be honest in the holidays I am most likely to take them home with me so a cover would be pointless!

Does anyone else have this cover with Endsleigh and would you consider using it, or not, seeing as it excludes everything vulnerable to theft?!

[Mr lex]

Hi Tom,

You also have to think about what collage items you may need to take back to the house, laptops, computer programs and reference books could be very costly to replace if you are liable for them. £2,500 doesn't go very far. Also, are you responsible for any furniture in the house?

As for the Police, most insurance company's will accept a crime number as proof of theft, you would be given this as soon as you report it over the phone.

Have a good think about this. I hope it helps

Lex

[Tom87]

Hi Lex,

Thanks very much indeed for your quick reply. I take into account what you are saying about the police report - I was unaware of that as I've (touch wood) never had to file one before

I'm not responsible as such for any furniture in the house - it is all owned, provided and insured by my very kind landlady...if I damage any of it myself then I am guessing I would have to pay if her premium increases, but I'm not sure about that. I wonder if a student possessions policy would cover that.

When I first started at uni 2 and a half years ago I took out an £80 policy with Endsleigh, and as it was more or less imposed on me through the post, I just got it without questioning it, but I've looked over it and realised it excluded practically everything I owned which was of reasonable value. This new policy has quoted me at £47 (or £37 without accidental damage cover, but I would definitely go for the accidental damage cover). I'm thinking, if a course book goes missing, it will cost that much or maybe a bit less, so it's either paying £47 for the policy or paying £47 or less for replacing a book should it go missing and I don't have the policy, if you see what I mean. Obviously if multiple books were to disappear then it would definitely be worthwhile having the policy.

You're right, it needs some thinking about. Thanks for your advice

[Mr lex]

Hi Tom,

Another thing for you to conceder, most policy's of this type also cover your possessions when you are traveling to and from Uni.

I once had my cameras stolen from my car, the car policy only covered me for £100 per item, but my contents policy paid up for the full amount.

We don't recommend 'commercial links' as such, but I suggest you 'google' for a policy that suits your needs.

Good luck in your hunt and let us know how you get on, it's all useful stuff for other students.

Lex

[Tom87]

Thanks Lex.

I've just read through every word of the policy and it's made me decide to definitely not buy this particular policy with Endsleigh.

Some more reasons for this:

• The maximum they will pay out for stolen money is £50. So if you get hundreds of pounds stolen from your room/wallet they will only give you £50.
• They will NOT cover accidental damage to the landlord's belongings. I'm not exactly going to go deliberately breaking things, so it's not nice knowing that even if I completely accidently scratch a table or drop something, I won't be able to claim for the damage.
• For accidental damage to belongings at your term-time address, they will not pay the first £25 of any claim. As this policy excludes CDs, DVDs, CD players/hifis, DVD players and MP3 players, there is very little left that costs £25! So basically even if an expensive course book or item of clothing got damaged, I would still have to pay for most of it myself as £25 makes a significant proportion of that.

I concede that their policy for damage/theft during transit between the permanent home address and the term-time address was very good, there was hardly anything that they excluded. But other than that, it seems very restrictive.

As for the extra optional cover of CDs, DVDs etc. - Endsleigh considers each one to be worth £20 - this makes the price of the policy increase unrealistically steeply, depending on how many CDs/DVDs you have or want to insure. In this era of Amazon, Ebay and HMV, I can easily say that I have never paid £20 for a single CD or DVD in my life.

So, this particular policy is not for me. I will look elsewhere; I will probably just insure my laptop and CD player. Thanks for your advice Lex.

I'm definitely not having a dig at Endsleigh here, far from it - as a young driver, they regularly have fantastic car insurance quotes, often several hundred pounds less than the next cheapest company. But this particular possessions policy isn't for me.

[Mr lex]

Thanks for the update Tom

I hope you didn't mind me throwing a few spanners in the works, but these are all questions you have to ask of any insurance company

I hope you find the policy that suits you. Perhaps you might come back and tell us when you do. I daresay there is lot more student's that would appreciate your wisdom and hard work researching this.

Good luck in your quest,

Lex