Uni is great for independence, but it's a parents' lot to worry

• Almost two in five (39%) parents are concerned about their children’s wellbeing and security when they move away to Uni^*
  
• Students will take away an average of £1850 worth of belongings with them including laptops and phones
• Students’ possessions could be covered under their parents’ home insurance policy

As students get ready to go away to University, new research from Aviva shows that almost two in five parents are concerned about their wellbeing and security when they move from the family nest for the first time.

Unsurprisingly parents worry about a variety of things from budgeting (40%) to drinking too much (30%) to not focusing on their studies (25%).

And security fears are borne out among parents whose children are staying at home to study with 44% saying they were happy about their decision from a security perspective.

But it’s not all concern and worry for parents – many also see the positives in studying away.  Nearly three-quarters (73%) believe it will help develop their independence and 60% say they will learn a lot more about life away from home.  And 6% are glad they’re moving out.

With students taking away an average of £1,850 worth of belongings to their student digs, parents are concerned about their safe-keeping.  Over three-quarters (77%) state that their most treasured possessions are costly laptops and phones, which are prime targets for thieves and burglars - as opposed to  books (6%) and a teddy bear (4%).

But the good, and possibly, surprising news is that parents’ home insurance could also protect their kids’ prized possessions when they’re away from home. A standard home contents policy with Aviva gives £5,000 worth of cover for items “temporarily removed from the home” providing the son or daughter still lives at home outside of term time. This includes belongings in a student’s room, at their shared house or halls on campus, and covers them for all standard perils like fire, storm, flood, malicious damage or theft.

For those who have expensive items worth over £2000, they will need to be stipulated on the policy, and if a student needs to make a claim then a named person on the policy would have to make it.

Students will need additional personal belongings cover if they want to protect their laptop and mobile phone when out and about, but if their parents have this optional add-on with their Aviva policy then they will be covered. This provides £2,000 worth of cover, including up to £750 for cash, and a single article limit of up to £2,000. The overall limit can be increased to £20,000 and individual items can be specified on the policy if worth more than £2,000. This means everyone in the family is covered anywhere in the world.

Aviva’s top tips for student safety

• Don’t forget to lock up…Make sure you remember to lock doors and windows when you go out so you don’t leave your room open to opportunistic thieves.
• Travel light…Don’t carry around belongings you don’t need, these are likely to be safer locked up at home.
• Zip up…Keep your bag zipped up at all times so that prying hands can’t get a hold of your valuables.
• Out of sight, out of mind…Don’t leave your valuables in full view when you go out, hide them away somewhere safe.
• Be discreet…When you’re out and about, make sure you’re not flashing your mobile phone; this is only alerting would-be thieves to what you’ve got on you.

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Enquiries:

John Franklin, Aviva Media Relations    

01603 690795    

john.s.franklin@aviva.com

_{*Censuswide surveyed 1002 parents with children currently studying at University or starting in September between 2^nd Aug 2018 – 8^th Aug 2018}