Insurers insist student victims of theft prove "forced entry", as one burgled undergraduate found out
As one family found out, most insurers insist that student victims of theft prove there was forced entry into their home Photo: ALAMY
Students insuring their gadgets at university should be wary of a get-out clause that home insurers use to avoid paying claims.
Most family home contents insurers offer cover for students’ belongings when they are away from home – but demand proof of “violent or forced entry” in the event of a theft claim.
Experts say thousands of students may therefore not have the belongings cover they think they have.
Jenny Crellin was shocked to learn of the clause after her son’s £1,800 claim was rejected.
Finn Crellin, a classics student at Oxford University, was burgled just weeks before his final exams in May – losing his laptop, camera, money and other valuables.
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Mrs Crellin, from Dorset, believed her son was covered by the family’s insurance policy from Sterling, which they had bought through broker Wesleyan.
“Finn was busy studying for his exams, which is stressful enough, so I said I would take care of the claim for him,” she said.
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However, Sterling refused to pay a penny of the £1,800 claim. It said that because the theft was in a student house, it would pay only if there was evidence of “violent or forced entry”.
After the crime, a window was found open in the terrace house, so the insurer claimed that one of the students must have left it unlocked.
The burglar still would have had to scale a 6ft wall to gain entry to the property.
Sterling said: “The police report didn’t contain evidence of forcible entry, and a window was found open after the burglary, so we are unable to uphold the claim.”
Another housemate was compensated by his home insurer NFU Mutual.
James Daley of Fairerfinance.co.uk said it was not unusual for insurers to insist on evidence of a break-in before honouring a student’s claim. “This means that the cover is only useful if the student locks their room and windows – which isn’t always practical in a shared house,” he said.
Mr Daley said the exclusion was not particularly fair and that insurers did not always make it clear.
“If you want cover that protects your son’s – or daughter’s – belongings regardless of whether entry was forced, you should consider taking out a separate policy.”
Stand-alone gadget cover usually costs between £1.50 and £20 per month depending on how many devices need cover.
The only major insurer to cover “walk-in” theft is Endsleigh – but only as a stand-alone student policy. As long as the front door and windows are locked, a student is covered for theft, even if he or she leaves their bedroom door unlocked.
The exception is applied because students living in shared houses are more likely to be careless in leaving windows and doors open, a major insurance provider told Telegraph Money.
It is also based on the assumption that students are more attractive to thieves, as they have easily portable gadgets such as laptops.
Mrs Crellin has admitted she had no idea that this exception applied.
Sterling agreed that the clause wasn’t made clear at the point of sale.
“The broker probably didn’t detail the exception when Mrs Crellin took out the cover, as her son might not have even been at university – it is not realistic to detail every exception to a contents policy.”
But Sterling insisted that a policy booklet contained the crucial exception. Mrs Crellin said she never received such a booklet.
She has subsequently taken the case to the Financial Ombudsman Service.
How to avoid the sting for student cover
Around two-thirds of home contents policies will cover student belongings away from the family home, according to research by financial research company Defaqto and Sainsbury’s Bank.
But out of the insurers that do offer cover, the majority insist that student victims of theft prove there was forced entry into their home.
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