The UK Insurance Blog

Starting university can be an exciting time! New course, new friends and independence – all good things come in threes. To help prepare you for your new life at Uni, there are one or two considerations you would be well advised to take on board, according to the article “Keeping your house in order – top tips for student renters!”

Students who rent will need to be prepared for contributing to a shared home, budgeting and cooking. It’s not very ‘rock and roll’, but keeping your home in good order is the best way to encourage everyone to commit to keeping things shipshape so that you get your deposit back at the end of the tenure.

According to the aforementioned article, there is an approved Government tenancy scheme, which has been devised to protect tenants deposits from unscrupulous landlords. It is this deposit protection scheme, mydeposits.co.uk – who offer help and advice.

First off, check how much money you will need from the outset and budget sensibly in order to be able to pay initial outgoings of deposit and first month’s rent. Protect your deposit by ensuring your landlord has signed up with one of the three protection schemes. Ask to see proof that your landlord is on the scheme before handing over any money. If he is unable to show proof, he is breaking the law and you should report him.

While renting a property you are entitled to privacy but a landlord does have the right to inspect his house or flat. Although this is the case he or she will have to provide you with at least 24 hours notice before setting foot in the property.

Keep your home in order or your landlord can hold on to your deposit. Fifty eight per cent of disputes at the end of a tenancy are due to damage or cleanliness so we’re telling you now, look after your new home or suffer the consequences!

Last but not least insure your belongings with home contents insurance. It is not the responsibility of the landlord to provide cover for your I-Pods and laptops so make sure you have taken this on board yourself. Additionally, always ensure your property is securely locked when not in occupation as unfortunately burglars like to target students.

How many of us forget about the credit crunch when shopping for new fashion acquisitions? As well as losing all our money saving principles when faced with the sale of the century at Top Shop we have short memories when it comes to adding clothes values onto our home contents insurance valuations.

A recent survey that took place online revealed that seventy two per cent of ladies taking part admit to purchasing fashion items that never leave the confines of the wardrobe! Not only that but a further twenty one per cent of participants reveal they will hold on to items in hope that they will one day return into fashion!

According to the article “Brits unaware of the value of their home wardrobe!” Britain’s shoppers have not stopped bargain hunting in the face of the credit crunch – far from it! The insurance company Swinton have observed while continuing to shop we are acquiring purchases that should be added to the value of our home contents. Recognising that high street fashions can be as pricey as larger one-off purchases that we automatically add to our contents value, they are keen to remind us that our latest fashion accessories and designer labels should all be added to the grand total of the value of our home contents insurance.

Surprisingly, it is not just the ladies who are keen to buy fashion items but fail to wear them as fifty two per cent of men in the survey revealed their wardrobes contained clothes that have never seen the light of day! It is not just those ladies’ wardrobes that bump up the value of our home contents as sixty per cent of men revealed they had at least the one expensive designer suit!

Swinton are keen to stress that we should all renew the values of our contents insurance following all our clothes shopping sessions because if we don’t our value summations are at risk of falling considerably short of what it should be.