With the new academic year underway, undergraduates need to make sure they keep their belongings safe to avoid their finances from failing.

According to Legal & General, many students may find that in moving away from home for the first time, there is a greater likelihood that they will become a victim of theft. The financial services provider urged students entering into the first year to make sure they had taken into account the heightened chance of burglary when moving into their new accommodation. Indeed, recent figures detailed in the Crime in England and Wales 2007-2008 Report showed that in some circumstances, students are more than twice as likely to have items stolen from their home than other occupational groups. While those in managerial and professional jobs had a 2.3 per cent chance of being burgled, for the typical student that figure rose to 4.8 per cent. So with nearly five in every 100 university attendees likely to have possessions stolen, Legal & General advised undergrads to make sure they paid attention to security.

For those who fail to do so, there is a possibility they will have to dip into their student loan or borrow money from relatives in order to cover costs. Meanwhile, for those parents who are keen to avoid the chance of this happening Legal & General urged them to check the cover limitations of their home insurance policy to establish whether their son or daughter would be covered if possessions were stolen from their university accommodation.

Commenting on the importance of checking policies, Elaine Parkes, head of technical services for the firms general insurance business, warned: “Students in shared accommodation should not assume that [they] will be covered if their laptop or ipod is stolen from their room. Most household insurance policies will only accept a claim if it is clear that force was used to gain entry to the room. So it is particularly important that students in shared accommodation ensure that all doors, including the internal door to their room, has a lock and is locked whenever they leave the room – even though they may not be leaving the building.”

In an effort to reduce the likelihood of reaching into loans or savings to pay for replacement goods, the group advised students to make sure that all external windows and doors are fitted with locks, as well as making arrangements for a family-member or friend to visit the property regularly in the event of extended absence. Meanwhile, the firm also urged people to check with their landlords that none of the previous tenants still have keys to the flat or house. In taking such precautions, students may find they are more able to manage their finances as they reduce their chance of being exposed to big spending commitments.

According to Halifax, managing money is becoming increasingly important for a growing number of students, many of whom are taking up part-time jobs in an effort to supplement their income and reduce their reliance on loans and parental contributions.

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