Nowadays children seem to be the proud possessors of an ever expanding range of personal belongings: mobile phones, ipods, portable gaming equipment, laptops, pedal cycles, the list is endless etc etc. Having several children and you could be sending out many hundred of pounds a day in valuable items from your home. The chances of children loosing valuable items is quite high, although many schools ban the bringing of items to school, many items are still lost during the week whilst children are either at school or on their way to school. If you have a home contents insurance policy with an optional All Risks sections, then loss of items can be covered, regardless of the age of your child, providing, they are usually resident at your insured address.
Depending on your product provider, you may have to split the items in to several sub sections, the usual ones include: Pedal Cycles, Musical Equipment, Sports Equipment, and Valuables & Personal Effects. If you wish to include Pedal Cycle cover, make sure you fully understand any security arrangements required.
One of the main problems with the loss of a mobile phone, is whilst the loss of the item itself can be covered by insurance, the possible bill from the network provider for unauthorised usage cannot. This can be a huge financial problem if the theft is not reported quickly to the provider. As with all thefts, the matter should also be reported to the police and a crime book reference number obtained. If you do not have an All Risks section, you may still receive some kind of insurance although polices by different insurers do vary on this matter, the cover available is usually restricted to perils only and will not include accidental loss or damage. For students that live away during term time, it is sometimes possible to extend your home contents insurance policy to cover children whilst that are living in either halls of residence or a rented property. Not all polices include this cover and you will need to speak to your insurer or broker to discuss the cover available.
