Are you going to study soon? Or do you already live in a student house? Student life is not easy. It is a period of major life changes, and this requires quite a bit of adaptability. You go from a small class to an anonymous lecture hall, from doing homework every day to an exam every three months, and often from living at home to your own student room.
When you leave your parental home for the first time, in addition to your studies, there are even more responsibilities on your roof, such as paying the rent and cooking for yourself. In addition, it is also wise to think of insurance policies that are useful to take out so that you are insured if something unpleasant happens.
- You can read all about home insurance for students here, so you don’t have to do research and have more time for the nicer things student life has to offer.
What is home insurance actually good for?
Contents insurance insures the items in your student room or home against damage caused by, for example, fire, theft, or water. So if something bad ever happens, you won’t suddenly be faced with financial problems. Lemonade covers the following events :
If you take out this insurance, it is important that you know the value of your household effects. This amount affects the amount of your premium. Of course, you don’t want to be over-insured (nor under-insured, of course!). This amount is also related to how much you will be paid out if there is damage.
A helpful way to determine how high your coverage should be is to imagine throwing everything in your home out the window. The mountain of stuff that is next on the sidewalk is your household effects, and the value of this mountain is the amount you need for your cover.
Do students need home contents insurance?
This insurance is not mandatory in the Netherlands, so it is up to you to determine whether you want to take out home contents insurance. We believe that household contents insurance is indispensable for students living away from home. One of the reasons for this is because there is a lot of burglary in student houses. The average student’s house contains a lot of valuables (laptops, TVs, Att mobile phones insurance, etc.), and thieves know this all too well!
Students are also often not at home on weekends. This is, therefore, a popular time for thieves to get a good amount of loot. Of course, prevention is better than cure, but sometimes bad things just happen. That is why it is nice to be insured against burglary, fire, vandalism, and much more!
Helpful Tips
Burglary
Sure, insurance is useful if something bad happens, but we prefer to prevent these situations. Here are some tips to make it as difficult as possible for thieves to break in:
- Lighting is very important! Thieves prefer not to work in places where they are clearly visible. So check whether there is good lighting at your front door.
- Always lock the door, even if you are only going to be gone for a short time. It is also wise to place several locks on one door. Do you live with roommates? Then you can also place a lock on your own room door. Nevertheless, if there is a burglary, there is a good chance that the thief will skip your room.
- The windows must also be closed and locked when you are out (for a while)!
- Do not put more expensive items such as your laptop or jewelry in plain sight. And take your valuables with you if you are not home for a longer period of time.
- It is, of course, useful to ‘hide’ an extra key under the doormat, but thieves know all these tricks and secret spots. So don’t do this!
Determining the amount of your coverage yourself
Many insurers determine how much coverage you need on the basis of the square meters in your home – so the larger your home, the higher the insured amount. Today there are all kinds of different lifestyles, and this means that a minimalist needs a much lower insured amount than an “Early Adopter” who lives in an apartment of the same size and has all the new gadgets and technology in his home. Even as a student, you often don’t have a lot of stuff yet, so you need a lower insured amount.
At Lemonade, you can decide for yourself how high or low your insured amount should be. And as you buy more stuff, Lemonade’s Live Policy lets you update your insurance amounts right in the app – wherever you are, with just a few clicks.
Excess
When selecting home contents insurance, pay attention to the insurers’ deductible. Some insurers have a standard deductible that may be too high for students. At Lemonade, you choose how high or low your deductible is. If you wish, you can opt for a deductible of € 0 (note: the lower your deductible, the higher your monthly premium!).
Cancel home insurance
Most insurers allow you to cancel your home insurance policy after one year. At Lemonade, we give you the freedom to cancel your policy free of charge – whenever and wherever you want. Canceling is very easy via the app. After you have canceled your policy, we will refund the unused portion of your premium to your account. And if you ever decide to come back, we’ll create a new policy for you. Keep in mind that our prices change from time to time, so your new policy may have a different premium.
Before you take out insurance (or when you want to switch to a new insurer), it is wise to read the policy conditions or call the insurer. It is not uncommon to be able to cancel home contents insurance only after one year (often with a notice period of one month). There are also insurers that are more flexible in this regard. At Lemonade, you can cancel your policy whenever and wherever you want. The unused portion of your premium will then simply be refunded to your account.
A Lemonade home insurance
In many cases, taking out insurance is a headache and requires a lot of paperwork and time to file a claim. As a student, you obviously don’t feel like that! For this reason, we have made Lemonade insurance simple, fast and uncomplicated.
With the help of Maya, our charming AI bot, you can control everything quickly and easily from the comfort of your home. Answer a few questions, and you will receive a personal premium calculation in less than two minutes. Then, before taking out the policy, you can edit your premium calculation and tailor your coverage to your needs.
Tip: Keep in mind that you can also adjust the liability insurance. You can remove this insurance by setting the cover to zero or increasing it by clicking the plus button.
