Communal Living
One of the most rewarding experiences of being a student is communal living. Shared duties and responsibilities play a big part when living with others. Students must be aware of the importance of flexibility when carrying out these duties, if it is to be successful. Invaluable lessons can be learned from these experiences and will no doubt influence any decisions made in the future about living arrangements.
|
Bills |
Paying bills can sometimes cause friction between people living communally. That is why it is important to set out clearly how each bill is going to be paid (whether by cheque, online, direct debit etc) and who is going to take responsibility for it. If there are a number of tenants sharing it may be an idea to allocate payment responsibility of one bill each. If using direct debit, it may be a good idea to set up a seperate bank account for bills.
|
Joint tenancies |
When moving into a shared house you will generally be required to sign a 'joint tenancy'. Under a joint tenancy you are all 'jointly and severally liable' for the rent. This means that the rent must be paid by all of you as if you were one person. If someone moves out they should continue to pay their share of the rent until their name is replaced on the tenancy. However, if they don't, the remaining tenants will have to make up the shortfall until a replacement is found. You cannot tell the landlord that you are only paying 'your share' as the landlord is entitled to ask for the whole amount whoever is living there. Make sure that if anyone is planning to leave that you have sufficient time to advertise the spare room, there is a flatshare noticeboard on the StudentPRS website specifically for this purpose.
|
TV Licences |
If you have a television in your home you need to get a television licence to cover it. Your parent's licence will not be sufficient (unless they are moving in with you!). For details please visit www.tvlicensing.co.uk/students (Television Licensing).
|
Insurance |
Your landlord must insure the building which you are renting but this only covers the structure not the contents. It is your responsibility to insure your possessions against theft, damage and accident. Insurance companies are notoriously wary of insuring students on an individual basis and many refuse to do so. If possible get your parents to extend their insurance policy to include your possessions, this also reduces the overall 'premium' (annual cost of insurance) which you will have to pay. There are two types of insurance available, 'old for new' and 'indemnity'.
It is important to remember that insurance companies will only pay out up to the amount of insurance you purchased from them. If you under insure (pay less than the figure they set to cover the items you valued and listed in your original cover policy) then the company will only pay out an equivalent percentage of your losses.
Surveys have shown that students take over £4000 worth of contents to university with them.
Always consider whether you could replace these items if they were stolen, including electronics
such as laptops. Insurance for these items should always be considered.
Endsleigh are a provider of student insurance and can add cover for things outside of the room and accidental
damage for extra peace-of-mind.
Before you insure your goods it is important to get them valued. Keep receipts when you buy
them and get any valuables such as electronics properly assessed.
