Check. Lock. Leave.
With 1 in 3 students falling victim to crime during their time at university, it pays to be prepared. Prepared should the worst happen, prepared to take the time to check, lock and leave, but also prepared to have security on the brain.

It only takes one mistake; be it leaving a gadget unattended or even a door ajar and you could be left feeling the effects of theft for quite some time. The average student takes £2,267 worth of possessions with them to uni; a lot to put at risk by not taking the necessary precautions.

It’s important that you protect your gadgets at uni, but so too is making sure you’re constantly security conscious. So we've put together some top tips to make sure you’re prepared, whether you’re leaving your room for a quick trip to the shop or for a night out:

Keep the door closed to ID fraud
Do you do some of your shopping online? Do you use online banking? How about social media? So many of us live our lives online now and research by Experian has found that the average Brit has around 26 online accounts, yet only an average of just five passwords.

Should that single password fall into the wrong hands, you could be rolling out the welcome mat to a cyber-thief!

Take a look at some of our top tips to keep your online accounts protected. (http://hub.endsleigh.co.uk/2013/october/keep-the-door-closed-to-id-fraud/ ) One simple way to get started is to use a combination of letters, numbers and symbols – for example, initials of memorable words – to create a short sentence, not entirely unlike a text message. There’s more at: http://hub.endsleigh.co.uk/2013/october/keep-the-door-closed-to-id-fraud/

When the unexpected happens; 9 weird claims.
The great thing about insurance is that it can ease the strain when disaster strikes. The claims we receive come in all shapes and sizes and our claims teams are well versed in dealing with pretty much anything that comes their way. But every now and then our team will be surprised.

According to a 2011 study, 1 in 5 people have dropped their phone in the toilet. We get claims of this sort all the time and they’re pretty easy to resolve. Things get tricky, however, if the toilet in which you drop your phone has been filled with some prior contents, as happened to one customer. For more weird claims, visit: http://hub.endsleigh.co.uk/2013/october/9-funniest-claims/

Stay safe on a night out
Picture the scene: you’re on a night out with friends but your phone or wallet gets stolen, you’re left devastated. You still try to enjoy the night, but you can’t stop thinking about the overseas calls/hefty credit card transactions being made at your expense… far from ideal.

A simple tip is to always check the seat where you’ve been sitting when leaving a taxi, especially if you’ve been using your camera or smartphone during the journey - you could have accidentally left something important behind. There’ more top tips at: http://hub.endsleigh.co.uk/2013/october/stay-safe-on-a-night-out/

Go on the social media offensive
Though it’s not in the Oxford English Dictionary yet, every student will know what a ‘frape’ is, and every student has more than likely been victim to a few of their own personal frape nightmares. Second only to the room prank, it’s easy to do but hard to excel at.

A standard frape tactic is the stealthy frape. These are quick and often won’t leave a signifier, but they’ll have repercussions later on down the line. For example; like a ton of dating pages and then delete the evidence from the newsfeed. The victim will then receive a load of messages asking when they’re free for a date without really knowing what’s going on. Simple, effective and deadly.

Learn about more frapes and add your own at: http://hub.endsleigh.co.uk/2013/october/5-best-frapes/