The Student Room Group

Advice needed!-Theft occurred in the student Hall at university

My laptop, Samsung phones, purse and bank card were being stolen by someone from my room at the student hall at 28th September. I woke up at 6:20am at that day and those items were gone from my room! Although the university has purchased insurance on my behalf (It is included as part of the services I expect to get by paying my university fees), it would be quite unlike for the insurance agency to approve the claim since there is no CCTV at the boarding house corridor so it was probably extremely challenging to prove that it is not the fault of the other students (not to mention that the university changes the lock setting of my room without informing me), so how do I obtain compensation from the university if the insurance agency rejects the claim? Should I convince the university to lower my university fees and accommodation fees as compensation in this case?

Thanks,

Celia

To Administrator: Please delete the other post I posted a few minutes ago

Scroll to see replies

Original post by celiacheung85
My laptop, Samsung phones, purse and bank card were being stolen by someone from my room at the student hall at 28th September. I woke up at 6:20am at that day and those items were gone from my room! Although the university has purchased insurance on my behalf (It is included as part of the services I expect to get by paying my university fees), it would be quite unlike for the insurance agency to approve the claim since there is no CCTV at the boarding house corridor so it was probably extremely challenging to prove that it is not the fault of the other students (not to mention that the university changes the lock setting of my room without informing me), so how do I obtain compensation from the university if the insurance agency rejects the claim? Should I convince the university to lower my university fees and accommodation fees as compensation in this case?

Thanks,

Celia

To Administrator: Please delete the other post I posted a few minutes ago


If it is other students it is still theft. Call the police.
Of course you would have your own insurance that you bought for these items right?
Original post by Theplace
If it is other students it is still theft. Call the police.
Of course you would have your own insurance that you bought for these items right?


Why is that of course? In fact, it is rather "of course" OP does not, else this wouldn't be too much of an issue.

Personally, I don't have insurance on those things.
[QUOTE="yudothis;68077714"]Why is that of course? In fact, it is rather "of course" OP does not, else this wouldn't be too much of an issue.

Personally, I don't have insurance on those things.[/QUOTE

One ones tend to get insurance when one travels abroad. I did. It's quick and cheap to do so..
I have already called the police. The warden of our hall said that the theft occurred probably due to someone (That includes me) living in the hall forgot to close the corridor door that day (But there is no evidence because there is no CCTV at that area). I am not from Scotland. I have worked as an insurance agent for a short time in my home country. If the theft occurred due to one of the students forgot to close the corridor door that day, the insurance company is not going to compensate me for the theft since the insurance company would consider that the theft occurred due to the careless mistake of the student.
This is exactly the story that is in the news today - the claim that the police are not going to help investigate burglaries where the residents are in some way to blame - and students leaving doors and windows insecure are the worst culprits, apparently! The university is hardly going to be liable in law for students' negligence in closing doors and widows and no compensation will be forthcoming from them. Neither should it be.
As I said in the previous post, since there is no CCTV at the corridor so it would be close to impossible to prove who is actually at fault.(But the university is not going to admit that they are at fault.That's for sure. The university would probably stick to the story that one of the students in the hall must have forget to close the corridor door even if it is not truth.)
When I woke up at that time, the corridor door was definitely not opened.


To ThePlace: I am a current student at that university.
(edited 7 years ago)
Reply 7
Get in contact with your SU and see what they say.
Moved to Uni Life
Original post by celiacheung85
I have already called the police. The warden of our hall said that the theft occurred probably due to someone (That includes me) living in the hall forgot to close the corridor door that day (But there is no evidence because there is no CCTV at that area). I am not from Scotland. I have worked as an insurance agent for a short time in my home country. If the theft occurred due to one of the students forgot to close the corridor door that day, the insurance company is not going to compensate me for the theft since the insurance company would consider that the theft occurred due to the careless mistake of the student.


You say the uni buys you each compulsory insurance? What does the policy say?

What sort of policy is it?

You did the correct ting by calling the police and they cna give you a crime number.Make a claim and see what they say. You dont have anything to lose.

You will find it more problematic claiming from the university and i suggest you go and see one of the student advisors or get guidance from the Uni how they deal with such incidents. It will have happened before.

You dont mention whether you had any secuirty software on your equipment such as GPS tracking etc.
Nearly all universities provide some form of insurance with accomadation however most of these do not cover portable devices such as laptops and phones.

Also where was the laptop/phone in your personal room or a communal area because in most univerty residences individual rooms lock?
Do you have a lockable door to your room? Surely they would have had a break through that too, if it was locked?

I'm sorry you had to go through that OP, must have left you a bit shaken :s-smilie:
I have already contacted the student union and talked to the student adviser in the student union about this incident. But they were not able to help me other than lending me emergency money (Which I have already repaid) and asked me to call the police (I have already done that as well).
I have used the tracking function to track down my laptop and gave the address to the police...but no reply from the police.
Original post by celiacheung85
I have already contacted the student union and talked to the student adviser in the student union about this incident. But they were not able to help me other than lending me emergency money (Which I have already repaid) and asked me to call the police (I have already done that as well).
I have used the tracking function to track down my laptop and gave the address to the police...but no reply from the police.


Then your next step is to investigate this insurance policy you suggest the Uni have taken out on your behalf. I would be cautious about whether it actually covers such high value thefts. Cant say without seeing the policy.

I dont think it would be very high priority for the police.
If its tracked the address then hopefully they will send someone round to see. Hopefully the thief is stupid. Does your mobile track to the same place as well?

Sorry this has happened to you. Hope its recovered post back with any updates.
Thank you. I have not installed tracking software in my phone....unfortunately.....
Since I am not informed about the changed lock setting, I do not know that I need to scan the lock with my key card in order to lock it (Normally, when you close the door, the door would be locked automatically (The kitchen door and the corridor door still use this lock setting). A lot of people got themselves locked out from their room last year so that is probably the reason why the university changes the lock setting this year.

But I was not informed about this change until it is too late.....
Original post by celiacheung85
Thank you. I have not installed tracking software in my phone....unfortunately.....


Have you informed your mobile provider amd bloced it? maybe they cna have tracked it as well? Also cancel your bank cards and get new ones ordered.

Assuming they took your items from your room, whilst you were sleeping?

Must be a big shock, these things happen though. The police will link it with any other thefts in the hall.
If you have an iPhone, you should have "find my iPhone" and you can block it through the Internet by logging in. It becomes useless.

I personally have insurance on my iPhone, iPad and laptop as they're very expensive to replace. In my opinion, it's necessary to have insurance for expensive item. My iPhone is nearly £1,000.

With insurance I pay £8 monthly and £50 excess fee if it's lost/stolen/broken etc. (That's just for iPhone though).
(edited 7 years ago)
Original post by celiacheung85
Since I am not informed about the changed lock setting, I do not know that I need to scan the lock with my key card in order to lock it (Normally, when you close the door, the door would be locked automatically (The kitchen door and the corridor door still use this lock setting). A lot of people got themselves locked out from their room last year so that is probably the reason why the university changes the lock setting this year.

But I was not informed about this change until it is too late.....


Your screwed then as you didn't lock your door.

That's called stupidity.
Original post by Ishax
If you have an iPhone, you should have "find my iPhone" and you can block it through the Internet by logging in. It becomes useless.

I personally have insurance on my iPhone, iPad and laptop as they're very expensive to replace. In my opinion, it's necessary to have insurance for expensive item. My iPhone is nearly £1,000.

With insurance I pay £8 monthly and £50 excess fee if it's lost/stolen/broken etc. (That's just for iPhone though).


Did you even read the OP?

Quick Reply

Latest

Trending

Trending