A new study has shown that one in eight students have been victims of theft, with a total of £54 million of goods being stolen from students in the last year.

Moreover, this week BIBA (the British Insurance Brokers’ Association) urged people to pay attention when valuing their goods, suggesting that the majority of people undervalue their own possessions and therefore don’t have adequate insurance if they have to make a claim.

The study was undertaken by Santander Student Current Accounts, and together with BIBA’s announcement, students have been given a clear warning about the need for home insurance.

For most students university is their first experience of independent living and their awareness of details like contents insurance and its importance is likely to be small, making it all the more important.

The most common objects stolen tend to be electronic goods such as mobile phones, laptops and MP3 players. Bicycles are also stolen on a regular basis. The average value of items stolen, according to the study, is £211.

When it came to valuing their contents, Graeme Trudgill, technical and corporate affairs executive at BIBA, said that customers often do not account for many of their everyday items such as designer clothes and the combined value of electronic equipment, music collections and similar commodities.

UCAS has said there will be 470,789 new students this year heading to universities across the country. This new research suggests that almost 60,000 could be victims of theft during their time at university.

Students can often insure their goods under their parents’ policies as halls of residence are only considered temporary accommodation.

In regards to purchasing a new policy and correctly valuing goods, Mr Trudgill of BIBA said that people with a lot of stuff have got to "add it all up" which doesn’t take long and will make sure that they are fully covered.

The FSA have issued the largest fine in their history. Zurich Insurance were fined £2.275 million after the loss of a data tape in 2008, whilst moving the tape to a new location in South Africa. Zurich did not learn that the tape had been lost until a year after that date. The data held included the personal details of over 46,000 UK customers and many more in South Africa. The tape was never recovered, although it does not appear to have been stolen.

Zurich Insurance had outsourced their data storage security to a South African firm but they had failed to create proper incident reporting lines and, as such, it took over a year for the information concerning the loss to reach them. Zurich informed the FSA immediately upon discovering the loss and, in a further admission of culpability, they agreed to settle at an early stage of the investigation.

The data held contained the personal details of clients’ homes and motor insurance, also including bank account and credit card information, security details for property, and insured assets and valuables. Zurich have been keen to stress that there is still no evidence that the tape was stolen; it remains lost, but there is no evidence of foul play or that the information contained has been compromised.

Stephen Lewis, the chief executive of ZIP UK (Zurich Insurance PLC), said: "This incident was unacceptable. Supported by KPMG, we commissioned a comprehensive review of our data security systems and procedures and have taken a number of steps designed to enhance those procedures”. At the time, Zurich also set up a response centre to discuss the information with clients and to inform them in detail of what information was contained about them.

The FSA made it clear that had they not admitted guilt and been co-operative at such an early stage, the fine would have been much higher. The FSA administers a 30% discount for agreeing to settle at an early stage and without this the fine would have reached £3.25 million. Previous fines for data loss have been given to HSBC, Nationwide, and Norwich Union.

Margaret Cole, the FSA’s director of enforcement and financial crime, said: "Zurich UK let its customers down badly. It failed to oversee the outsourcing arrangement effectively and did not have full control over the data being processed by Zurich SA”. She continued to say that "firms across the financial sector would do well to look at the details of this case and learn from the mistakes that Zurich UK made".

Since the incident, Zurich has updated its security measures and will administer continuous checks. The FSA is due to be closed down in the near future as part of cuts made by the new coalition government. Its responsibilities will be passed to the Bank of England.

Moneysupermarket.com has recently compiled a Top 20 list of postcodes whose residents are most likely to have to make a claim on their home contents insurance policy for burglary.

There is a spread between north and south, inner city and suburbia, but those living in London will be concerned to see that the capital takes 10 of the 20 postcodes on the list.

Top of the list, though, is a postcode in Manchester (M21), covering the area of Chorlton-cum-Hardy, which lies four miles south-west of the city centre.

The worst areas in London are Blackheath (SE3), Hammersmith (W6) and Finsbury Park (N4) although this statistic takes no account of those who either do not have contents insurance or those who do not make a claim.

The cities of Leeds and Bristol also figured in the Top 20, both with two postcodes apiece.

Julie Owens of moneysupermarket.com has used the publication of the list as an opportunity to remind people of the importance of contents cover, saying that no-one is immune and that having one’s home burgled is an “emotional and frightening experience”. Opportunistic thieves can strike at any time so it is vital that not only do you ensure that you have cover but also that it is sufficient to compensate you for items stolen.

There are of course steps that everyone can take to make their property less attractive to the criminal element, such as installing security lighting and a burglar alarm, keeping valuables hidden from view, and making sure that keys are not left in places such as under the doormat or so close to the letterbox that anyone could hook them and use them to open the door.

To see the full Top 20 list, click here.