More Gadgets Increase The Value Of School Bags
Published: 25 August 2011 By Peter Thompson Leave a Comment
The average school bag is now filled with items which on average total over £200 in value – a worrying thought as minds start to turn to the return to school.
MORE TH>N Home Insurance reveals the average school bag now carries far more than just exercise books, dictionaries and pencil cases.
Some 65% of children aged 11-14 years old take a mobile phone to school and this coupled with the obligatory stationery, sports kit and grooming products, a school bag is likely to be worth over £200.
Around 10% of school children also have expensive gadgets too, including iPads and netbooks and consider these to be as much school bag essentials as a pencil case.
Sadly it’s not a case of buying all the kit once as the average school child loses £51 worth of kit from their bag over the course of a year.
Matt Pernet, Head of MORE TH>N Home Insurance, said: “Today’s back-to-school essentials are expensive. The boom in consumer technology over the last 10 years means that the majority of today’s school children carry a mobile phone and are twice as likely to pack a gaming console in their bag than they were 10 years ago which drives up the cost of the average school bag.
It is worrying that half of parents don’t have adequate protection against loss or damage to items outside their home, leaving them open to high replacement costs.”
MoneyHighStreet comments: “There has to be a balance struck between absolute need and desirable items for the school bag, regardless of pressure exerted on parents by their children.
That said it does make sense to ensure insurance is in place, either through a home insurance policy or a perhaps separate policy for such as a mobile phone, to cover loss of more expensive items.
There are ways too to help cut the cost of going back to school - for example retailers, including the main supermarkets, are competing strongly for your school uniform business and offering some great deals to win you over.
There are some good deals to be had on laptops too if you need one. If you can, compare prices before you buy.
