By now, your child has called to tell you they just made a new best friend or joined a campus club.  Additionally, you have called your Agent and updated your Auto policy to reflect that your child is away at college.  Today, our focus will be the best way to cover your child’s belongings while they are on campus.  The value of their laptop, gaming console, cell phone, clothing, bicycles, skateboards, and other belongings is a significant amount and would be costly to replace…and let’s face it, being away at school without parental supervision also increases the likelihood of losses to these items.

Most parents assume their personal home insurance will cover their child for losses while away at school.   There is some truth to this assumption.  Most homeowner (including condo and renter) policies will extend limited coverage to a child while living away at school.  However, most policies do not cover the likeliest events that may happen while at school.  For example, spilling a drink on the keyboard of their laptop or accidentally dropping their phone or iPad are not covered by a standard policy.  The other challenge is the policy deductible.  Most people select a homeowner policy deductible between $1,000 and $2,500.  Given those deductibles, it is unlikely the value of a loss even reaches that level.  In the situations where the loss is greater than the deductible, it rarely makes sense to file a claim given that the renewal rates will likely increase as a result.

The solution is to find a policy specifically designed for students away at college.  These specialized policies are not typically offered by most Agents and Brokers.  A Google search for “renter insurance for college students” revealed several options including https://www.collegestudentinsurance.com/.  We refer our clients to this site as they include coverage for “drink spillage” and “dropped objects”.  They also offer low deductibles and do not count as a claim against the parent’s policy.  Their rates are relatively low and vary based on coverages selected.  We recommend this type of policy while your child is living away at school.

Please submit any other insurance questions you have to https://www.jsginsurance.com/ask-here/

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