Home Insurance Guide

As recently as ten years ago, the most expensive item your child would’ve brought to college was probably a desktop computer. At a few thousand dollars a piece, the item was difficult to steal because of its size and so the thought of insurance was probably not at the forefront of your mind. Nowadays, with the rise of laptops, MP3 players, cell phones, and other smaller and expensive electronic devices, insurance has to be one of the first things on your mind before you send your child off to college. When an iPod MP3 player can cost hundreds of dollars and easily be swiped from a dorm room desk in the blink of an eye, if you don’t have insurance then you are setting yourself up for a very expensive disaster. In fact, according to the U.S. Department of Education, there were more than 40,000 thefts in 2006.

So, how much does your homeowners insurance cover your child’s possessions? In general, the insurance policy coverage will extend to your children if they live in the dorms but there may be separate limits on that coverage. If they don’t and instead have off-campus housing, they may want to consider renter’s insurance (which is generally very cheap). You will have to review your policy to be certain but in general the insurer will limit it to a percentage, such as 10% or 15% of the total coverage. If you have $100,000 of coverage, then under the 15% rule, $15,000 of that coverage extends to your son or daughter in college.