Five Insurance Tips for College Students and Their Parents

As you send your son or daughter back to school with a U-Haul full of expensive items, it's a good time to make sure all of their items are covered. While most of the time these items are covered under the parent's homeowners insurance, find out what you need to know about insurance on campus.

Most students are already covered -- For many students living on campus, there is no need for additional coverage since they will be covered under their parent's homeowners policy. This coverage is dependent on the student still calling mom and dad's address their primary residence and parents should call their insurance company or agent to double check that their student is covered. 

But, you may want to buy extra coverage -- For students with expensive laptops, HDTVs and other expensive items in the dorm room, you should consider investigating a "Valuable Items Endorsement," which provides blanket coverage between $10,000 to $20,000. The price, and name, of this coverage will vary from company to company, but you should expect to pay in the neighborhood of $100 to $120 a year.

Don't forget about that engagement ring -- If your son or daughter got engaged over the summer, now would be the perfect time to make sure that they insure the engagement ring against loss, theft and accidents that could dislodge the stone from its setting. Depending on the value of the ring, it may be covered under a Valuable Items Endorsement, but if the value begins to approach $10,000, you should be sure to have it covered separately.

Discount for the car left at home -- If your child can't take their car to campus for the first year or two, and the car will sit in the driveway at home for most of the year, call your agent and ask for a discount. While you are on the phone, find out if the company offers a good-student discount to further increase your savings.

It's a different ballgame off campus -- The second your student moves off campus, the situation changes and they are no longer covered under their parent's homeowners policy. Instead, they will need to purchase a tenant's or renter's policy to cover the items in their apartment or rented house. These policies can be quite affordable -- at $15 to $20 a month.  This type of policy covers all the stuff you own that would fall out of your apartment if you "turned it upside down and shook it." You can also add the valuable items endorsement to a renter's insurance policy if you need the additional coverage.

Bottom line - contact an agent at Modern Insurance Marketing, Inc.  Given the variances from policy to policy and from company to company, it's important to have a conversation to make sure you have the coverage you need. It should only take a few minutes, and it will save you a headache down the road if something does happen.

Finally, take basic steps to protect your investments. Invest in an inexpensive laptop lock and use it when you leave your laptop on your desk. Also, keep track of the items in your dorm room by taking a picture of all of your gadgets and their serial numbers in case something does happen and you need to file a claim.