Sending a student off to college — especially for the first time — can be a heart-wrenching process for parents. Watching your child recede in the rear-view mirror elicits mixed feelings of pride, angst, nostalgia, and often tears.
While most parental fears are probably unfounded, it’s important to help guide our kids as they negotiate the maze of adulthood that lies ahead.
But we can’t help them unless we understand the environment ourselves. In several columns over the past few months, I’ve addressed insurance-related topics and the need for us to have a better understanding of how insurance works. It’s clear from studies that most people could stand some basic education about insurance. Your insurance agent is the best source of information about your policy, but if you don’t know what questions to ask, you might remain unaware of the limitations and exceptions to your policy.
The Insurance Information Institute (iii.org) recently noted, for example, that many students and parents misunderstand the role of homeowners’ insurance for their students as they live in dorms or off-campus housing. According to the institute, most homeowners’ policies cover students’ possessions while they live in dormitories. “However,” notes the report, some homeowners policies may limit this amount of insurance, so make sure you understand your own policy.”
Conversely, students who live off-campus are likely not covered by their parents’ homeowners policies and should purchase renters’ insurance policies. Many apartment complexes require their tenants to purchase renter’s insurance policies to cover the contents in the loss.
Since the typical college student is loaded with electronic gear from smartphones to smartwatches and laptops, many of these items could benefit from stand-alone insurance. Most smartphone carriers offer damage insurance against things that are not covered by standard homeowners policies or would cost less to fix than your deductible. Cracked screens and loss of these devices are commonplace, so AppleCare or similar insurance may help to bridge the gap. It can seem costly, but smartphone repairs are expensive. Experts also advise checking what protections might be provided by your credit card issuer.
Here are a few more things you might want to consider:
Leave valuables at home. Expensive jewelry or electronics may need to be left at home or in a safe-deposit box. Burglary and theft are common on college campuses, and you might lose that diamond tennis bracelet or Rolex watch. “If they must be brought to campus,” advises the Institute, “consider purchasing a special floater or endorsement to the homeowners' policy to cover them.”
Create a “dorm inventory.” All homeowners should regularly conduct a home inventory; it’s also a good practice for college students. Documenting what you’re taking will help with the claims process if there’s a loss or theft. Get everything in one place and use your phone’s video feature to film it, making sure to show everything. Send it to your parents and store it on a cloud drive, and be sure to update it regularly.
Engrave electronics. Especially for expensive items, it’s a good idea to engrave the student’s name and identifying information on computers, televisions, smartphones and other electronic devices to help police track stolen articles.
Always lock up. Most dorm thefts occur during the day, so if you leave your room — even briefly — get into the habit of locking the door.
Don't leave belongings unattended. Being aware of your surroundings isn’t paranoia, it’s just good sense. A book bag or laptop could easily disappear if you leave your dining hall table to get dessert or refill your drink; dining halls and other public places are tempting targets for thieves.
Buy security cables and locks. Your bike will be much less of a temptation to a would-be thief if you get good cables and lock it up. (Same goes for laptops.) Don’t go cheap on the cables and locks; thin cables are easy to cut. Your bike shop can recommend good equipment to deter thieves. And if you have an expensive bike, you might want to leave it at home and get a cheap one to ride around campus or rent one.
Author: Bill Moak
Source: © clarionledger.com
Retrieved from: clarionledger.com
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