Students Away at School

August is here and school is officially starting. You may be moving your child to their new school, dorm, apartment, or house. Along with that excitement comes some questions in terms of insurance and what coverage they may need. With the stress of moving, the last thing on you want to worry about is if you have adequate insurance protection for your child while they are away from your residence.

 

However, proper insurance coverage is definitely a consideration, as you’ll want to ensure you have peace of mind for your student’s contents along with their personal liability. While landlords also have insurance, their protection generally only covers the building and not the individual tenants’ property. The same goes for school-owned buildings.

 

The good news is that you may not even need to purchase renters insurance though, as homeowner insurance policies usually provide coverage for family members who are away at school. In many cases, homeowner policies will extend 10% of the contents limit of insurance to family members who are away from the residence premises. Some insurance policies specify an age limit for this and/or have a different percentage of contents coverage for students away at school, so check with your agent or account manager to learn how your policy reads.

 

Your homeowner policy will also provide personal liability coverage while your son or daughter is away at school, so insurance coverage will be available if they accidentally cause bodily injury or property damage.

 

You may also be wondering what to do in terms of auto insurance for your college student. If your child is away at school without a vehicle, they may be eligible for a student away at school discount. In most cases, in order to receive this discount, the student must be full-time and live at least 100 miles away from home. This will vary from company to company, but these are the most common criteria. Contact your insurance agent or account manager to see if your child is eligible or qualifies for this discount based on your insurance carrier.

 

Finally, don’t forget the good student discount! If your student maintains a 3.0 GPA or better while enrolled as a full-time student, make sure you provide us with a copy of his or her report card so that we can apply the appropriate discount!