Michigan has plenty of great colleges and universities to choose from. Sending a child off to college can be an emotional and stressful time. There are plenty of things that need to get handled, from paying the tuition bills, to meeting new roommates, to logistics of moving into new housing. Often last on the list of priorities—are my child’s belongings covered when they’re away at college in a dormitory or apartment?
Like many things insurance-related, it depends. A few items to keep in mind or ask yourself:
Is it a permanent move? If not and the child is still a resident of your household, typically they get some coverage for their dorm contents from your homeowners insurance. Usually the limit is 10% of your contents or personal property limit of coverage from your home insurance—you’d want to check your policy or with your agent to be sure. However, if they’re moving out permanently, that breaks that chain of coverage and they’d need their own renters insurance.
What types of claims is their stuff covered for? Usually you get the same type of coverage for the contents as what you have on your policy. So typically they’d have coverage for incidents like fire, tornado, theft or vandalism for instance. But items like laptops or jewelry often have big coverage gaps for incidents like dropping or disappearance without evidence of a theft, so to cover these items more broadly, you’d want to talk with your insurance agent about scheduling these special items.
How expensive is renters insurance? Usually pretty cheap. Often policies start around $10/month, so if there’s any question about whether they’re covered by your policy or might need their own, it’s usually quite affordable if they do buy their own coverage.
Are they taking a car? If they’re not taking a car and are going say over 100 miles to college, be sure to ask your agent about student-away discounts. However, if they are taking a car, be sure to review the situation with your agent. Often this is not a problem, but if the vehicle is titled to the child and they’re moving out of the house more permanently, they could end up finding they have no coverage and need their own car insurance.
Take this one stress out of your life and reach out to your friendly independent insurance agent for assistance. We’re always happy to help—just contact us here at Hardt Insurance.