Having the right coverage while away at college
in News
Sending your son or daughter off to college is a major milestone and can involve a lot of preparation. One thing to prepare for is getting their personal belongings properly insured while away. It is good to know that your homeowner’s insurance typically extends coverage to your student’s personal belongings while they are living away from home temporarily, such as in a dorm.
Things to know:
- Coverage from your homeowner’s insurance policy applies to students living away from the residence with certain requirements including:
- The student is 24 years or younger and a relative to the named insured.
- 21 years or younger and in the care of the named insured.
- A full-time student living on campus.
- Coverage limits provided for their personal belongings is a percentage of the total personal property coverage listed on the declaration page of your homeowner’s policy. This percentage provided ranges from 5% – 10%.
- Liability coverage is extended as long as requirements are met.
Living off campus?
A requirement for most insurance carriers for coverage on a homeowner’s policy to extend to students living away from the residence is they have to live on campus of a college or university. By living off-campus that requirement of course is not met therefore leaving gray area in what they are actually covered for.
To eliminate any gray area, students living off-campus should purchase a separate renter’s insurance policy for the year. With this policy they will be properly covered for personal property and liability.