Now that it’s back to school time, if you have a child attending an out-of-state school, are you wondering if they are covered by your home insurance?
Property Coverage
The good news is, in most cases, yes.
If your child is attending an out-of-state school, your homeowners policy will provide coverage for his or her personal property, as long as they meet the age requirements specified in the policy.
Under the Affordable Care Act, the dependent age for health insurance has been raised to 26. Your homeowners insurance policy doesn’t have the same mandate. Generally, dependents attending college will be covered through age 24, although differences between carriers exist, so it is a good idea to check with your homeowners carrier to make sure your child still qualifies as a covered insured.
If your college student is living in the dorms, usually, nothing special needs to be done. If your child is living in an apartment, and the landlord requires being listed as an additional insured, or has other requirements, you should contact your agent to discuss these requirements and the options available to you.
Depending upon the scope of the requirements, a separate renters policy may be a better option than relying on amending or endorsing your current homeowners policy.
What about their computer?
Often, a laptop is the most valuable personal property item taken with student to college.
If your college student has a high-end laptop, it may be worth exploring covering this with a personal articles floater. A personal articles floater can be written on a stand-alone basis as a single policy or as an endorsement to your current homeowners policy.
The best reason for coverage a laptop with a personal articles floater is that it provides replacement cost coverage, so the full amount needed to replace the laptop will be paid by the insurance company, and there is no usually no deductible with these policies.
Sending your child out-of-state for college is always hard on a parent. But, with proper planning, you can have the peace of mind knowing they are covered by your insurance policies, even though they are away.
For more information regarding this, or any of your personal or business insurance needs, please feel free to contact us.