As summer begins to wind down, I wanted to start my blog with a topic that is on a lot of parents’ minds…back to school! It seems everywhere I go, there is a mom (and sometimes a dad) out at a store buying back to school items. For families with children heading off to prep school or college, these purchases often include high-value items such as laptops, bicycles, TVs, mp3 players, etc.
I know insurance does not rise to the top of the list or, quite frankly, even make the list 
, but I thought I would share my thoughts on the three most important insurance considerations to make if you have a son or daughter leaving for school this Fall.
#1. Auto Liability – Please make sure your sons and daughters NEVER , NEVER, NEVER, let someone else drive your family’s cars. While I know everyone is more concerned with the tangible personal property that could be stolen or damaged in a dorm fire, the truth is, the potential damages of a catastrophic auto accident would have a much more negative effect on a family than having to replace your son’s Trek or iPad.
When it comes to cars, the owner of a vehicle is responsible for any and all damages or injuries resulting from that vehicle. This is true regardless of who is driving the vehicle. That means you are vulnerable if your son or daughter ever loans one of the family’s cars to a friend to drive. It is your insurance policy covering anything that may occur while that friend is behind the wheel.
Any young driver can make a mistake while driving. Add this to the increased risk of alcohol-related accidents among college students, and one bad decision by your son or daughter’s friend could incur major liability to your family, with potentially devastating effects.
Lastly, the converse is also true: You do not want your son or daughter borrowing a friend’s car as the liability could fall on your policy if the owner’s coverage gets exhausted.
#2 Identity Theft – According to identitytheft.com, college students comprise almost 35% of all victims. Therefore, be sure to add a paper shredder to the back-to-school shopping list! Students are easy marks for identity theft because:
- They move a lot, so mail does not get forwarded. That annoying pile of pre-approved credit offers that we all receive way too often all end-up in the same trash can down in the school’s mailroom;
- Their school loan forms get misplaced or just thrown out rather than shredded. These forms have all of the info ID theft thieves need;
- They have clean credit which is what thieves seek access to;
- At large universities there are even stories of bogus credit card vendors setting up right on campus, targeting students for their personal information.
#3 Property Theft – I know, finally is what you are probably thinking. Obviously property theft is a common occurrence on many college campuses. While your kids “stuff” is covered for theft and fire, many of our clients carry home deductibles that would prevent you from having a claim should the unfortunate occur. Even if you could submit a claim, we would not recommend doing so as homeowners insurance is for a major home loss and should not be used to replace stolen property. Instead, please make sure you son and daughter uses locks and deadbolts on the doors, never allows strangers without proper ID to enter their dorm, always lock the windows when they leave, safeguard valuables in a dorm safe, and never give out their keys or combinations.
If you have your mind set on obtaining some insurance, you can purchase a separate policy from places like National Student Services, Inc. For a few hundred dollars a year, you will be able to tailor a policy to meet your family’s needs for a reasonable premium. Plus, if you ever have to use the policy, it won’t negatively impact your homeowners renewal.
As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to email me. Thanks for reading.
