Parents with a son or daughter headed to college for the first time this year might want to consider buying dorm insurance for all the electronics and other possessions their children are taking along.
Such policies usually cover not only laptops, smartphones, and wireless speakers, but also bicycles, sports equipment, musical instruments, and digital cameras, according to Consumer Reports.
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But before parents plunk down money for dorm insurance, they should assess the risks and know their options.
What's the threat?
Overall, the threat to a co-ed’s belongings is small. There were about 798 burglaries and larceny thefts for every 100,000 students enrolled at institutions of higher learning that report such data. That’s only about one-third of the number of incidents per 100,000 in the U.S. population.
MORE: 3 easy ways to prevent theft on campus
However, these rates vary widely by specific school. The University of California, San Francisco, had the highest crime rate in 2015, according to FBI data. Its 421 burglaries and larceny thefts for a student body of just 3,170 extrapolate to a rate of 13,281 per 100,000 students. By contrast, 14 of 658 reporting schools said they had no burglaries or larceny thefts.
You can assess the threat by finding detailed crime statistics at your child’s school on the latest FBI tally for colleges and universities. On these state-by-state lists, burglary and larceny theft are the crimes relevant to dorm insurance.
Finally, parents should size up the level of maturity and responsibility their child will bring to the more public environment of campus living. Is she too trusting of people or street smart? Careless with belongings or mindful of their value? An easy mark or a hard target?
Insurance options
If you’ve concluded that your kid’s belongings face greater risk than you’re comfortable with, tote up the cost of replacing the valuables and shop for the best price from among these options:
- Your homeowners policy will typically cover your offspring while they’re living in an on-campus residence at no extra cost. But the coverage is usually only 10 percent of your limit on the contents of your home. So if your policy covers up to $50,000 in losses, your student’s belongings are covered for only up to $5,000.
- A renters policy costing $11 to $22 per month on average, depending on the state, will be necessary if your child lives in an apartment off-campus because your homeowners insurance won’t extend there. Premiums vary based on the amount of coverage needed.
- A dorm insurance policy may be your best option because deductibles are as low as $25, vs. $500 to $1,500 on home insurance policies, and your home coverage should really be reserved for bigger claims involving damage to the structure and contents, not smaller losses like a purloined computer. A $5,000 policy with a $25 deductible might cost $140 per year. Two companies in this field and A+ rated by the Better Business Bureau are Arthur J. Gallagher and National Student Services.
- A homeowners policy “floater,” or endorsement, is necessary if you want to make sure very high value possessions, such as computers, are covered.