It’s a mixed bag of emotions when the day arrives to send your child off to college. It often signifies the next steps into adulthood with greater autonomy, less oversight, and a lot of planning. As you hug them farewell, you’re not thinking about insurance—leave that to Bravera Insurance.

Your child and your homeowners insurance

Homeowners and renters policies will cover a percentage of your child’s belongings if they live in a campus dormitory. The claims are subject to your deductible and will go on your claims history.

Home and renters policies offer worldwide coverage of your personal belongings, usually 10% of your personal contents limits. For example, if you have $100,000 in contents coverage, your insurance would cover up to $10,000 of your child’s belongings.

The cost of minor claims

If there’s a catastrophic loss, replacing your child’s belongings could cost thousands. But what if the loss is a single item, like a laptop? If you rely solely on your homeowners insurance, your deductible is probably around $1,000 or more.

Students bring many valuables to school, including:

• Laptops
• Smartphones
• Wireless speakers
• Small appliances
• Smartwatches
• Digital cameras
• Bicycles
• Sports equipment
• Musical instruments
• Jewelry
• Books
• Furniture
• Clothes
• Bags and shoes

The cost of items like these can straddle your policy deductible. Depending on your situation, making a claim on your homeowners policy might not be worth it. You might decide to pay out of pocket or turn to another option.

Separate policy solutions

Renters insurance policies will name your college-age child as the policyholder and provide coverage for personal belongings in their off-campus apartment or dormitory.

Renters policies are reasonably priced (under $250 per year) and typically offer advantages like:

• Lower per-occurrence deductibles
• Choice of policy limits
• Coverage that extends worldwide

Personal injury and liability insurance for your student

Personal injury and liability coverage is part of most homeowners and renters policies. It covers things like:

• Slip-and-fall accidents
• Dog bites
• Defamation 

A few things insurance doesn’t cover

Some renters policies could exclude:

• Pest damage. Renters policies may not cover pest destruction. If there’s a pest problem at your child’s dorm or apartment, they should alert the maintenance department to mitigate the infestation.
• Other people’s belongings. Insurance covers the people named on the policy. Your child’s roommate will need their own policy.
• Identity and data theft. Renters policies have electronics coverage for physical losses due to events like fires or theft, but not lost data.