Lap-top/dorm insurance

Renters at USAA was cheap for my kids, maybe $7 a month or something similar. They tried to talk me out of it but I didn't want any dings against my homeowners. Just be warned that you need to call and cancel renters at the end of each semester and then start back up again the next year, they kept charging even after the kids were home and I had to argue my point and prove when the semesters ended to get reimbursed. Seems they are not designed to deal with college student schedules being less than 12 months so just make a note to call to start in Aug and end in May.
 
Renters insurance for sure... do not add to homeowners..

As a suggestion to keep not only her lap top safe, but any other valuable items, I-pad, or tablets, wallet, phone, important documents, cash or credit cards or gift cards, jewelry, car keys if she is taking a car.... any type of camera equipment, lots of of stuff that can disappear... You might want to think about getting a small safe, like a gun safe, with them you use just a finger print to open them, as well as a key or combination to open, or all three... as well you can anchor them to the bed, so no-one can walk away with the safe....

You can pick one up for under or right at 100.00 bucks... they look like hotel safe's... this way when she is sleeping or showering, or in class, she can easily protect her stuff, and with a press of her finger can put stuff in and take stuff out, without any type of hassle...

Our friends DD lived in a quad, I think that's what they call it... she had her own bed and bathroom, and shared living space and kitchen space... with people coming and going. Items were always coming up missing... So when she went back to school after Thanksgiving, her parents installed one on her night stand and things stopped coming up missing. Their DD said at first she did not really want to use it, then after her other roommates wallet and stuff got stolen, she started really using it... she said knowing that her stuff was secure while out of the quad, was really a good thing for her... she used it all 4 years, then into grad school... and when she got her own apartment...

Another item that they got was a deadbolt for her door...

Another item was a waterproof phone case... the kind with a lanyard...
 
Renters at USAA was cheap for my kids, maybe $7 a month or something similar. They tried to talk me out of it but I didn't want any dings against my homeowners. Just be warned that you need to call and cancel renters at the end of each semester and then start back up again the next year, they kept charging even after the kids were home and I had to argue my point and prove when the semesters ended to get reimbursed. Seems they are not designed to deal with college student schedules being less than 12 months so just make a note to call to start in Aug and end in May.
I got college stuident insurance from Gallagher and that was billed yearly. I didn't mind paying for the summer because it covered them wherever they were, home or at school. People break stuff all year long.
 
They do break stuff year round but when they are home my homeowners would likely pay or end up splitting the cost with renters policy which defeats the purpose of why I have it, which is to insulate my homeowners policy from claims they may sustain away from home. I'm doubtful my homeowners would escape a hit if something happened here so my reason for having it is likely absent during break.

I might just double-check with USAA but I think this came up, maybe your policy behaves differently but I'd ask if it would go 100% to renters or would your home pick up at least part of a claim that happened at primary residence premises.
 


They do break stuff year round but when they are home my homeowners would likely pay or end up splitting the cost with renters policy which defeats the purpose of why I have it, which is to insulate my homeowners policy from claims they may sustain away from home. I'm doubtful my homeowners would escape a hit if something happened here so my reason for having it is likely absent during break.

I might just double-check with USAA but I think this came up, maybe your policy behaves differently but I'd ask if it would go 100% to renters or would your home pick up at least part of a claim that happened at primary residence premises.
Unless you have a really low deductible, your homeowner's is not going to cover. The college insurance deductible I had was $25.

'Will this student policy cover all of my student’s property if my child resides off-campus or travels abroad? Yes. Property is covered on or off campus, anywhere in the world.

Is this plan insuring Replacement Cost Coverage? Yes. This policy will pay to repair or replace your property with a new item of like kind and quality regardless of how old the item.

Will this policy pay if I have other insurance in place? Yes. This student policy applies first regardless of other insurance.'

I covered three boys with this policy. I made several claims that were paid promptly and about broke even on the claims vs premiums. I figure it gave me free peace of mind for 8 years.
 
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And remember that its more likely that the laptop will get broken than it will get stolen. Make sure that there is a means to fix it (Apple care or whatever it is called) and that fixing it won't mean being without it during the final paper stretch (there was a horrible two week stretch where my husband's Mac that he was using to consult was in the shop with a dead hard drive - and we ended up with a second just so he could continue to bill). We did that Freshman year, where my kid wrote their papers with a broken keyboard, until I said "didn't we send a spare laptop out with you, just in case?" (We did, not a great laptop, the battery didn't hold a charge, but the keyboard worked!) They have a Lenovo with onsite service, so a tech came to the dorm and replaced the keyboard once I could talk them through getting the service call in. College is where you discover that things that are obvious and easy for mature adults are things that you actually learned long ago).
 
Don't go through homeowners! Separate insurance is so cheap that is the best way to go. I got my daughters through Gallagher insurance which is who her college says to use. So far they have covered 2 iphone cracked screens, an iphone battery and the screen of her macbook. we do 50.00 deductible and they pay all the rest. I pay 126 a year for the insurance and it is well worth it.
 



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