Does Your Homeowners Insurance Cover Your Kids In College?

Getting a child ready for college is stressful and exciting and insurance is probably the last thing on your mind. That’s expected; after all beyond all of the emotions you feel, you still have to help them buy bedding, a laptop, and all the dorm room decorations and necessities. But after you have spent a small fortune on their personal items, do you wonder if your insurance policy will cover these things while they are off at school? Unfortunately the answer is that it depends. And this vague answer means you really need to be sure that you are clear on the rules of the NC homeowners policy as it applies to children away at school.

A few years back, the North Carolina homeowners insurance policy form was changed and one of these amendments was a change in the wording regarding your child’s possessions while off at school. The new policy form changed the definition of an insured, (a person covered by the policy), to state that a student who lives away from your home is covered as an insured only if her or she attends school on a full time basis and is either your relative and 23 years of age or younger; or not your relative and 20 years of age or younger if still in the care of an insured. An older student or a part time student who lives away from home may be added to the policy as an additional insured for an additional charge on your policy.

Now I’ll be the first to admit that the last sentence in that paragraph above was a long stringy one that really ought to be read a second time. Go ahead and reread it, then I’ll show you just how people get caught by legalese in insurance policies. So, go ahead, reread the paragraph above, then come back here, I can wait.

Ok, the easy part to understand, and the part that most people notice first is the age parameter. You probably thought, ok, my child is 19 years old and is also my relative so my policy protect them. But did you also notice that the student must be a full time student? So what, surely your kid is full time. But what does full time really mean? I’m sure when you pay that tuition bill you had no doubt that you were paying for a full time student. But it doesn’t matter what you think is full time, what really drives the coverage is how the insurance companies define full time student. I have talked with several insurance company claims departments to better understand the answer to this question. And what they tell me is that insurance companies will go by the child’s school’s definition of a full time student. And that definition can vary a great deal from one school to the next. Some schools might define a full time student as one taking at least 12 credit hours that semester while others might require your child be registered for 16 or more hours to reach that designation. Summer school can have its own unique designation as well. This means it is up to you, the parent, to find out for yourself where you stand in your own particular situation and plan ahead for it with your homeowners insurance policy.

So what do you do to protect your child’s posessions if you determine that he or she is not covered by your homeowners policy? There are two options for you. One option is to add the endorsement number HO 0458 to your homeowners insurance policy. This endorsement will name your child as an insured. This endorsement usually costs around $75 per year. The other option, and I like this one better, particularly for older students, is to buy an HO-4 insurance policy for your child in his or her name. The HO-4 form, sometimes referred to as a tenant homeowners policy, is a homeowners policy designed for renters. This will allow them to choose a contents property limit and a liability limit as well as a deductible that best suits them. This may cost more or less, depending on the amount of coverage you need for your child but it can stay with them for as long as they keep renewing and updating it. I like this option also because it teaches your child early on, just how important it is to have both property and liability insurance for their particular household at all times. This also removes the doubt about coverage as the child moves back and forth and out to other places in the Summer and so on. As long as they keep renewing and updating the address on that policy, they will have protection.

It’s exciting and sometimes emotionally exhausting to get one of your children ready to go to college, believe me, I’ve done it 3 times now. And for those of you with children in college, I don’t want you to forget to carefully consider the insurance issue. Losses happen in colleges just as anywhere else and you may not be able to easily afford to buy all of their possessions all over again. Here at Clinard Insurance Group, located in lovely Winston Salem, NC, we try our best to educate our customers and the general public about insurance issues that affect their lives. We want every insurance consumer to be an informed buyer. If we can help you with your auto insurance, your home insurance, your business insurance or even your life insurance, please call, us, toll free, at 877-687-7557 or visit us at www.ClinardInsurance.com.