College students and insurance

Things to think about

By Robert Carper

That’s my college letter jacket. It was the most expensive item I owned back then. Today is different. College students have laptops, tablets, mp3 players, more expensive cloths, and more. They will need insurance. What kind of coverage do they need? I’ll share some thoughts.

Personal Property while away at school

If your student is living in a dorm, and his or her belongings are covered by your homeowners insurance policy, you should know there are limits. Some homeowners policies will only cover dorm possessions up to 10 percent of what they would normally cover, according to the III. For instance, if your homeowners policy has a $150,000 limit for personal property coverage, your college kid’s possessions would likely only be protected up to $15,000.

Take an inventory (Consider video recording) of everything your child plans to bring to school. This can help you estimate how much coverage you might need — and it can serve as a move-out checklist when it’s time to come back home.

Certain categories of property — like jewelry and watches — typically come with their own set dollar limits.

You might consider buying a personal property endorsement — an add-on to your homeowner’s policy — to get broader coverage for these types of items, or maybe reconsider whether you want your child to bring such valuable property to school at all.

If your child stays in a dorm room on campus and you, the parents, have renter’s or homeowner’s insurance for your home, your insurance policy will extend to cover her belongings, up to a 10% limit of your personal property coverage.

Will your child return home or travel abroad for longer periods of time as part of their college experience? If they leave their belongings in a dorm or fraternity / sorority house for more than 45 days, your homeowners policy will no longer cover those belongings.

·       If your college student lives in his or her own place off-campus, or shares an off-campus house or apartment with friends, things get a little trickier.You might have to set up a separate renter’s policy for your student.That will not only cover his or her ‘stuff’, but also provide liability coverage in case somebody gets hurt in her place
 

 Policy deductibles also apply. Deductibles for most homeowners policies typically are at least $500. So you might consider lowering your deductible if you want to protect your child's possessions at school per the insurance journal

Renters insurance: Protect students' property 

So you've kicked off your kid's college career with a snazzy new laptop and some other expensive high-tech gadgets. Now it's time for to follow up to ensure his or her property is safe in the event of theft, fire or other mishap.

In general, protecting a student's personal property boils down to a simple rule: If your child is living on campus and going to school full time, your homeowners, renters or condo insurance policy (including liability protection) will cover his or her gear. But if he or she moves off campus, your policy most likely won't protect his or her assets. Ditto if your students starts taking fewer classes.

Auto coverage while away at school  

You might think that if your student goes away to school and doesn’t take a car, you can drop him from your auto policy and save some extra money. But what if they comes back for Christmas break and wants the car to visit friends? Or, what if they are away at college and his friends ask him to be a "designated driver" one evening?

If your student doesn't take a car to school, we recommend that you keep him listed on the policy for a number of reasons:

• He’ll be fully protected if he returns home for a weekend visit and wants to drive.
• He will have insurance protection when he’s driving a friend’s car while away, and that vehicle isn’t adequately insured.
• Even if he doesn’t take a car to school, he’ll be fully protected if he’s hit by a car while walking or bicycling, or while being a passenger in somebody else’s car.
   
  Ways to save money while owning a car at college

      Getting an older car

      Dropping some coverage’s

      Watching where they park

      Don’t lend the car to others

      Drive shorter distances

      Maintain grades for a discount

      Minimize traffic violations 

If your student doesn't take a car to school, they may want to keep coverage for the following reasons:

·       He’ll be fully protected if he returns home for a weekend visit and wants to drive.

·       He will have insurance protection when he’s driving a friend’s car while away, and that vehicle isn’t adequately insured.

·       Even if he doesn’t take a car to school, he’ll be fully protected if he’s hit by a car while walking or bicycling, or while being a passenger in somebody else’s car.

Should they keep auto insurance coverage while away at school?

Keeping him on your auto policy maintains continuous insurance coverage, which may be beneficial when he gets his own auto insurance policy

• Keeping him on your auto policy maintains continuous insurance coverage, which may be beneficial when he gets his own auto insurance policy.

·       As a full time student, your child may qualify for a Good Student Discount (if he maintains a grade average of 3.0 or higher). Make sure to let us know, and provide us with a copy of the transcript or a letter from a college advisor The savings can be significant.

·       You can also apply for the Distant Student Discount if your child attends college 75 miles or more away from home.

·       If your student owns the vehicle and holds the title, they'll need their own auto policy.

·       If your student continues to live in your household, her belongings are covered under your policy.

Health coverage while away at school

Some options to consider:

Stay on your parents' plan

Sign up for a health plan at your school

Buy subsidized Obamacare coverage

Purchase 'catastrophic' coverage

Apply for health insurance through Medicaid

Skip health insurance altogether?

·       Check with your health insurance provider to see if your student is still covered:

·       As a full time student, he may be covered up to a certain age limit

·       If covered, be aware of how your coverage works in a different state:

·       If you have an HMO and your student's college is not within the service area, you will be covered for emergency situations. Follow up care may not be covered unless you go back to your service area.

·       If you have PPO and the accident is outside of the provider network, benefits will only be paid at the non-preferred level.

The aforementioned is the result of claims  and agent experience as well as  research. As always I suggest you contact your agent rather relying solely on the above. The material here can serve as guide for questioning your sources.  

 

 

Premises Liability Classification (Those who come on your property) 

 Robert Carper

In many states, property owners and possessors owe different degrees of responsibility, or duties, to people who come onto their property, depending on how such people are categorized. The law recognizes three main categories of people who might be on someone else's property: invitees, licensees, and trespassers. In states that still distinguish among these categories of people, the legal duty owed to each category is different. It is important to ask an attorney whether these categories and standards of care apply in your state

The class of persons designated as invitees includes those who have come upon the land at the express or implied invitation of a possessor for the purpose of transacting some business within the scope of the invitation.  They are sometimes called business visitors.  The duty of exercising ordinary care for the safety of business visitors may require one who invites the public to his/her premises to purchase goods to take measures different from those required of one inviting others to his/her private residence.  An invitee must show that he was impliedly invited upon the premises by some allurement or inducement held out by the owner or person in control with intention and design.  An invitee is entitled to expect that a possessor will exercise reasonable care to make the land safe for the invitee’s entry, or for his/her use.

A land owner is required to maintain its property in a reasonably safe condition and has a duty to exercise due care to protect invitees from conditions that can result in injury.  Whereas, a land owner has no duty to protect invitees from open and obvious dangers.  However, even if a danger is open and obvious, a landowner owner may still owe a duty to protect an invitee if the risk of harm remains unreasonable.

A possessor owes an additional duty towards an invitee to exercise reasonable care to make the land safe for the reception of his/her invitee, or ascertain the actual condition of the land so that by warning the invitee, the possessor may give the invitee an opportunity to decide intelligently whether or not to accept the invitation or permission.  However, the duty imposed on a possessor of premises is to warn of the dangerous condition or to make the premises safe and not to make them safe by erecting a barrier.  It is to be noted that there is no duty to warn an invitee against patent or obvious conditions which are not dangerous per se.

It is to be noted that although there is no obligation to warn of a fully obvious condition, the possessor still may have a duty to protect an invitee against foreseeable dangerous conditions.  Thus, the open and obvious doctrine does not relieve an invitor of his/her general duty of reasonable care[viii].  In other words, an invitee who is aware of a dangerous condition cannot impose liability on the possessor of property.

However, an occupant of a premise is not an insurer of the safety of an invitee.  An invitee is not protected against all hazards nor relieved of all duty to care for his/her own safety.  The duty of an occupant to protect is reduced to the extent that a duty of self protection rests on the invitee.  The occupant has no duty to protect an invitee against dangers known to the invitee or which are so obvious that it is reasonable to expect s/he will discover them and protect himself/herself.  Moreover, if an owner and the invitee are equally aware of the dangerous condition and the invitee voluntarily exposes himself/herself to the hazard, then the owner will not be liable.  An owner or occupant of private premises incurs no liability for minor imperfections which are commonly encountered and which are not unreasonably dangerous.

However, the duty to keep premises safe for invitees applies to defects or conditions which are in the nature of hidden dangers, traps, snares, pitfalls that are not known to an invitee, and would not be observed by him/her in the exercise of ordinary care. A possessor does not have any duty to reconstruct or alter the premises so as to obviate known and obvious dangers.