We used CSI and they replaced my daughter’s iPhone and laptop that were stolen. It was very easy and well worth the small cost.
@my2sunz Did you have to specify what was covered in the $4000?
We just used our homeowner’s insurance and luckily nothing every happened. I think health insurance is probably the most important…
We also made sure to tell our D to lock her dorm room door whenever she left and never leave valuables or belongings unattended…for example leaving your laptop, cell phone, and wallet unattended in a library study corral when you leave to go to the restroom, etc. And we also taught her to care about and respect your stuff and what you have and realize that you can’t always afford to replace something every time it gets lost and stolen. Our daughter takes good care of her stuff and is generally good at keeping an eye on her valuables and keeping them locked up. That said, no one is perfect, heck I forgot to lock my bike and it was stolen way back when. And sometimes things happen that are out of your control, like a fire, pipe bursting…
That said, renter’s insurance can be a good thing. Can you find out if the University covers anything, due to damage such as a fire, pipe bursting, etc?
@annamom - No, we didn’t have to specify; the limit of coverage was just $4,000. His laptop was about $800 and they covered most of that when it couldn’t be repaired. BTW - they also covered the cost of the diagnostic to see if it could be repaired before they replaced it. They do ask if you have any expensive musical instruments or a bicycle worth over a certain dollar amount.
@iaparent - Obviously different individuals have different risk tolerances. I (and some others) feel that it is worthwhile to have some additional coverage. I don’t sell the insurance or get a commission from my recommendation - I just had a good experience with this company and shared the information when asked.
My kids are responsible, but accidents do happen (btw - they never spilled a Coke on their laptops…I was just using that as an example of the kind of negligence that homeowners insurance would likely not cover). In fact they are among the few “kids” I know that have never even cracked an iphone screen - LOL. But the “risks” when living at home are not the same as living in a dorm environment.
As with most topics on CC, there are differing opinions and that is a good thing to share all sides with the OP. On the flip side, we never bought tuition insurance. Once I saw the exclusions, I didn’t feel that it was worth the high cost. That may seem counter-intuitive based on our other decision, but fortunately we never had a situation where they would have come into play. As they say on the internet, YMMV. 
@my2sunz Thank you. What type of exclusions did you find out? I looked into a couple of insurance companies, I didn’t notice any exclusion, I think I may not have looked hard enough.
I should not of read this. We didn’t take any insurance out. Will have to talk with our insurance carrier… Might just be cheaper to replace the computer if it gets stolen etc… In the long run… Not sure what else he would really need to insure that couldn’t just be replaced quickly?
Our D has an NSI policy for 3 reasons: 1) the deductible on our homeowners is way too high for it to make sense for a phone or other smaller losses, 2) we want her used to the idea of having insurance for her stuff as part of the “adulting” process (so many renters do not have renters insurance and suffer losses just like a homeowner can), and 3) the deductible is in her budget (because I’m not paying for her negligence). If she has a bunch of claims and higher insurance rates for a while, that is called natural consequences.
I am confused. When I purchased student property insurance for my D, I don’t think I had to provide her social security number, just name and college attended.
So how is claim history by insurance companies tracked, if it is similar to a credit check?
I mean once the student graduates and moves to a new address, the only information staying the same might be the name, and maybe not even that, if they get married.
Name and date of birth are typically all that is needed to get an insurance score. Sure it gets tricky when you have John Smith but scores come back about 85% of the time with noth more than name and DOB.
I just talked to our insurance agent to find out what our homeowners policy would cover. She said that liability, theft etc are covered but we have a $500 deductible and for a small amount it might not be worth having a claim recorded on our account 
She recommended, if we want the kids’ laptops and phones covered, to use CSI: $3000 worth of coverage with a $25 deductible for $87 a year. That’s what she did for her own kids. So it’s recommended by an insurance agent.
https://app.collegestudentinsurance.com/policyinfo.aspx
@crepes is the CSI coverage only for theft? and happens at school? What about kid coming back home ?
@annamom, from their website:
Our plan protects against theft and accidental damage to electronic devices & personal property that may occur while at school, home or when studying abroad.
What We Cover:
Computers & laptops
Smartphones & tablets
School & rental property
Electronics
Clothes
Bicycles
Books
And much more!
What We Protect Against:
Theft & burglary
Fire
Accidental damage
Flood
Earthquake
Vandalism
Electrical damage
Water damage
thanks
I used CSI for both of my sons. They both had phone issues, and they were covered, no problem. They had no other claims.
ETA - one claim was while at school, the other was a dropped phone while close to home. Insurance covered both.
We didn’t buy any renters or liability insurance for either kid in college. Both of them had their laptops die on them and fortunately because of the Costco AmEx CCard, had extended warranty. They had to mail the laptops for assessment and were told it was beyond repair and they were credited with the cost of mailing, assessment AND the full cost of the laptops. They used the money to buy a netbook, desktop and 2 monitors which they preferred to the heavy huge laptops both initially purchased.
S also had his phone stolen (he left it unattended in the U’s gym when he went to the bathroom). I let him use my broken phone (water damaged) and he also got his lab coworker’s broken phone and he created a working frankenphone! I and his lab partner were impressed. He used that until he was eligible for a new phone under the phone plan. S bought himself and D cheap $7 bikes at the police auction. No one stole or wanted their bikes and it was easy to tell them apart from all the others (old and rickety but still working).
We did have medical insurance and bought S medical coverage from the U the year he was aging out of our family plan. It was peace of mind, though fortunately neither kid needed much medical treatment while they were students.
Both are now 28/30 and I don’t know whether they have insurance (though I have encouraged S especially to get some). They do use CCards that provide them with extended warranty, which can and has been useful.
Well I have just bought S’s insurance! Your idea @HImom is a good one and I definitely think I could have adopted that! However as an international our home insurance doesn’t cover and at the end of the day we buy insurance for peace of mind. (Just paid 5% of our shipping value on insurance to get his gear over to him - about a quarter of the actual shipping cost!! - But how hideous would it be for it all to get damaged/go missing.)
Shipping being picked up tomorrow - it is starting to get real now!!
Insurance is definitely peace of mind. We generally self-insure if we could handle the loss. We figured we could handle our kids’ property losses while they were students. We did make sure they had good medical coverage. When we gifted them used family cars we made sure they had insurance for the cars.
Just came across this on Michigan’s site and it’s reasonable https://gradguard.com/