<p>Along with the housing material my S received, there was flyer from National Student Services Inc for property insurance underwritten by Hanover Insurance Group. Is this something that is even necessary or it just an over priced unnecessary product. They want $160 annually for $6000 of coverage (they claim their most popular plan) plus all sorts of extras. The school is in a safe area and not known for crime.</p>
<p>Check your Homeowners insu to see if their stuff is covered in the dorms. Often it is. There are several inexpensive student insurance plans (we use ours through USAA but there is another, CSI, that is very reasonable). Shop it around. The $160 seems a bit high. Be sure it covers stuff like your kid dropping a can of soda on their laptop or dropping it from their lofted bed. Stuff happens!</p>
<p>We have itemized insurance for laptops/cameras/musical instruments through our homeowners insurance.</p>
<p>If that is not available through your insurance, I’d go with NSS insurance. Stuff can get stolen in dorms, laptops get things spilled on them or dropped - your peace of mind will be well worth $160…</p>
<p>What is the deductible? Many items in a dorm room would be valued at less than the deductible for many insurance plans.
The most valuable easy-to-steal item might be a laptop, and you absolutely should get a lock for it and make sure your student uses this lock!</p>
<p>Much to our surprise, we discovered that ours was a zero deductible policy. When DS’s laptop got ruined by water, he got a ck for the full replacement cost.</p>
<p>The decubtible according this policy for $6000 coverage is $25. Increasing deductible to $50 brings down the premium only to $154. For $100 deductible the premium is $149, so increasing deductible does not seem to have much effect.</p>
<p>For $3000 coverage and $25 deductible, the premium is $83 and for $4000 coverage it is $110. Not sure if one need $6000 in coverage. I will also check my homeowners policy.</p>
<p>It does cover laptops. However for Accidental damage (drops/spills) it says optional, so I am assuming it will cost more.</p>
<p>Our policy was a rider on our homeowners, I think. I am not 100% sure. It might be a separate policy. Sorry-- not sure. But ck them both. Ours paid off. And DS will love off campus nextyear-- definitlely will be impt to have insurance.</p>
<p>I just signed my D up with CSI [CSI</a> College Student Insurance Home](<a href=“http://www.collegestudentinsurance.com/]CSI”>http://www.collegestudentinsurance.com/) When I contacted my insurance company they told me that her items would be subject to our deductible. Our deductible is high. I got $5000 worth of coverage with a $25 deductible plus a valuables marking kit for about $150 for the year.</p>
<p>thanks for the link aggiering, my d is moving off campus so I had been looking at policies</p>
<p>The pipes burst over my dorm room one winter. Most of my stuff was OK, but my roommate lost quite a bit. That’s how we discovered that we should have had extra insurance! The dorm didn’t cover a cent, and my roommate didn’t have the right kind of coverage.</p>
<p>You’re welcome Emeraldkity4. The insurance will cover on or off campus.<br>
MaineLonghorn, you’re lucky your stuff didn’t get damaged. Too bad about your roommate.</p>
<p>We got a flyer about this too (can’t remember which company). I thought the premiums were reasonable and no deductible. Although his stuff would be covered under our homeowners policy, we have a $500 deductible, so for a lot of things we’d never even submit a claim. I’d rather pay around $100 - 150 upfront and have him covered. One other thing - I try to avoid submitting claims to our homeowners insurance because I don’t want the ins. co. looking for reasons to drop us for what they define as “excessive claims”…I’ve heard some horror stories.</p>
<p>I think it’s essential - even “safe” campuses have theft by other students and kids often walk away from their laptops for a minute in the library, dining hall, or classroom only to find them missing (no one likes to use the locks and most won’t do it). At my D’s school, over 50 kids returned from spring break to find their rooms had been broken into even though they swear they were locked when they left…not sure what happened as these dorms are not accessible by non-residents/staff. Another dorm had a roof leak and that affected those in the rooms directly below. </p>
<p>Like others, I recommend checking with your h/o carrier. But I found that the deductible was high, the cost was the same, and the hassle of worrying about claims through State Farm was not worth it. The big student insurers seem to have a fairly easy process and it’s worth the peace of mind to know they’ll cover everything, anywhere, accidental or otherwise.</p>
<p>We got a check in the mail today for D’s laptop replacement from CSI insurance. Full replacement value minus the $25 deductable. She spilled “water” on the keyboard at her off-campus house. I suspect beer or coffee, but whatever it was it killed the Mac. She took it to the school tech guys and then called me to cry over dead laptop. I reminded her of the insurance. She was amazed… “There’s insurance against stupidity?” School tech guys wrote her a letter that it was indeed dead due to liquids, although they were able to salvage most of her files. Letter plus copy of purchase receipt was all that was needed, although they did say they might have wanted to see the dead computer.
We will be renewing for next year.</p>
<p>Depend on what the kid owns, what insurance s/he already has on the stuff. A number of kids have store warranties for their expensive things. some don’t have expensive things. My friend’s D’s most expensive thing is a $300 net book.</p>
<p>This is the time to discuss insurance coverage for your college student with your insurance agent. Figure out your coverage, including deductibles, and then decide if spending extra money is worth the cost. Remember that “only” x dollars for this needs to be added to all of the other expenses beyond room/board/tuition/fees/books. Decide if the cost justifies any expense and what may need to be eliminated to afford it.</p>
<p>Insurance is never worth the money if you can afford the loss. Spending a certain $160 a year because you might lose an $800 computer? </p>
<p>Meticulous backing up of files is more important. If it is lost or stolen, just treat it as a chance buy a newer better one.</p>
<p>I am really glad we had the insurance on my s’s computer. Any insurance is always a bet–the insu co bets you wont need to file a claim and you are betting you do. $150 is, IMO a small price for peace of mind.</p>
<p>With CSI you can get $2000 of coverage for $60. If you put tracking software on your laptop there’s no deductible and they have free software that sends an email when the laptop is turned on. It’s actually kind of reassuring when I haven’t talked to him in awhile. They also throw in some free identity theft insurance.</p>