I’ve searched old threads but haven’t seen one from this year. Our son will be living in an apartment this fall across from his college. He has a cello/bows that’s worth maybe $3500-$4000 in addition to the normal stuff.
I’ve been quoted the following from our home/auto insurer and wanted to see if I could get it for less:
Premium $97.40 ($250 deductible)
Content Replacement $32.50
Policy/Membership Fee $12.00
Total cost per year: $140 apx.
I saw an older thread that said someone got it for $97 a month and another for $110 a month. Should I keep looking?
Thanks!
Did you check Gallagher? Doesn’t hurt to check. I don’t know what the specifics are for expensive equipment. https://www.collegestudentinsurance.com/
Looks like my deal might be better, but it’s pretty close to the same. Thanks for the link!
We just bought renter’s insurance for our grad school daughter. $500 deductible, I feel like it was $15K coverage and a couple other things like a small medical (if she gets hurt on the premises?) Literally the same as yours - $139 and some change. That was with a small discount for paying a year at a time. Allstate.
You may want to check with the insurance companies about whether the musical instruments will be covered under the general policy or need to be scheduled if there’s a limit on special items.
Our daughter and her boyfriend pay similar amount for renter’s insurance. My daughter has a separate musical instrument insurance policy.
If you go thru your normal insurance company, just keep in mind that for typical insurance, you really only get two claims total (for both regular house and dorm) and then consequences happens (like your policy gets cancelled or rates go way up or something like that). So you don’t want to make a claim on something unless it’s really worth it.
Good thing about Gallagher (reply 1)is they cover accidental cell phone damage. I liked kids having separate insurance from our insurance. Their prices seemed reasonable to me, and I didn’t look hard for other options.
I would talk with your homeowners insurance for a cello worth that much first. You might need to get a rider for it. Whomever you go with tell them now the worth of the cello. Again, you might need to add a rider.
We did have one claim with Gallagher when my D’s bike was stolen. The claim process was fast and easy. I did choose them for the accidental damage coverage but luckily haven’t needed it for that yet.
“Our daughter and her boyfriend pay similar amount for renter’s insurance.”
When living with someone but not married, do both people get their own renter’s insurance or can they do it together?
My daughter and her boyfriend bought their renter’s insurance through their apartment management company. It’s one policy for the apartment, so I assume both names are on the policy and it covers their belongings.
Happykid’s renter insurance through GEICO is something like $150 a year. She has a small discount for also having her car insurance with them.
My D just got an apartment. Her renters insurance is in that $10-15/month range, as were all the quotes she got.
I recently priced instrument insurance for son’s cello and it costs about that much as well, but covers the cello anywhere. It was a little more specific than just renter’s insurance.
We used to have Total Dollar when I was insuring two instruments (eldest son’s violin was worth 15K) but when he took over insuring it, I just dropped it because I wasn’t sure that 3k-4k for cello and supplies was worth a separate insurance. You think it is?
So maybe I have to do renters+instrument?
@Parentof2014grad, do you think you’ll get the separate insurance for the cello? I need to call Total Dollar and ask what it would be. The cello hasn’t been appraised in probably 6 years and the guy who sold it to us moved out of state and is retired so not sure I could get it appraised easily.
As someone who has an extensive coverage policy due to high-value items being in my dorm room, here are my stats:
Annual Premium: $143
Personal Property: $10,000
Personal Liability: $100,000
Deductible: $250
Replacement Cost: Included
Medical Payments: $1,000
Loss of Use: $2,000
Property Damage to Others: $500 for all states except KS which is $750.
I just straight copy and pasted that from the email sent by the insurance company. Hopefully it should help out.
Our violin policy is a “rider” on our home insurance and it’s in that 100-140 range. Like some expensive jewelery, fur coats, etc, yes, many policies require the separate listing. (D1 got insurance just for her engagement ring.)
You just get the instrument re-appraised, if needed. I personally think 140 for a valuable instrument is worth it.
Super helpful, all. Thank you so much!
@sbjdorlo not sure if we will do separate insurance. Still considering it. He just got a new and more expensive instrument. He auditioned into college on a rental, albeit a nice one, that we had kept so long we owned it! We didn’t have separate insurance on that as it was only worth about $2000.
We have had dorm insurance for our other kids which covered their possessions and even drops and spills for phones laptops. I don’t know if that’s sufficient to cover a musical instrument like S has now though.