Does Homeowners Insurance Cover My College Student?
How your coverage applies to a college student living in a dorm and more.
Written by
Christine Lacagnina has written thousands of insurance-based articles for TrustedChoice.com by authoring consumable, understandable content.
Reviewed by
Paul Martin is the Director of Education and Development for Myron Steves, one of the largest, most respected insurance wholesalers in the southern U.S.
Now that your child is headed off to college, you might be concerned about if and how your coverage extends to them away from home. Luckily, your homeowners insurance policy still applies to college students living in dorms in multiple ways. Your college student can be covered in case of injury or property damage, even while off at school.
A parent’s homeowners insurance policy often provides coverage for dorm rooms and their contents. Our independent insurance agents are here to help you get set up with the right homeowners insurance for your college student. But first, let’s take a closer look at home insurance coverage for college students and dorm rooms.
Does Homeowners Insurance Cover College Students Living in Dorms?
Once your kids are off at school, you won’t be able to keep a close eye on them anymore. That also includes their personal belongings. Several common mishaps could occur in a college dorm room that would benefit from home insurance coverage.
Homeowners insurance can cover dorm room incidents in the following ways:
- Personal liability: Lawsuits for property damage and personal injury can happen even to college students. If your child gets involved in an incident that results in another student or guest's injury in their dorm room or damage to school property, your home insurance policy can help cover the financial ramifications. Coverage extends to repair costs, medical payments, and legal fees.
- Personal property: If your college student's belongings, like clothing, furniture, etc., gets damaged, destroyed, vandalized, or stolen from their dorm, your home insurance policy will cover them to an extent. Your homeowners policy most likely offers a 10% extension to property stored “off-premises” or anywhere other than your home. So, if you have $100,000 of property coverage under your policy, $10,000 of that will apply to a college student's belongings in a dorm.
Note: For more expensive or high-value electronics like computers and video game consoles, you might want to consider adding endorsements to your policy. An independent insurance agent can help.
It's critical to know exactly when and how your home insurance can cover college students. If you still have questions, an independent insurance agent can help review your home insurance policy with you.
Does Home Insurance Cover My College Student’s Personal Property?
Yes, by the extension of your home insurance policy's off-premises coverage, your college student's personal belongings are often covered from theft, damage, or destruction. A number of perils, including vandalism, fire damage, and more, are covered by your home insurance.
Keep in mind that your college student's belongings will likely be limited to 10% of your home insurance's typical limit since they're classified as being stored "off-premises" in the dorm.
When Are College Students Covered Under Homeowners Insurance?
While in many cases, homeowners insurance will extend part of its coverage to the policyholder’s college students, this isn’t a hard rule. Policies have varying restrictions about when college students are allowed coverage under a parent's policy.
The following factors can influence when college students are covered under their parents' homeowners insurance:
- Type of enrollment: Certain policies only cover students who are enrolled full-time. The course load required to be considered a full-time student varies depending on the college or university.
- Age of the student: Many homeowners policies have age limits for students to whom they extend coverage. In many cases, it's age 26.
- Amount of time spent at home: Certain situations could cause an insurance company to determine that your student is no longer a resident of your home and ineligible to receive an extension of your coverage. Further, if your child didn't live at home before leaving for college or rarely visits home, they might be excluded from your coverage.
It’s necessary to review your specific policy before your college student settles into life away at a dorm to be sure they’re covered before any mishaps.
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Does Homeowners Insurance Extend to Off-Campus College Apartments and Townhouses?
Unfortunately, there’s no simple answer to this because it depends on your specific home insurance policy. However, many homeowners policies stipulate that coverage is strictly for on-campus college housing. Students opting for off-campus apartments or townhouses might have better luck looking into a renters insurance policy.
When Does My College Student Need Renters Insurance?
Basically, your college student needs renters insurance if they’ll be living in any kind of off-campus housing that isn’t covered by your homeowners insurance policy. Since college students face the same daily risks no matter where they live, you’ll want to ensure your child is covered under some kind of insurance.
Renters insurance can provide coverage for the following:
- Personal liability: If your student gets involved in an incident resulting in injury or property damage, this coverage will cover the legal expenses, medical fees, or other financial ramifications.
- Personal property: Renters insurance can provide coverage for the repair or replacement of personal property that’s damaged, destroyed, or stolen in off-campus housing. Certain natural disasters are covered, as well as other incidents. The advantage of a renters policy is that it won’t have the 10% extension limit of the personal property coverage offered by your homeowners policy.
- Temporary housing: Should your student get displaced from their apartment or townhouse due to a fire or other disaster, coverage can provide temporary housing while their dwelling is unlivable.
Renters insurance policies not only offer the advantage of offering higher coverage limits for things like personal property but also offer cheap annual premiums. Keep in mind that renters insurance does not cover the dwelling of the dorm, off-campus apartment, or townhome itself. The building itself belongs to the landlord and should be covered under their policy.
How to Find the Best Homeowners or Renters Insurance for College Students
In order to get the protection you need for your college student, you’ll want to work with a trusted expert. Independent insurance agents will not only know where to find the best coverage and price but also help you to make sense of the fine print.
Consider your unique needs, then connect with an agent to help you take it from there. Have a list of your specific concerns and desires handy before you reach out to help make the process even smoother.
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Our independent agents shop around to find you the best coverage.
Compare Homeowners and Renters Insurance Quotes with an Independent Insurance Agent
We all know how valuable your time is, so why spend it doing the hard work yourself? From homeowners and renters insurance policies for college students to special add-ons, our expert independent insurance agents will help you determine what type of coverage makes the most sense for you and your college student.
Independent insurance agents stay on top of the insurance industry and all the latest discounts, so you don’t have to. That means they’ll help you find the right coverage at the right price.
They’re not just there at the beginning, either. If disaster strikes, your agent will be there to help walk you through the claims process and make sure you are getting the benefits you’re entitled to. Now that’s thinking ahead.