Insurance Goes to College

A couple of weeks ago we experienced that bittersweet moment of moving our oldest child into a dormitory room at college. We knew the day would come, we just didn’t think that it would come so soon or that we would be so unready for it. Our baby would be on her own (kind of) and responsible for managing her own affairs.

In the weeks leading up to the move, all sorts of things went through my mind. Would she be safe? Had we done all we could to prepare her for the world? Would she be influenced by the right people? We also knew that life would never again be quite the same. She would now be two and a half hours away instead of sleeping across the hall from her sister, and when she did come home it would be temporarily – only until the break was over.

As we unpacked her clothes and shoes and all the other stuff that young ladies seemingly cannot exist without, I began to wonder how she would keep it all safe. We had padlocks for her wardrobe, but what about the new computer we just bought, or her mobile phone? It occurred to me that I needed to check with my insurance agent to find out if my homeowners policy provided coverage for my child living in a dorm room 150 miles away.

Yes, my agent told me, my policy does cover my daughter living in a dorm room, but not if she lives off campus. But even so, my homeowners policy only provides coverage only for things such as theft and fire. While looking online for a loft bed for her, I also ran across insurance designed just for college students. This policy provides theft coverage, just like my homeowners policy, but it also provides extended coverage for things such as accidental damage to computers. Moreover, this insurance is very affordable – only about $70 a year for $3,000 in coverage. I swore that I was done spending money after paying the tuition, fees, books, room, meal plan, etc., etc., but this was just too good to pass up. I would sleep better knowing that even accidental loss of? expensive items was covered.

I now understand how my parents must have felt when I left home, and that it doesn’t matter how old children get, moms and dads always worry about them. Fortunately, we can now buy affordable insurance cheaply to cover some of those mishaps that we aren’t there to prevent. Good night, sweetie!