<p>My sophomore son, still home on break, this evening casually told me that his apartment at school was broken into a few days ago. He got a notice on his email from the building management, who says (of course) that they can’t determine what is missing. (How could they? The place generally looks like a hurricane hit it anyway.)</p>
<p>I assume his laptop is gone. Not a <em>huge</em> loss as it was 3 years old with a broken screen. But it was an expensive little toy and I was hoping to get another semester out of it. My son owned none of the TVs in the apartment – those were his roomies. His stereo system is probably gone too.</p>
<p>I am just sick to my stomach over it. He’s very casual about it. Haven’t told my H yet – he’s out at a meeting. I can’t remember if we did renters insurance (which we should have of course). S is going back to school this weekend – classes don’t start for another 10 days or so, but spring sport athletes go back early.</p>
<p>I did tell him that no matter how hidden he thinks his checkbook was, he is to march his little bunskis over to the bank in the morning and do whatever they say.</p>
<p>Am I missing anything in advice or directives? Told him to change any stored internet passwords. There is a police report.</p>
<p>I’m so sorry to hear this, cnp. Our S’s apartment was robbed twice during his sophomore year (he had a ground-floor studio at the time). Lost the laptop, iPod and iPod speaker system (Bose). We did not have renter’s insurance on it, but because he is a dependent, our homeowner’s insurance covered everything but the deductible. S is now in a more secure apartment building, so we sleep better! I don’t think you’ve missed anything. What about cell phones though?</p>
<p>I know what you are going through. This June my d’s apartment was broken into 3 time in 9 days. With her they took cash (tip money from rest. work), ipod, good jewelry (probably not an issue with guys)and various other easily sold items. Another thing was that they opened her bank statement that was laying on table–she changed all her banking stuff (ATM, checking and credit card that was linked). Oh, another thing they took was beer! She and roommate each had a 6 pack (different brands). They took one and left the other–such discriminating tastes ;).</p>
<p>Our homeowners would have covered except for the deductible; but that was 1K and each break-in the loss was just over the deductible —so wasn’t worth putting in a claim and we were out the money.</p>
<p>Obviously, we moved the girls to a more secure complex and I did get her renter’s insurance in her own name with a lower deductible.</p>
<p>The ipod and the cell phone came home for break. I think he gets all his bank statements here at home – so hopefully there was no bank info lying around. He worked as a teller one summer for his bank, so I know they will take good care of him when he goes in tomorrow.</p>
<p>I bet there was beer … and I’ll bet it’s gone.</p>
<p>His roommate probably bears the brunt of the losses – I think there were several tvs in the apartment that all belonged to him. Roommate number 3 probably didn’t have much. The computers tho … I bet they are all gone. My son’s isn’t worth anything – they laughed at him when he wanted to have the screen repaired.</p>
<p>I’m sorry about this.
Insurance- you need to prove the child “lives with you”. This usually means that your address needs to be on his driver’s license and you have to be claiming him as a dependent. Also, depending on your deductible, it might not be worth filing a claim. Do not file a claim if you have a high deductible and will only get a couple of hundred dollars back. Your rates will go up more than it’s worth.</p>
<p>I know all this partly because my son’s computer (laptop) was stolen from his slum-room at college (ripped from the power cord) just before finals and he lost his whole semester’s work. He lost the laptop (not worth much), a digital camera and a debit card on an account with no money in it.</p>
<p>When my son was starting college (at Cornell also), we received a brochure from Haylor insurance company offering enrolled students a personal property insurance policy. It was inexpensive and has low deductibles. Any chance you signed your son up for this insurance and forgot about it? If not, then perhaps consider it for the future. THe company offers this insurance at other colleges as well. The colleges are listed on its website <a href=“http://www.halyor.com/student[/url]”>www.halyor.com/student</a></p>
<p>Apparently there was <em>nothing</em> taken from my son’s apartment. I am surprised and relieved. Three apartments total were broken into, and I gather that the others lost a good deal of stuff. I’m thinking that perhaps my son’s was the last one and the burglars either ran out of time or space in their car.</p>
<p>His laptop is still there … and apparently everything else. </p>
<p>cnp, thanks for the update with good news! Make sure your son is not missing any personal information (paystubs, blank checks, any piece of paper that has his ssn, bank accounts, drivers’ license #, etc.). Here in WA thieves go after this stuff rather than TVs and CD palyers. The damage can be much worse and may not be detected until months later. Keeping my fingers crossed.</p>
<p>Make sure he takes special precautions over the next while and, if possible, suggest the same to the neighbors who weren’t as lucky as he was.</p>
<p>One of the MO’s of <em>some</em> thieves is to wait the approximate period of time it takes people to replace the stolen goods (they know this will happen - new TV/stereo/furniture/computer yada yada yada) and then pay a return visit to clean out the same folks all over again. Happened to a friend of mine.</p>
<p>Now - make SURE about the renters insurance - and - Make a police report - regardless if nothing was taken or not - (he may still find something gone that he hadn’t thought of) - have it on record - he has the letter from the landlord as proof.</p>
<p>Thank goodness! And yes, he can learn from this. Change the locks. Add a deadbolt. If they came in through a window, he needs to be aware it can happen. Get renters insurance. It can be rather inexpensive from a company that sells to students. Check with your homeowners company about a separate renters policy as well. If he had important schoolwork on his computer, get him to back it up on a regular basis now. Because a lost computer may be worthless, but the data priceless. Lots of options there. Everytime he leaves the apartment for a few weeks, he should think about what would happen if it was broken into again, and live accordingly. I think that it is MORE likely to happen again rather than less. SO instead of a mindset that he escaped the incident without loss, he needs to be aware that people will know it was broken into. The theives might return to an easy mark, or others will think they can do the same. He should have a hiding place for valuables, or even a small safe. While they might steal the safe, they won’t likely get what is inside. Better yet, a small safe and keep that hidden. It would be for extra check books, any financial stuff he keeps there, etc. Maybe another reason why not to buy too much beer at once ;).</p>