<p>Does anyone get some kind of insurance for theft from dorm rooms? These kids have expensive computers if nothing else.</p>
<p>Check your own homeowner’s policy first. If you’re kid’s not already covered as a student, you may just need to add a policy rider fairly cheaply that will give you coverage.</p>
<p>Oh, thanks. That makes sense.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.collegestudentinsurance.com/[/url]”>Filing a Claim;
<p>I am going to get this for my son.</p>
<p>hi bethievt,
Just asked my son about this (just graduated from college) and he said he took the insurance first year-I think it’s the one linked above. You can select how much coverage you want and whether you want to pay for full replacement value of the item or just the book value. He said that he did not take the insurance after the first year because he never heard of a theft from a dorm room on campus.</p>
<p>First, check your own homeowners. Second, be aware that computers often need a separate rider for an extra amount–like jewelry.</p>
<p>Last year, our homeowners (Travelers) declined to write a policy for our college student. I’ll definitely be checking out sue’s link…Thanks for posting it!</p>
<p>I called our agent and she said our son will be covered through our homeowners policy so that’s nice.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.collegestudentinsurance.com/[/url]”>Filing a Claim;
<p>Does anyone have experience with this company? I like what I read on their website - especially the coverage for dropped and damaged laptops - but I don’t know anyone who’s used it or made a claim.</p>
<p>My son has over $20,000 worth of computer hardware and audio/video equipment. I went to my insurance agent (State Farm) and got a non-deductible 100% replacement cost coverage on everything (theft, damage, etc) for less than $300 per year.</p>
<p>Our homeowner’s policy has a $1000 deductible and does not cover any equipment above $5000.</p>
<p>This may not be the case in other states…but…in California the insurance companies have been known to drop you if you make a claim on your policy, so people who have something that is less than the deductible amount will not make a claim-ie the price of a computer.SO…you may wish to learn from other peoples experiences…</p>
<p>We use CSI (the one with the links posted previously). We have insured S2’s two horns (with appraisals) and his laptop, only. We’ve carried it all three years he’s been in school so far, but have never had a claim, so I can’t testify as to that.</p>
<p>CSI is underwritten by Fireman’s Fund, which is a major insurance company – so I would consider them as trustworthy as the company that carries my homeowner’s insurance policy. I did buy a policy for my daughter last year. Her cell phone was stolen midway through the year and it was nice knowing that she had the policy to replace the phone, although it turned out that she was eligible for a free upgrade with our cell phone carrier so there was no need to make a claim.</p>
<p>Our agent says he’d be insured up to $24,000. I figure that should do it, though there probably is a deductible.</p>
<p>D.'s stuff is covered under homeowners in the dorm, but we got her lojack for the laptop.</p>
<p>Dragonmom, looking at your link, I noticed that the CSI/FF insurance covers flooding in the dorm. That would definitely be worthwhile if not provided by other means. Though come to think of it, my kid always manages to live on the third floor…in a building with no elevator.</p>
<p>DS will be a sophomore. My homeowner’s didn’t cover his stuff. We bought the CSI insurance. Didn’t use it but it was worth the price just to quit arguing with him about whether he needed a lock for his laptop. On a related link in the parent’s forum there are lengthy posts about people making lock boxes for their kids. In my mind, simpler to just pay the small premium for CSI.</p>
<p>For anyone who has the CSI insurance (or other): Have you ever had to use it for damaged equipment? Our homeowners covers dorm stuff (incl. computers & electronics) against the typical home-owner hazards of fire, flood, theft. It does NOT include damage. I know my kids…that extra insurance would be nice, just for the big ticket items alone. I have not yet read all the fine print, but was wondering if it indeed covers loss due to negligence (dropping, spilling, losing, etc.).</p>
<p>We were going to use our homeowner’s but I recently upped our deductible to $1000 and would need a rider for the computer. I am now thinking about getting a separate policy for the dorm room (with a lower deductible) and computer.</p>
<p>Bumping this up to ask for updates on the claims process, if anyone knows.</p>
<p>I bought this insurance. D checked her laptop in her luggage, and it promptly got dented and the mouse pad broke. I took it to Apple to get it fixed, since she needs it ASAP. CSI is closed until Monday, but it couldn’t wait. Does anyone know if it’s a problem that I’m getting it fixed before I made the claim? We have photos (but it’s hard to see the damage), and I have the description of the damage along with the estimate to fix it. </p>
<p>Any thoughts?</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>My son’s best friend got his computer stolen from his dorm at Rice - they told him ‘no one ever locked their dorm room doors’ and he unfortunately believed it and paid the price. Then someone ripped off his bike, too.</p>
<p>A renter’s policy would cover other stuff too like cds, furniture & misc personal belongings, but would still have a deductible, and usually costs around $20/mth. I don’t recommend renters’ policies because they usually cover at least $20,000 worth of stuff, which is probably overkill for a college dorm.</p>
<p>Homeowner’s insurance does cover the stuff, but check your deductible. If your deductible is, say, $1000, and a laptop gets ripped off, then it’s not going to help at all. If you don’t mind covering the deductible, you should alert your insurance company about your college student, to make sure you know exactly what they will and will not cover, etc. They may have different limits for how much they cover of stuff stolen from a car, for example. Also, it’s a good idea to have documentation - pictures and/or receipts - of the valuable items. (Good idea to do that with your stuff at home, too.)</p>
<p>Another option is to get a ‘personal articles policy.’ This might be worth it, especially if the student’s computers are worth more than the usual $1000 or so each, or if they have additional valuable items. I got one from State Farm (where I have my cars and homeowner’s policies) that covers my laptop, his laptop, his souped-up desktop computer, his guitar, and guitar amp - all with 0 deductible, and altogether costs $14/month. This might be worth it since laptops get transported around a lot.</p>
<p>I don’t know of any insurance companies that cover bikes, though, unfortunately, since they get stolen so much. Only option there is to get one of those Kryptonite locks and make sure he always locks it up.</p>