Does inshurance plan cover loss or theft as well?
It depends. Most standard policies (those you see TV commercials for) do not cover mysterious disappearance ie. loss. The higher end carriers (Chubb, PURE, etc.) do cover mysterious disappearance.
Is this for a college student?
Get a plan that covers theft AND loss. That’s what we have. Simply put…if something is not proven stolen…it’s considered loss in many cases…and you would get NOTHING in insurance compensation.
For example…if you leave your computer sitting on a library table and someone steals it…it’s considered loss…not theft…at least that is what our agent explained to us. No forced entry, no proof that it was stolen.
For a college student, check with your insurance agent as to if they are covered under your homeowners insurance and what is covered. Otherwise, invest in rental insurance.
If would always invest in one of the two major college insurances. If a $600 bike gets stolen, or a drink spills on a laptop, it would be covered. I would not submit a claim for something @$1000 with my home insurance.
My son was living in off campus housing, with a gated garage, when thieves cut into the garage and stole many bikes. A police report was filed, I had proof of the purchase, and they covered an equivalent bike,which had gone up in price.
^^^I wish we had done that when our daughter’s bike was stolen her freshman year!
For theft, you may need to file a police report or equivalent. If it’s just loss, it may be a lower standard of proof. Policies are contracts, read yours so you know what is and is not covered and what will have to be done in order to make a claim and collect. Some are much more onerous than others.
I also agree that one has to be cautious about submitting low claims on your homeowner’s insurance. Often there is deductible that makes it of dubious value and your premiums may increase or the insurer may decide you’re too high risk and not want to renew your coverage. For example, S had his backpack with his electronics stolen from the rental car we had. The deductible for our homeowner’s policy is about $1000 and the gear was worth about $2500 or so, so we opted not to make a claim, though we COULD have. We did file a claim when our house was burgled and we had jewelry stolen. The insurer waived the deductible and gave us the full max value of the insurance under the policy, $10K (IIRC).