Paul Dreher Director of Personal Insurance View Bio

This is the time of year that Lawley associates receive questions about the coverages needed to protect students while they are away at school. These requests are common for parents sending their children off to college for the first time.

Courts have long determined that a dependent child away at school is still legally a resident of their parents’ household. On the most commonly used homeowners policies, a student under the age of 24 is covered by his or her parents’ homeowners policy as long as they are enrolled full-time in school and were a resident of the household before moving out to attend school.

So what coverages apply to your student while they are away at college?

First and foremost, they are protected by the personal liability section of your homeowners policy for bodily injury or property damage they cause. However, it’s important to note that intentional acts are not covered. Your son or daughter will be facing new responsibilities and exposures, so it’s a great time to consider purchasing a personal umbrella policy to provide an extra layer of liability protection for your family.

As far as all the gear that will be moved into the dorm room, coverage for personal property is available up to an amount that is equal to 10 percent of the personal property coverage limit on the parents’ policy. Personal property includes things like clothing, small furniture and appliances and electronics. Of course, the policy deductible would apply in the event of a property loss, such as theft of personal property.

Electronics, such as a laptop or tablet, may be one of the greatest concerns. In some cases, the student (or parents) may sign a lease for an off-campus apartment. While it’s possible that coverage may still be available by way of the parents’ policy, this is often a good opportunity to equip the student with their own renter’s insurance policy to ensure that there’s no coverage question.

Last, but not least, Lawley occasionally receives requests to add an apartment building owner to a renters policy. Essentially, this means the landlord is requiring the renter to carry insurance coverage – particularly liability coverage. In these instances, the landlord can be added to the policy as an additional interest. This allows the building owner/landlord to be listed on the policy declarations and to be notified in the event that the renters insurance cancels. The additional interest endorsement does not provide any coverage to the landlord.

We hope that this summary is helpful to families that will be heading to campus this fall. Lawley is a family-owned business that understands this – Lawley Insurance has been protecting individuals and families for over 60 years. We value the trust we have earned over the years more than anything.