subject: Gearing Your Insurance Policy For Your College Student [print this page] When the time for college comes, chances are your young man or woman will eagerly be ready to leave home. However, don't let them leave home without adequate insurance coverage! Here are some insurance tips to keep your 'child' safe as you send them off to college.
Here are 3 major considerations you'd want to account for, insurance wise, before you drop the kid off at University. The first thing is health insurance. Recently the situation has changed in the United States, with the advent of Mr. Obama's health reform laws. Coverage still varies by state to state, but you can often keep your child on the parent's insurance plan. Please check with your agent to determine what you are eligible for, since everyone's situation is unique. Further, we are not professionals and law changes all the time (this is our disclaimer to you). The thing with University student insurance is that it is weaker, and has restrictions on locations where your kid will have coverage. There are often other gaps that make it less of a standalone policy. You should check with each University's insurance policies to determine what is needed. A family plan is often a great deal for lots of coverage even during the University times.
The next thing you want to have ready is your kid's car insurance. If you're letting them bring their vehicle to college, it may not be such a great idea to begin with, but perhaps you don't have that much control! Just make sure they have valid car insurance and everything is current. One way to "disable" your child from having a car is to ask them to surrender their driver's license. If you hand proof of this surrendering to your insurance agent, you can get stop all charges of insurance premiums altogether. Once your kid comes home for summer (I know you appreciate that, wink), you can always reactivate the license. Many insurance providers will reward your kid's academic efforts with discounted rates, should you properly tell your agent and work through some paperwork.
Finally, watch out when your kid gets a property of their own while at University, either owned or rented. Oftentimes, if they live in campus housing, all liability is usually transferred to University. However, if they move off campus into an apartment, they will require something like renter's insurance. Once they do this, they're on their own, since they assume lots of liability from having friends over. If you somehow get stuck in the equation, such as by cosigning contracts with your kid, you will be held to the liability knife as well.
Even though your child is all grown up, and has to take personal responsibility in the eyes of society now, you are still able to help them stay out of a bind with proper insurance preparation. They will also love you for saving them on tons of insurance premiums. If this doesn't make you all warm and fuzzy, perhaps their coming home to use the car over summer will.
by: Casey Trillbar
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