Outside of providing coverage for your house and belongings, there’s a less talked-about facet of home insurance: student coverage. Most people believe that home insurance is limited to the main household, but that’s not strictly true. Home insurance can cover your college or university students’ belongings. Your child is still under your care and part of your household, and as part of your household, your insurance may extend to them. Read on to learn how home insurance can provide college and university students coverage, including alternatives for when it may fall short.

Students and home insurance

Generally, your home insurance can extend up to 10% of your coverage limit to your student – or more if you increase your policy’s limits or purchase endorsements, which are amendments that override your contract terms.

Your home insurance can cover your child’s belongings in two ways:

  • Personal property coverage. This helps cover the cost of repairing or replacing your child’s belongings – such as laptops or furniture – if they happen to be stolen or damaged by a covered peril.
  • Personal liability coverage. If your child is found to be at fault for injuring another person or damaging their property, your home insurance can provide liability coverage.

For example, let’s say your child lives on campus in a dorm, and the dorm’s sprinkler system malfunctions and causes a flood. Some home insurance policies can extend up to 10% of your policy limit to cover the cost of replacing their belongings, or possibly more if you have raised your policy limits. Using the standard 10%, you can expect your child to receive personal property coverage of up to $25,000 if your policy limit is $250,000. Since your home insurance only offers 10% of your coverage limit, it may be worthwhile for your child to purchase renter’s insurance. 

When does home insurance cover college students?

Some conditions need to be met to apply your home insurance to student belongings, such as:

  • There’s an age limit: To receive the benefit of their parents’ home insurance, a student must be under the age of 24. Beyond that age, they’re expected to set up their own renter’s insurance.
  • The student must be studying full-time: Unfortunately, your home insurance can’t be extended to cover your child’s belongings if they’re not studying full-time. Since part-time students typically don’t live on campus, their parents’ home insurance typically can’t cover them. In this case, there’s an expectation that your child would be working and studying, and they would be able to purchase renter’s insurance to provide a financial safety net for their household.
  • The student must live on campus: Technically, if your child is paying rent for a place outside of campus, they’re considered acting as an adult and would be expected to get renter’s insurance. Students must live on campus to be covered by their parents’ home insurance.

Considerations and alternatives for student insurance

Unfortunately, your home insurance isn’t infallible when covering your child’s belongings. Unless they fit the criteria listed above, they may not be covered, or they may not be covered enough.

Here are some alternatives if your home insurance doesn’t cut it:

  • Dorm insurance: If your child lives in a dorm, they can purchase dorm insurance. This form of personal property insurance is generally cheaper – as low as $10 a month because it only covers personal property. Many colleges and universities offer built-in dorm insurance that may automatically cover your child’s belongings.
  • Renter’s insurance: Renter’s insurance is like home insurance in that they both offer personal property and liability coverage. The only difference is that it’s designed for people who rent rather than own their home. Even if your child is studying full time and lives in a dorm, getting renter’s insurance is still worth consideration since your home insurance generally only extends 10% of your coverage limit. Renter’s insurance is usually considerably cheaper than home insurance, so it may be possible for a student to afford it.
  • Roommates: If your child is living off-campus with a roommate who already has renter’s insurance, your child can be put on that person’s renter’s insurance and get coverage that way. In this case, they would likely split the monthly premiums and still get full coverage.

Before your child goes off to university or college, it’s a good idea to familiarize yourself with how your home insurance can be applied to their belongings. Take some time to determine what your policy will cover, including how much of your total coverage you can expect to go toward your child’s claim. If necessary, consider additional coverage if your home insurance falls short. If your child chooses to live on campus, help take care of them by making sure they’re covered if something goes wrong.