Should You Insure College-Bound Computers?

Of all the gear your child packs up to take to college, the single most expensive item will likely be his or her computer. An obvious question follows: Should you get theft insurance for it?

Start by checking out your homeowner's policy. As long as your child's permanent residence is still your home, most homeowner policies have some provision to insure possessions that aren't in the home at the time of the loss--but it's not a lot of coverage. Typically you're covered for only 10 percent of the policy's value, if the loss occurs outside your home. It's well worth a call to your insurance agent to check on the parameters of your policy.

Also, look into your child's college's theft policy. For a a book I wrote on parenting college kids, Deborah Olsen Nolan, Associate Dean and Dean of Students at Ursinus College, told me, "Colleges generally do not cover personal theft or damage, unless it is to cover some item of equipment that is issued to every student, such as a laptop computer."

If you want or need a separate policy, do some online research, and don't overspend on too much coverage. A quick scan of one insurance company that provides student-specific policies shows that you can get $2,000 worth of theft coverage for about $60 per year with a $25 deductible. Crank it up to $10,000, and the cost is about $215.

Another idea is to take out renter's insurance for about $150. One advantage here is that this policy will be separate from your homeowner's policy, so any claim on it won't affect the rate of your current insurance. And remember that renter's insurance may also provide coverage for some forms of liability, coverage that could come in handy for off-campus apartments or frat houses.

A few more tips:

• Consider the value of everything your child is taking to school. How much stuff is new? How much stuff is old and therefore less valuable?
• Remember that the replacement cost of a stolen item (especially an older piece of electronics) may be much more than the current value of the stolen item. Take that into account as you plan a policy.
• Check with the school to see if they have any discounted deals with insurance companies.
• Once you arrive at the campus, do a thorough security survey of the dorm and environs. Making theft difficult in the first place is always your best strategy.
• Many schools will etch your students’ name into valuable items like bikes and computers to help ID them in case of theft, so make sure they take advantage of that perk.
• And of course, tell the kids to remember not to leave their iPods and laptops places and just “walk away” for a few minutes. Most campus crimes are what they call “crimes of convenience,” where someone has just made it too easy to avoid.