The first time my friend dropped by his son’s dorm room, he was amazed at how many gadgets he and his roommate had managed to stuff in a tiny space! In addition to the necessary clothes and books, it was crammed with electronics: laptops, iPods, cell phones, printers, stereos, an electric guitar and amp, television, refrigerator, microwave oven, and one very nice bicycle. Figuring out the value per cubic foot boggled the mind!
The only thing more surprising than the sheer value of the personal goods that kids take to college today is the frequency of theft, as your local NY insurance agent can warn you. In many dorms, the norm is to leave the room door unlocked or even open to encourage drop-ins. This creates significant security risks. In fact, dorm rooms turn up on the list of the top five most popular places for laptop theft. Also, given the portability, students drag their laptops to cafes, libraries, and other unsecured places.
What steps can parents take to make sure that the price of a higher education does not get out of hand due to the need to replace any items stolen or damaged in a dorm? The three principal methods are theft insurance, prevention, and enhanced recoverability. Let’s look at each one of these. Your local Middletown NY insurance agents can also provide helpful information.
Insurance for College Dorms
While you can encourage your son or daughter to be cautious and avoid leaving tempting electronics lying about, it also makes sense to get personal property insurance. Do not assume that your homeowner policy will cover all losses that occur at college. These kinds of belongings are usually included in “Coverage C,” which typically has coverage of 50 - 75% of the home’s structural value for all the property in the home, and 10% of that for the contents away from home.
That means that for a home valued at $100,000, contents coverage for property at home would be limited $50,000, and for property away from home, $5,000. You can increase the coverage of all that dorm room “stuff” by insuring the house for more (e.g., $200,000) or by choosing a higher percentage for the coverage for personal goods. Check with your local Newburgh NY insurance agent to find the policy issuer and terms that will meet your family needs.
Preventing Dorm Theft
Naturally prevention is the best policy. Most property that is stolen at college are items that are left in unlocked rooms or cars or that are unattended in public locations, so better vigilance is a good starting point.
The first and most obvious measures is locking the dorm door and keeping the key safe. As laptops tend to be the most popular theft target, with one stolen every 50 seconds according to a report by the student can attach a laptop alarm, e.g., the Laptop Defender, which has a visible light to show that it is “armed” and a 100 decibel alarm. Personalizing items with identification plates, hard-to-remove stickers, etc., also make items less attractive to thieves as they are harder to resell. Keeping iPods and mp3s close to the body (and not easily snatched) is a must. Get a strong U-lock or cable lock for the bike, and carve your name or phone number somewhere on the bike frame.
Make It Easier to Recover
Finally, keep track of serial numbers of valuable property, with a list that is not just on the laptop that might get lifted. Electronic tracing can also help in recovery from services such as Computrace. Such services can be rather costly, however.
This fall, consider an adult-to-adult talk with your almost-grown child about the need to assume greater responsibility for his or her belongings—and for the consequences of failing to take good care. Also be sure to talk to your local Middletown NY insurance agent about your needs for personal property insurance that will adequately cover not only your home and its contents but also those of your college student at the dorm.
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